March 18, 2017July 15, 2023
Art, Cuisine, Culture, History, Stories, Tradition

Fine Dining Deepened in Endless Conversation with Mr William Drea “Bro” Adams and Mr Joe Boulos

William Drea Adams
American Educator, Advocate for the humanities; Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities (2014-2017); President, Colby College (2000-2014); President, Bucknell University (1995-2000)

Dear Bem,
Thank you for the lovely dinner and the honour of spending time in the home and art gallery of Madame Boi Tran. It was a very memorable evening and we are very grateful.

Excerpted from Mr Adams’s Email to Thuc Doan / Bem on 18 March 2017.

William Drea Adams — 10th Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Joe Boulos — Founder of Boulos Brokerage, Asset Management and Boulos Development and Thuc Doan / Bem deepening in almost endless conversation during the fine dining at Boi Tran Garden, Thien An Hill, Hue, 16 March 2017.

Dear Bem,

Thank you for the lovely dinner and the honour of spending time in the home and garden gallery of Madame Boi Tran. It was a very memorable evening and we are very grateful.

It will be certainly one of the highlights of our trip.

Bro

Excerpted from Mr Adams’s Email to Thuc Doan / Bem on 18 March 2017.

William Drea Adams

William Drea “Bro” Adams is an American educator and advocate for the humanities. He was the tenth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2014 to 2017. He served as the 14th President of Bucknell University from 1995 to 2000, and as the 19th President of Colby College from 2000 to 2014.
Mr Adams began his professorial career as a visiting assistant professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then at Santa Clara University. In 1986 he moved to Stanford University where he coordinated the Great Works in Western Culture program. He earned his nickname, Bro, from his father, in memory of a friend who died in World War II. In 1988 he took an administrative position at Wesleyan University, eventually becoming the vice president from 1993 to 1995. Mr Adams authored a PhD dissertation in the history of consciousness titled Digging in the same place: an essay in the political and social philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1982). He served five years as president of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2000 and became Colby College’s 19th president on July 1, 2000. Mr Adams served as a director of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network from 2002 to 2012, Wittenberg University from 2007 to 2011, and the Unitil Corporation since 2009. President Obama announced his intention to nominate Mr Adams to be the tenth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities in April 2014, and the nomination was confirmed by the Senate in July 2014. Adams resigned his NEH appointment in May 2017, citing accomplishments in the public humanities under the NEH Common Good initiative and the transition in federal administrations.

Joe Boulos

As founder of Boulos Brokerage, Asset Management and Boulos Development in 1975, Joe Boulos now oversees the strategic direction of the management company and the financial health of his real estate portfolio. Over his career, Mr Boulos has developed and built more than two and a half million square feet of commercial property in the Greater Portland area.
Mr Boulos served a tour of duty in Vietnam from 1968 to 1973 as a United States Marine Corps pilot. He was a commercial pilot from 1973 to 1975 in Laos, Africa and South America. Mr Boulos is a Cheverus High School graduate. He holds a BA and honorary MA and Doctorate degrees from Colby College. He is a former Director of the Area Development Council of Maine, the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Chamber & Business Alliance, the Portland Waterfront Task Force and Junior Achievement. He is a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Colby College.  He is a former member of the board of the Portland Museum of Art, Maine Bank & Trust and a founding director of The Maine Alliance as well as the Maine Real Estate Developers Association (MEREDA). He served as President of MEREDA from 1992 to 1993. He is a former trustee of Cheverus High School, Mercy Hospital and the Maine School of Art. Mr Boulos was named Developer of the Year by the Finance Authority of Maine in 1988, Developer of the Year by MEREDA in 1992 and was inducted into the Maine Business Hall of Fame in 1997. He was honoured in 2002 by Maine State Senate President, Republican Richard Bennett and the entire House of Representatives with the President’s Cornerstone Award “for contributing to the Maine economy and providing a solid foundation for its prosperity”.  Mr Boulos was appointed to the New England Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve and was Colby College’s Alumnus of the Year in 2003. Mr Boulos formerly chaired Maine’s “Compact for Higher Education”. The “Patrick Henry Award” was bestowed on Mr Boulos in 2006 by the National Association of the National Guard for his service to returning Maine veterans. He and his wife Cheryl have created more than 310 college scholarships for Maine veterans through a $1M donation announced at a Christmas party they held for National Guard families in December of 2005.  He was most recently awarded the Henri A. Benoit Award for Leadership in the Private Sector and was named Colby College Philanthropist of the Year in 2008. Mr Boulos was awarded Colby’s Ernest C. Marriner Award in 2010 for exceptional commitment and dedication to the college.

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