# American Academy in Berlin American Academy in Berlin is an Endowment / Foundation based in New York, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation - **Headquarters:** New York, United States - **Region:** Europe - **Address:** 14 East 60th Street, Suite 1104, New York, NY 10022, United States - **Founded:** 1994 - **Assets under management:** $61M (Altss estimate) - **Website:** americanacademy.de - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-academy-in-berlin ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Holbrooke, then US Ambassador to Germany, established the Academy in 1994 with Kissinger as Founding Chairman and Anna-Maria Kellen of the Arnhold-Kellen family as Founding Benefactor. The family's historic Hans Arnhold Center on Lake Wannsee became the physical campus, while a New York office at 14 East 60th Street anchors US operations. The project formalized an elite diplomatic and financial network into a private, nonpartisan institute now governed by trustees from KKR, Blackstone, Sequoia Capital, Lazard, and BCG. The endowment, estimated at $61M, supports a hybrid financial strategy spanning buyout-style bets and other alternative assets. The Academy deploys capital to fund roughly two dozen residential fellowships annually, with confirmed investments in the Hans Arnhold Center mixed-use property and an endowment portfolio managed in support of its Berlin campus and New York administrative footprint. Geographic focus centers on Berlin and New York, with fellowship programs drawing scholars, writers, and policymakers from across the transatlantic corridor. Sandra E. Peterson, Operating Partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Lead Independent Director at Microsoft, chairs the Board of Trustees. Treasurer Leah Joy Zell of Lizard Investors leads the Finance Committee. The trustee roster draws from active dealmakers — Johannes Huth at KKR, Kenneth Caplan at Blackstone, and Don Vieira at Sequoia Capital sit alongside BCG CEO Christoph Schweizer — creating a governance layer that connects the Academy to private-capital networks in New York and Europe. The Academy also houses the ABIS Collection and the Guna S. Mundheim Fellowship Collection at the Hans Arnhold Center, while maintaining membership in the Council on Foreign Relations. The Academy's structural differentiator is its physical dual-citizenship: a historic Berlin villa hosting fellows day-to-day, paired with a New York boardroom staffed by principals from the largest private-equity firms. That architecture turns each fellowship cohort into a recurring node connecting US intellectual capital to German institutional and cultural gatekeepers, a recurring conversion event few other endowed foundations replicate. ## Sectors - Education ## Offices - Am Sandwerder 17-19, 14109 Berlin, Germany ## People - Sandra E. Peterson — Chairman - Leah Joy Zell — Treasurer - Johannes Huth — Trustee - Richard Sarnoff — Trustee - Jeffrey A. Rosen — Trustee - Andrew Gundlach — Trustee - Kenneth A. Caplan — Trustee - Don Vieira — Trustee - Christoph Schweizer — Trustee ## Questions ### What is the relationship between the Arnhold family and the Academy? Anna-Maria Kellen, of the Arnhold-Kellen family, is the Founding Benefactor. The family provided the Hans Arnhold Center, a historic villa on Berlin's Wannsee lake, which serves as the Academy's campus. The Arnhold family's original wealth and the Kellen connection represent the foundational capital behind the endowment. ### Is the American Academy in Berlin an investing institution or purely a grantmaker? It operates as both. The Academy manages an endowment estimated at $61M with a disclosed hybrid strategy that includes buyout-style allocations. That capital funds residential fellowships and maintains the Hans Arnhold Center, making it a grantmaking foundation with an active investment posture rather than a simple check-writer. ### How does the American Academy in Berlin source its fellows? The Academy runs an open application process for scholars, writers, and professionals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, law, journalism, and public policy. Selection emphasizes transatlantic ties between the United States and Germany. The fellowship program is the Academy's primary operational activity, placing researchers in residence at the Berlin campus. ### What is the Hans Arnhold Center, and who owns it? The Hans Arnhold Center is a mixed-use property at Am Sandwerder 17-19 in Berlin, housing the Academy's fellowship program, the ABIS Collection, and the 1937 artwork 'Verkündigung.' The Center was provided by the Arnhold-Kellen family and is operated as a core asset of the Academy's endowment, confirmed in Altss research records. ### How is the Academy related to BCG and its CEO Christoph Schweizer? Christoph Schweizer, CEO of Boston Consulting Group, serves on the Academy's Board of Trustees. His presence, alongside principals from KKR, Blackstone, and Sequoia, reflects a deliberate governance strategy that embeds the Academy inside a network of global private-capital and consulting leaders rather than a standalone academic board. ## Related profiles - [ARAPREV](https://altss.com/profile/araprev) - [Americas Society/Council of the Americas](https://altss.com/profile/americas-society-council-of-the-americas) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/american-academy-in-berlin Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology