AIAC CO-SPONSORS THE 121ST EXPLORERS CLUB ANNUAL DINNER GALA
For Immediate Release
New York, NY – April 26, 2025 - AIAC and its affiliates, Bradford Space, Arnprior Aerospace, SuperAlloy Manufacturing Solutions, Canadian Kraft Paper Industries, Champlain Cable, and Umbilicals International, were sponsors for the 121st Explorers Club Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony on April 26, 2025. Held at the Glass House, a sleek, modern, and expansive, ballroom overlooking the Hudson River, the gala attracts Explorers Club members and guests from six continents, including leaders of academia, business, finance, media, entertainment, and government.
This year’s gala was entitled “Paradise Found,” and included a key note address by award winning actor and conservationist, Richard Gere, who played leading roles in American Gigolo, Pretty Women, An Officer and a Gentleman, Primal Fear, and Chicago. The program included a formal reception featuring exotic appetizers, the Explorers Club Awards ceremony, a live auction, musical entertainment, and dancing, followed by after-parties throughout Manhattan.
The pre-dinner reception featured wine, champagne and exotic hors d’oeuvres, including freshly grilled iguana, ant, cricket, scorpions, and bamboo worm canapes, skewered Madagascar and Costa Rica cockroaches, kelp salad, and bison burgers.
Attendees’ attire was formal black or white tie, evening gowns, full military dress, kilts, and royal ceremonial dress, with civilian and military orders and medals.
AIAC companies are Partners of the Explorers Club and AIAC Chairman, L. M. Levie is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Explorers Club and its Legacy Society, also serves as Chairman of the Explorers Club Reciprocity Committee.
Mr. Levie hosted the following distinguished guests at AIAC’s tables at the Explorers Club Annual Dinner:
Richard Wiese, President of the Explorers Club, Founder of Global Exploration Summit and the EC-50, producer of Born to Explore with Richard Wiese
Hon. Asa Hutchinson, Former Governor of Arkansas and U.S. presidential candidate, Chairman of the National Governors Association, Administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Member of Congress, US Attorney
Ken Lipper, Chairman of Lipper & Co., former Deputy Mayor of New York, Member of the Board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Partner of Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers, award winning film producer and screenwriter
Richard Dickson, President, CEO and Director of GAP, former President and CEO, Mattel, former Director of Brands of The Jones Group
Adam Falkoff, Global Head of Executive and Government Relations and Philanthropy for Amazon Web Services, Member of the Wilson Center Global Advisory Council, Bretton Woods Committee, and The Trilateral Commission
Michael Tennenbaum, Chairman of Caribbean Capital and Kaiser Aircraft Industries, Former Chairman of Tennenbaum Capital Partners and Vice Chairman of Bear Stearns.
Lyndsay Howard, Foreign policy advisor to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Founding Delegate of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Osvald Bjelland, Founder and Chairman, Origination OS, and Norwegian Ventures, Author of Hope for the Future of Our Planet
Gopi Thotakura, Astronaut and pilot of jet planes, gliders, aerobatic planes, and seaplanes, Co-Founder of Preserve Life Corp.
E. Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin, Academy Award Winning Filmmakers, directors, and producers, 2025 Explorers Club Communications Award Winner
Luc Decker, Consul General of Luxembourg, former Executive Director of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office in Shanghai, China, Representative for Luxembourg for Swimming in the 2000 Summer Olympics
Mr. Levie greeted the following members and guests at the Explorers Club Annual Dinner:
Ashikbayev Yerzhan, Ambassador of Kazakstan, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office, and Chief of the Foreign Policy Centre of the Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan.
Richard Gere, Golden Globe and SAG Award winning actor and Conservationist, Chairman of the Gere Foundation and the International Foundation for Tibet
Doug J. Burgham, US Secretary of the Interior, former Governor of North Dakota, former Chairman of Great Plains Software, Director of Microsoft Business Solutions
Jessica Meir, MD, NASA Astronaut on the International Space Station, first woman to walk in space, assistant professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, former Aquanaut on the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations.
