2023 Johannes Van Tilburg Lecture in Dutch Studies | Royal Honor Ceremony

In recognition of his service to the Dutch community in the U.S., Johannes van Tilburg was made a knight of a chivalric order of the Kingdom of The Netherlands on February 23, 2023

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In a surprise ceremony that followed the Annual UCLA Lecture in Dutch Studies endowed in his name, Johannes van Tilburg was made a Knight of the Order of Oranje-Nassau of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on February 23, 2023.

You are welcome to watch the ceremony here on our website or on our YouTube Channel. We also invite you to read Surprised UCLA donor receives royal honor at annual Dutch Studies Lecture by Peggy McInerny, Director of Communications.


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Duration: 00:27:41

2023-JVT_Ceremony-audio-ny-ev2.mp3


Transcript:

Thank you for joining us for the Annual Johannes

Van Tilburg Lecture named after its initiator

who was also, as you learned, the former Honorary

Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in

Los Angeles.

Tonight, I am accompanied by several of my

colleagues from the Consulate in San Francisco.

Deborah van den Brande,

we have Michael Dorius, Jan Top,

we also have Mylene Jankowski and Peter Post

of our Netherlands Business Support Office

in L.A., they are local representatives, and we have

Conny Lederer, who is the assistant to the current Honorary Consul.

We have Karin [. . .] who was our colleague at the

Consulate for over 25 years in a consular role,

and we have Henk Hanselaar,

who is our Honorary Consul in San Diego.

Just wanted to mention them.

Professor Bleeker, it's been a very inspiring lecture.

Thank you for that.

It's been thought provoking,

and I very much appreciate it.

I also noticed a number of people who are

part of the network for Dutch Academics in

the US, DNA US is the name that was established

at UC Berkeley when our Queen Máxima visited

the Bay Area in September.

And I see a number of members of that society,

of that group also present here.

So thank you for joining us.

But you can imagine that is not the reason

why I'm here behind this podium.

The true reason that I stand here before you

is that we wish to pay a special homage to

the work of Jan Van Tilburg as our Honorary Consul.

He's been absolutely instrumental to the thriving

relationship between L.A. and the Netherlands

and was the driving force behind the establishment

of the Netherlands Business Support Office.

I just mentioned two of our colleagues here.

Let me briefly share some background

on Jan and his many accomplishments.

In 1965, Jan moved to the

United States from the Netherlands.

He founded his architecture firm, which eventually

turned into Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, VTBS.

His work is internationally recognized and

visible throughout Los Angeles.

A prime example being the

Santa Monica Third Street Promenade.

Jan embodies Dutch excellence in architecture,

urban development and sustainable construction

on the U.S. West Coast.

For 12 years, he served the Kingdom of the

Netherlands as Honorary Consul,

from 2010 until 2022, to be exact.

In 2010, when our Consulate moved

from Los Angeles to San Francisco,

it was seen as a big loss to the Dutch community.

Fortunately, Jan was ready, willing and able

to serve as our Honorary Consul.

He immediately embraced the

broader Dutch community

upon his appointment. Jan also maintained

warm connections to the Dutch School in Southern

California and UCLA, which he

both financially supported.

You and Jo Anne together, obviously.

For years, Jan has been closely connected to the

Board of the Netherland-America Foundation, NAF,

we have the new president here, where

he sits on the NAF Board in New York, its

national chapter, as well as the

NAF Board here in Southern California.

Lastly, together with his wife, Jo Anne Van

Tilburg, and through their generous contributions,

they make UCLA's Annual Johannes Van Tilburg

Lecture possible, an event that is highly valued

by the community,

judging by your attendance tonight. Our Consulate

seeks to honor Jan's outstanding contributions

to the Netherlands tonight.

Unbeknownst to him, I hope.

And I think so, because when I came in, I said,

Jan, I happened to be in town just for meetings,

and I just joined the lecture.

A special recognition has

been prepared. In this regard,

we received letters of support from Ms Elga

Sharpe, former Chief of Protocol of the City

of Los Angeles.

She could not be here tonight.

Ambassador Rockwell Schnabel, former U.S.

