I-House Past and Future Celebrated at Benefit

International House paid tribute to some of its distinguished leadership and illustrious history during an extraordinary evening of tributes and celebration at the Rockefeller Estate in Westchester County on June 11th.

More than 200 guests gathered at the fabled Playhouse for the 2010 Scholarship Fund benefit, co-chaired by Trustees Peter M. O’Neill ’92 and Adam Quinton, which raised more than $450,000 for the House. To view a copy of the evening's program, including biographies of the honorees, click here.

Event Co-Chairs Adam Quinton and Peter O’Neill '92 flank Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller and John Whitehead, with Daisy Soros '51, Kathryn Davis '29 and Abby O’Neill seated in front

“The individuals gathered tonight constitute a historic assembly, of the kind not seen since the House celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 1950,” observed President Donald L. Cuneo '69. “At that time David Rockefeller hosted, among others, the then current Chairman, George C. Marshall, and a future Honorary Chairman, Dwight D. Eisenhower.”

Indeed, the guest list included David Rockefeller, an Honorary Co-Chair of the event; Chairman Paul A. Volcker; his predecessors and event honorees Henry A. Kissinger and John C. Whitehead; Trustee Fareed Zakaria, who gave the keynote address; and the event’s other Honorary Co-Chairs, Kathryn W. Davis ’29, Abby M. O’Neill, and Daisy Soros ’51.

Starting with cocktails on the Croquet Lawn and in the paneled living room, with its medieval fireplaces and portraits of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his family, and ending in the softly lit, columned hall where guests dined at tables atop the Playhouse’s covered indoor pool, guests later described the evening as memorable in every respect.

Welcoming guests, Co-Chair Peter O’Neill paid tribute to his mother, Honorary Trustee Abby O’Neill, seated nearby, for her 52 years of association with the House, and to his great-uncle, David Rockefeller on the eve of this 95th birthday and who in July marks the 70th anniversary of his election to the I-House Board of Trustees.

	Guests enjoy cocktails on the Croquet Lawn.
	Kathy Burns and Bill Rueckert with Kathryn Davis '29
	Happy Rockefeller, Alice Victor, Nancy Kissinger and Cynthia Whitehead
	Henry Kissinger and Fareed Zakaria applaud Abby O’Neill
	Paul and Anke Volcker with David Rockefeller
	Current I-House residents on the Croquet Lawn of the Playhouse

Co-Chair Adam Quinton noted the presence of three generations of the Rockefeller family present, and acknowledged Executive Committee Chairman William Dodge Rueckert and members of the Dodge Family in attendance.

These founding families “helped make Harry Edmonds’s dream of a truly global community – hatched over a century ago – into a reality,” said Quinton. “Tonight we are celebrating that legacy, and the leadership the House has enjoyed over the years.”

Don Cuneo in his remarks noted the recent archival discovery of the I-House arrival cards of Kathryn Wasserman and her future husband, Shelby Cullom Davis, which resulted in a correction of the official record, which previously stated both Davises lived at the House in 1932.

“In fact, Kathryn lived at the House in the fall of 1929,” said Cuneo, before handing copies of the documents to a delighted Mrs. Davis. “So she’s been an alumna of the House for 81, not 78 years!”

Chairman Volcker honored his predecessors – all of whom vied for the distinction of having known David Rockfeller the longest - for their contributions and service to the House. He recalled attending a recent meeting with Kissinger in Europe and noted that, 33 years after stepping down as U.S. Secretary of State, Kissinger still “commands the attention of people around the world on almost any subject, and enormous respect.”

“International House represents so deeply what the Rockefeller family has stood for,” said Kissinger in accepting the honor, and the Harry Edmonds Award for Outstanding Life Achievement. “It is one of their great achievements. I think back to the decade I had the honor of being chairman with great pride.”

Volcker praised John Whitehead’s leadership of “one of the great financial institutions of New York,” Goldman Sachs, and noted that in many cases, Wall Street leaders do not succeed at careers in Washington, where Whitehead was Deputy Secretary of State from 1985-89.

“Fifty percent of the time it doesn’t work, and both sides are unhappy,” said Volcker. “In John’s case I saw first hand, from across the street at the Federal Reserve, he had a tremendous impact on the State Department and made a great contribution to our government.”

“International House is a wonderful organization, and I was so proud to be part of it and have time to contribute to it,” said Whitehead. “The students that are privileged to live there have a wonderful opportunity that perhaps exceeds the benefits from their graduate degrees in the knowledge they gain from their friendships and colleagues at the House.”

In his keynote remarks, Fareed Zakaria praised the contributions David Rockefeller and the three men who preceded him at the podium had made to International House, and how they had helped shape the last 50 years of history. He described the current “Post-American World”, using the title of his last book, and the challenges and opportunities the U.S. faces in the years to come.

“For the United States to be able to survive and thrive in the new 21st century post-American world, it will need the skills of David Rockefeller, John Whitehead, Paul Volcker, and Henry Kissinger,” Zakaria concluded. “So I implore you gentlemen to make sure you stick around for another 30 or 40 years.”

Guests, including a number of alumni and current residents, lingered in the glow of the evening and savored the atmosphere before departing the Playhouse and the moonlit precincts of Rockefeller estate.

Major support for the 2010 Scholarship Fund benefit was provided by Abby and George O’Neill (Founder’s Circle table), Peter M. O’Neill ‘92, the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, John French III, Paul B. Kazarian (Japonica Partners), and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation (Benefactor tables), and John Bing Sing Pek ’68, Adam and Mandy Quinton, Fleur and William Dodge Rueckert, and Toyota (Patron tables).

Photography by Julie Skarratt