Faanya Rose, Former President of the Explorers Club, President of Fight for Sight, and former Treasurer of British Airport Authority, mountaineer and polar explorer
Sylvia Earle, PhD., 1996 Explorer Medalist, Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic, Time Magazine’s first “Hero of the Planet” for her work to save the oceans, Founder and Chairman of Mission Blue, which has established more than 200 marine protected areas around the world
Victor Vescovo, Co-founder of Insight Equity, 2020 Explorer Medalist, “Explorers Grand Slam” Award winner by climbing the world’s highest mountains—the Seven Summits—and skiing to the North and South Poles, Blue Origin 2022 astronaut, descended to the deepest points in all five oceans and discovered the two deepest shipwrecks in history, 5 time Guiness
Janet Walsh, Director of the Explorers Club, Founder and CEO of Birchtree Global, Member of the Explorers Club Board of Directors, and Chair of Ethics and Goverance, President of the Irish Business Organization of New York, and Trustee of the D’Oyly Carte Foundation, noted artist, equestrian, and archeologist
On Friday April 26, Mr. Levie greeted club officers and fellow Trustees at the formal Explorers Club Board of Trustees Meeting held in the Leonard M. Levie – Theodore Roosevelt Board Room at the club’s headquarters at 46 East 70th Street in New York and later convening for dinner.
Sir Richard Garriott de Cayeux, President Explorers Club 2021 to 2025, founding father of the videogame industry and the commercial spaceflight industry, astronaut, first explorer to have explored pole to pole, orbited the earth, and reached the deepest point in the Ocean
Richard Wiese, President of the Explorers Club 2002-2021 and newly elected President in 2025, documentary film producer, actor, director, mountaineer
Mead Treadwell, former Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, Chairman of the US Arctic Research Commission, Fellow and Director Emeritus of the Explorers Club
Will Roseman, Executive Director of the Explorers Club
Mark Walter, Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and Trustee, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Field Museum of Natural History, Northwestern University
Frederik D.A. Paulsen, Chairman, Ferring Pharmaceuticals Group, Founding Sponsor of The Peptide Therapeutics Foundation, and Chairman of the Museum Kunst der Westküste
Ben Lamm, Founder, Colossal Biosciences and the Colossal Foundation, Hypergiant (AI for space and defense), and Conversable
Alba Tull, Director of First Light Capital Group, Tull Investment Group, and Tull Family Foundation
Jeff Willner, Chairman, Navigatr Group, Kensington Tours, Travel Edge, TripArc, Ensemble
Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, Chairman, Vestergaard, LifeStraw, and Sceye, and serial entrepreneur and global philanthropist
AIAC Chairman and Explorers Club Trustee L. M. Levie stated, "Standing amid the splendor of the Glass House overlooking the Hudson River, I am overwhelmed with profound gratitude as AIAC and our affiliates, each Partners of the Explorers Club, co-sponsored the 121st Explorers Club Annual Dinner. This magnificent gathering brought together visionaries from six continents who embody the spirit of discovery that transforms our understanding of the world. I witnessed the extraordinary achievements of my fellow members, cherished friends, and distinguished awardees whose courageous pursuits continue to illuminate the unexplored frontiers of our planet. As we celebrated 'Paradise Found,' I was reminded that the greatest joy exists in the fellowship of those who dare to push beyond boundaries, transforming dreams into discoveries that enrich humanity's shared journey.”
Mr. Levie continued, “I want to offer a special word of gratitude to our Club’s Chairman, Jeff Bezos, to our new President, Richard Wiese, to Eric and Wendy Schmidt, to each of the outstanding Explorers Club Award Winners, to my fellow Trustees, and to my dear friend, Ken Griffin, for his generous financial contribution to the Explorers Club Annual Dinner. Ken’s extraordinary support enabled our esteemed Explorers Club Expedition Grantees to join in our thrilling celebration of discovery.”
Mr. Levie’s poem, Paradise Found, captured the spirit of the evening and was published in the Explorers Club Annual Dinner Program. It is reprinted here:
Prior to the evening events, AIAC co-sponsored a reception and luncheon in the Terrace and Ballroom of the New York Athletic Club. Following the luncheon program, L. M. Levie conducted a tour of the New York Athletic Club’s Olympic Museum, a rare collection of elaborate Olympic medals and trophies spanning 129 years.
About the Explorers Club
The Explorers Club is an American-based, international, multidisciplinary professional society with the mission of promoting and supporting scientific exploration and field study on land, sea, and space. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for explorers and scientists worldwide. Members of the club have been the first to explore the North Pole, South Pole, Mount Everest, the Mariana Trench, and to walk on the Moon.