Ambassador to the European Union,

Professor Wiljan van den Akker, Distinguished

Professor of Poetry at Utrecht University,

Professor Margaret Jacob, Distinguished

Research Professor at UCLA, and Mr. August

Minke and Ms. Laura Lingthart of the Dutch

School of Southern California, all speaking

to Jan's service to the Kingdom.

I would also like to especially mention our

gratitude to Jo Anne, who was instrumental

in bringing all of us together tonight.

Thank you, Jo Anne.

Joanne and Jan's former assistant, Ms. Conny

Lederer, I just mentioned her,

both graciously helped with the

preparations for a royal application.

So without further ado,

and in order to recognize and thank Jan

for all he has done for our country,

let me briefly switch to Dutch for this.

[Speaking Dutch]

For those who don't speak Dutch, and it might

be more than just a few in this room, I will

be very happy to translate.

And please, please take your seats.

It is therefore my distinct honor and pleasure

to award Jan the Royal Distinction of Knight

in the Order of Oranje-Nassau

on behalf of His Majesty the King.

So I hope you can still hear me.

Jan, before we go over to the decoration,

I will be removing this just because it will

distract from the fact that there's

one more important thing coming.

And clearly, we will be asking you to reflect

on this royal distinction and address the

guests tonight.

But before we do that, we have a few people

who will be addressing you, if you don't mind.

So people who think very fondly of you and

would like to share that with the audience.

So there's a few people.

Please, dear ladies and gentlemen, bear

with me and bear with us because we have six

people speaking.

They have all promised to be very concise.

And well, me being Dutch and being direct,

you know our reputation,

I will be standing here and in good Dutch

tradition, you know, will be...

Well, you can feel that.

You can feel that.

But we have a few people who

would like to address you, Jan.

So first, I would like to invite your wonderful

wife, Jo Anne, to say a few words.

Jo Anne, put up here.

Yes, please.

Thank you.

Hello.

Hello, you.

I just want to say, on behalf of this family

of ours, that the words we heard here tonight,

diversity, inclusion, sharing, illumination.

That is what that man is brought into our

family and into our lives.

I'm grateful.

I love you.

You deserve this.

Enjoy it.

Jo Anne, you have been absolutely instrumental

in keeping this secret from him,

together with Deborah,

so well done.

That's a big accomplishment.

That's a big accomplishment.

I would now like to invite up to the podium

Wiljan van den Akker, Professor Emeritus at

Utrecht University, and Margaret Jacob,

Distinguished Professor of Research at UCLA History.

But we're not going to sing together.

Okay.

First of all, I am very sorry that my wife,

Ester Jansma, who also gave

Jan Van Tilburg lecturer in archeology,

cannot be here because she's ill.

But I am speaking on behalf of her.

So I'm speaking with two voices.

First of all, Dear Mr. Storimans,

Deputy Consul General.

When I drove up from my hotel, I didn't

know how to address you officially.

So I thought maybe Your Highness.

That would be Jan.

Okay.

Dear Jan, dear Jo Anne, dear Marieke, and

the whole family.

Dear Peg,

dear Laurie Hart, dear Deborah,

dear everybody who made this possible.

When you ask me to address Jan after

this for about one hour, I thought I'm very

honest, but it's too much.

After a lecture of Maaike

for an hour, it's too much.

So I shortened it.

You went over your time twice,

so I will go over my time twice.

But briefly, let me correct the history of

the Johannes Van Tilburg Lecture.

The Johannes Van Tilburg Lecture originally

started with Peg. In the early nineties,

Peg and I were discussing how can

we improve Dutch studies at UCLA.

And one of the things she came up with was,

can we make it possible to have an annual

lecture from people from Utrecht, coming to

UCLA to tighten the bonds between the two

universities?

And then bravely, as she always is, she said:

You have to ask your chancellor.

So I went up to my chancellor and he's always

very short. And he said: What are you going

to do?

I said: I need hundred thousand guilders.

What for?

I said: For an annual lecture.

Ah, and what is in it for me?

I said: Well, within five years, I promise

you, we will find somebody who will continue

the lecture.

I didn't have a clue.

I was just making this up.

But together with Peg,

that was Jan,

that was Jo Anne.

Now, Jan.

I know

Jan from the late nineties, I think.

something like that.

And we became friends immediately.

And we, I mean, Ester, Jan, you and I. You

were not an Honorary Consul, but I have to

address you as an Honorary Consul now.

The same friends I have, and I'm

proud that they are in this room, I made

in 1983 in the Bay Area also

with an Honorary Consul.

I'm not befriending Honorary

Consuls, by the way.

It's not my hobby.

But it's a totally coincidence that the Consulate

General was in L.A. at that time.

They needed an Honorary Consul in the Bay Area,

and that was Johan Snapper sitting there

with his lovely wife Gerda Snapper.

And then they moved to San Francisco and they

needed an Honorary Consul in L.A. And that

was Jan Van Tilburg. Am I correct?

I'm an historian, so I hope this will be recorded.

Now I have to turn my page because I have

a piece of my one-hour lecture.

I recognized Jan immediately as a

special Honorary Consul. One that would

not limit himself to stranded strangers.

People, some idiots, who lost their passports,

or the obligate, but necessary, festivities

on Queen's Day or now King's Day.

Jan, you started initiatives to strengthen the

bonds between the U.S. and the Netherlands

in a broader sense of the word.

Our conversations were never small talks.

You were always talking about politics, economics,

especially culture. And the conversations

lasted mostly till the middle of the night

and continued the next day at

Jan and Jo Anne's most welcoming

and hospitable house in Malibu.

And it was then that I got to know Jan's

personality and just a few catch words.

And maybe Jo Anne is not right.

You may not agree with me, but we'll

see later this week. His modesty.

You begin to laugh.

Okay.

Marieke is laughing.

Oh, okay.

He's not modest.

His generosity. And I mean generosity

not only in a financial sense of the word.

His modesty in an intellectual sense of the

world, sharing his knowledge with young people,

with everyone. Always. Never

holding back. His zest for life.

His work ethics, his broad mindedness, his expertise,

ingenuity, broad fascination, especially his

unbelievable creativity.

For every problem, he had a solution.

And last but not least, his

incredible sense of humor.

Now, to end, I have to advices to you, Jan.

I could change them into orders,

because you are a knight,

I'm an officer. First, please stay

who you have always been.

Please.

Including the stubbornness.

The only thing that we, four of us,

can continue our friendship with.

And the second thing is more,

that's the last thing, is more about

thinking about Jo Anne.

Please, Jan, leave your horse outside.

Take your helmet off and

your armor before you go to bed.

I think the marriage with

Jo Anne will last long

if you do that.

So I know that you will applaud after every

speech, no matter how dull it was.

So if you do now, and you will,

applaud for Jan and Jo Anne, please.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Well, before we move to Professor Jacob,

I allowed you, despite my comments at the

beginning, to be a bit more elaborate than

the other speakers, because you traveled all

the way from the Netherlands to join us here,

and because everything you said was very true.

But I do have to be decidedly more Dutch

on other speakers, so I hope that is taken

into account.

Professor Jacob. Yes, I can assure you.

The thing that makes Jan and Jo Anne

so special is not simply that they are very

generous and gave us something that we desperately

needed to put Dutch studies

on the map in this university,

but they take an interest in what's actually

said in the lectures, in the process by which

someone is chosen, by the intellectual

stimulation that the lectures give.

And that means the world in a university setting.

Sir Van Tilburg, thank you so much.

Now I would like to invite to speak to us

Martin Kast, Professor of Molecular Microbiology

and Immunology at the Norris Comprehensive

Cancer Center of the University of Southern

California. Martin.

Dear Jan, 20 years ago, I came to L.A. to

become a professor at that other university

across town. The UCLA

people will recognize this joke. Of course,

that's the University of Southern California.

So a benefit of being in L.A.

was the presence of a Consulate.

And it was a big loss for L.A., when

the consulate moved to San Francisco.

However, that is when you stepped in and

became the Honorary Consul of the Netherlands

in L.A. And right from the start, your presence

for the Dutch community in L.A. was felt all over.

You created an office for consular

business at your architect firm.

