AIAC To Co-Sponsor 2026 Explorers Club Annual Dinner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY – February 14, 2026 – American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) and its affiliates, Bradford Space, Arnprior Aerospace, SuperAlloy Manufacturing Solutions, Canadian Kraft Paper Industries, Champlain Cable, and Umbilicals International, are honored to announce their co-sponsorship of the 122nd Explorers Club Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony.
The prestigious gala, themed "Odysseys," will take place on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at the Glass House, a sleek, modern, and expansive ballroom overlooking the Hudson River in Manhattan. The event is the centerpiece of a full weekend of celebrations at The Explorers Club headquarters and represents the world's largest gathering of explorers.
ECAD Weekend Schedule:
Friday, April 17, 2026 – ECAD Friday
The weekend begins with symposiums and the famous kick-off party at The Explorers Club headquarters at 46 East 70th Street in New York City.
Saturday, April 18, 2026 – ECAD Saturday
The day includes awardee and NGEN (Next Generation of Explorers) symposiums, followed by the 122nd Annual Explorers Club Annual Dinner: Odysseys at the Glasshouse in the evening.
Sunday, April 19, 2026 – ECAD Sunday
The weekend concludes at Club Headquarters with the annual members meeting in the morning and a celebration of the return of expedition flags.
The journey may be its own reward, but every year, explorers from around the world gather to celebrate the most epic journeys at The Explorers Club Annual Dinner. ECAD weekend offers attendees a chance to reunite with friends, plan next expeditions, and make memories to last a lifetime. From symposiums where participants can learn about awardees and promising explorers of the future, to unmissable celebrations where members reunite with peers from around the globe, the weekend represents the pinnacle of the exploration community's annual calendar.
The Saturday evening gala attracts Explorers Club members and distinguished guests from six continents, including leaders from academia, business, finance, media, entertainment, and government. Attendees will don formal black or white tie, evening gowns, full military dress, kilts, or royal ceremonial dress, with civilian and military orders and medals. The Explorers Club Annual Dinner is widely recognized as the most coveted invitation in the world.
The celebration will feature a formal reception with exotic appetizers, The Explorers Club Awards ceremony honoring this year's distinguished awardees, a live auction, musical entertainment, and dancing, followed by after-parties throughout Manhattan.
AIAC companies are Partners of The Explorers Club. AIAC Chairman, L. M. Levie, Trustee and Poet Laureate of The Explorers Club and member of its Legacy Society, also serves on The Explorers Club Annual Dinner Committee and as Chairman of The Explorers Club Reciprocity Committee.
Distinguished Guests at Last Year's 121st Annual Dinner
At last year's 121st Annual Dinner, themed "Paradise Found," 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
Diane Brady, Executive Editorial Director at Fortune and previously served at Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Wall Street Journal, and McKinsey
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 Kazakhstan, 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. Burgum, 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 Guinness
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 Governance, 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 25, 2025, 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 The 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 and its corporate affiliates are deeply honored to again co-sponsor The Explorers Club Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony," stated Mr. Levie. "The theme 'Odysseys' perfectly captures the extraordinary journeys undertaken by our members—both the physical expeditions that push the boundaries of human knowledge and the personal odysseys that transform explorers into guardians of our planet's future. I eagerly anticipate welcoming my fellow Trustees and dear friends, clients, and colleagues to this legendary weekend of festivities that celebrates the indomitable spirit of discovery."
Mr. Levie continued, "ECAD weekend represents far more than a single evening's celebration. It is a convergence of visionaries who have ventured to Earth's most remote corners, descended to its deepest trenches, ascended its highest peaks, and journeyed beyond our atmosphere. As we gather to honor this year's awardees and the next generation of explorers, we reaffirm our collective commitment to advancing scientific exploration and preserving the wonders we discover for generations to come."
Founded around the Club's inaugural meeting in 1904, The Explorers Club Annual Dinner is the iconic spectacle upon which the rest of the Club's year revolves. ECAD weekend is made possible through generous sponsors, table patrons and donors, collaborators, and the continued support from the Club's membership around the globe.
About The Explorers Club
Founded in 1904, The Explorers Club is a prestigious international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. Based at its historic headquarters in New York City, the Club has served as a meeting point and unifying force for explorers and scientists worldwide for over a century.
The Club's membership includes many of history's most renowned explorers and scientists, from polar explorers Robert Peary and Roald Amundsen to oceanic pioneers Jacques Cousteau and Robert Ballard, from aviation legends Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart to space pioneers like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Jim Lovell. The Club continues to support cutting-edge exploration in every realm—from the deepest ocean trenches to the highest peaks, from archaeological discoveries to space missions.
The Explorers Club is renowned for its rigorous standards of membership, requiring nominees to have made significant contributions to exploration or the sciences that advance our understanding of the world. The Club's Board of Trustees, Legacy Society, and various committees work to preserve the Club's mission while fostering new generations of explorers through grants, expeditions, and educational programs.
The Club's famous annual dinner, featuring exotic cuisine and presentations by leading explorers, has become legendary in New York society. More importantly, The Explorers Club continues to fund and support expeditions that push the boundaries of human knowledge, from climate research in Antarctica to biodiversity studies in remote rainforests to preparations for future Mars missions.
AIAC Chairman L. M. Levie serves as Member of its Board of Trustees and as Poet Laureate and Member of its Legacy Society. As Poet Laureate, Mr. Levie contributes to the Club's cultural mission by capturing the spirit of exploration through verse, honoring both historical achievements and contemporary discoveries that continue to expand the frontiers of human knowledge and experience.
For further information, please see: https://www.explorers.org
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.
While The Explorers Club Annual Dinner's original menu at the Waldorf Astoria was famous for serving exotic animals, 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, please see:
https://www.felixkunze.com/explorers-club-annual-dinner-2025
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, 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 affiliate, Champlain Cable Corporation, supported the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions with high performance wire and cable. 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.
For further information, please see: www.aiac.com
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 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, please see: 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