The club's notable current members or honorees include Buzz Aldrin, Jeff Bezos, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Richard Branson, James Cameron, Ray Dalio, Wendy Schmidt, and Jane Goodall. In years past, prominent members have included President Theodore Roosevelt, Sir Edmund Hillary, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Thor Heyerdahl, Walter Cronkite, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The Explorers Club’s historic clubhouse, at 46 East 70th Street in New York City, is a museum and monument to the “Famous Firsts,” the greatest explorers and expeditions of all time.
About the Explorers Club Annual Dinner
Held annually since the club’s inception in 1904, the Explorers Club Annual Dinner has served as a celebration of the world’s greatest achievements in exploration. Known as the most coveted invitation in the world, the formal, black tie event traditionally was held at New York’s Waldorf Astoria, and in recent years has migrated to the Glasshouse, a sleek, modern ballroom astride the Hudson River in Manhattan.
The Explorers Club Annual Dinner’s original menu at the Waldorf Astoria was famous for serving exotic animals, but the Club has long since departed from this tradition, and now embraces conventional cuisine, as the club’s conservationist credentials have taken precedence. Nevertheless, tempting insect hors d’oeuvres are still available for adventurous connoisseurs during the cocktail reception prior to the formal dinner.
Attendees of the iconic Explorers Club Annual Dinner have included the most prominent figures from the worlds of exploration, business, finance, government, media, and entertainment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, SEE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Explorers_Club
About American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) is a diversified industrial group with manufacturing and distribution sites in 24 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia-New Zealand. AIAC has acquired and grown non-core subsidiaries and divisions of Boeing, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Visteon, Carlyle, Ahlstrom, Tolko, Groupe Suez, Groupe Rexel, and many other leading multinational corporations.
AIAC companies serve companies and governmental entities worldwide in all major sectors, including aviation, space, defense, automotive, truck, rail, marine, petrochemical, solar, nuclear, food, confectionary, beverage, civil engineering and infrastructure, commercial construction, mining, dredging, disaster relief, education, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, AIAC companies are exclusive, authorized distributors of leading branded industrial and consumer products and serve as critical suppliers for the construction of major airports, schools, hospitals, performing arts and sports centers, offices and hotels throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. AIAC is a leading manufacturer of building, street, and highway signage in Europe, signage and illumination structures in North America, and a distributor of electrical products throughout France.
Of note, AIAC purchased Boeing Canada in 2005 and has produced over 10,000 unique components for every Boeing jet plane ever since, reliably serving Boeing from manufacturing facilities in North America. A leader in ultra-high precision jet engine component manufacturing, AIAC companies produce 2,200 fan blades for each jet engine produced by GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Honeywell.
AIAC companies actively support exploration into outer space, manufacturing critical components for launching and propelling spacecraft and satellites. AIAC customers in this sector include NASA, the European Space Agency, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing. AIAC companies also lead in the design and manufacture of undersea umbilical cables for worldwide oceanographic research.
AIAC companies produce the critical automotive wire and cable for Tesla, GM, Ford, Chrysler-Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan. In connection with its kraft paper manufacturing interests in Canada and the US, AIAC controls and sustainably manages 22 million acres of Manitoba, Canada forestland, an area equivalent in size to the nation of Hungary. AIAC affiliate, Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen GmbH, located in Germany, designs, manufactures and distributes high performance, emergency portable power generators utilized in global conflict zones and during natural disasters.
About AIAC Philanthropy
AIAC and the AIAC Foundation support a wide range of nonprofit, nonsectarian, bipartisan organizations which promote international conflict resolution, disaster relief, economic development, environmental sustainability, exploration, and the performing arts. The exploration-focused nonprofit organizations which they actively support include the Explorers Club, the National Geographic Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Space Society, and the United States Space Foundation.
AIAC’s other beneficiaries include the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation Inc., the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - Gates Philanthropy Partners, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carter Center, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institut Française des Relations Internationales, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Crisis Group, the International Rescue Committee, the Japan Society, the JFK School of Government of Harvard University, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the Sierra Club, the Trilateral Commission, and the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: HTTPS://WWW.AIAC.COM, HTTPS://WWW.AIAC.COM/OUR-VALUES
Media Contact:
Isabel Carro-Toro, Vice President
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
+34 689 295 827 (Spain)
+ 1 787 244 3175 (USA)
icarro-toro@aiac.com