But more than that, you showed up at almost

every Dutch event. Queen's Day, Kings Day,

Holland's Festival.

And you met Santa Claus

many times at the Dutch School.

Many Dutch social functions were held at your

beautiful architect's firm building. Personally,

I was also honored that you and Jo Anne

sponsored directly my cancer research.

This allowed me to train several

Dutch interns in my lab for three

of them, it dramatically changed their lives

as they stayed in the U.S., got married here

and found work in my lab.

So combined, I am deeply grateful for all

you have done for the Dutch community and

for me personally.

In my perspective, you were a knight in shining

armor all along, and I'm glad that the Dutch

Kingdom now has

acknowledged that, too. Thank you.

And now, before we ask Jan to address us,

to stay in this vocabulary, your brother in

arms and counselor, who's the Honorary Consul

of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in San Diego.

Henk.

Yeah.

I don't know how to address you these days.

I guess I'll keep it at Jan.

Okay.

Jan and I have kind of shared the

Southern California relationships with the

Dutch community. And we've done this in a

way that reflects the fact that we've lived

here for a long, long time.

Jan since the 1960s.

Since the 1960s, right?

Yes.

I since the 1980s, even before that.

And therefore, we have an affinity.

We've helped shape essentially the environment

in which we live, be it essentially through

architecture, be it in other situations.

You know, we've helped shape, you know, our

relationship with the community, not only

the Dutch community, but beyond that.

At the same time, we've never

really forgotten our roots.

We essentially, in heart, are Dutch people,

and therefore being an Honorary Consul is

the perfect situation, because on one side

you've got the affinity with the Dutch.

You at the same time have your network in

the Los Angeles environment.

That essentially has been an incredible, important

element, and that's why honorary consuls,

you know, play such an important role in the

overall relationships between Dutch government

and essentially the communities at large.

You know, not only the Dutch community but

the communities at large.

And the relationship that I've had

with Jan has been superb.

You know, Jan would essentially give me

a call, say: Hey, listen, there is something going

on in Orange County.

You're a lot closer than I am.

You do it.

And that's the way we work together.

And I've heard, you know, I've heard

the warm things saying about Jo Anne.

Yes, and Jan,

you're a renaissance person.

You're an artist, you're an architecture,

you are in design and everything else.

Never forget your better half.

She's the one that we really

ought to be thankful, as well.

Jan, I hope that, you know, in the coming

years, first of all, we've got a big, and I've

mentioned it already to Jo Anne. There's a big

event happening between Tijuana and San Diego

They were essentially selected to be the world

capital, the world capital in design. That's

happening in 2024. There will

be great opportunities to meet.

I would love you to be our guest, and

Jo Anne of course, to be there also.

Last but not least, I know it's a distance

between Malibu and Rancho Santa Fe, but I

tell you, we should get together, have a great

time, good meal and good company.

Thanks very much.

Thank you, Henk, for your warm words,

and also for your service to the kingdom.

So thank you for that.

And as our final speaker, I'm inviting

the knight Jan Van Tilburg.

I just realized sitting here for the last

half hour with this wonderful presentation,

some things are true that were said,

other things I still have to live up to.

But my grandfather, Johannes Van Tilburg,

also received this distinction in

So who to thank?

Of course, Jo Anne and the family, Marieke

and Matt, William, one member I didn't mention

who's at college in Boulder, Mattijes Kline.

He couldn't be here.

But really, I want to thank. In taking on

this role as Honorary Consul,

I really relied on my trappings in the architecture

firm. My partner Banvard, he always

said: Again, there comes another Dutch function.

And they helped me.

Of course, [. . .] my secretary

did, you know, all the work

because I really rely very much on help

in everything I do. I'm an untechnical

person as an architect. Hi-tech,

I don't have one of these, but my office

always, always stood behind me.

And then the Consul General.

I trained four of them.

And Henk, you've done that, too.

And then all of you, my friends. I'm humbled.

I'm very proud to have received this.

And it's been an incredible pleasure to fulfill

this role and more to come.

Thank you all very much.


Duration: 00:27:41

2023-JVT_Ceremony-audio-ny-ev2.mp3