Tag Archives: Carl Kruse

Past Events Berlin

January 14, 2026 – Harvard Club Invite for Ivy Circle

by Carl Kruse

The Harvard Club of Berlin invites the Ivy Circle to another event as part of their “Insight Industrial Berlin” to take place Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 6:30pm at the Berlin offices of Idealo. The full invite from the Harvard Club is below.

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The Harvard Club of Berlin is pleased to invite you to another event of our  “Insight Industrial Berlin” series on Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 6:30 pm.

We are delighted that Harvard alumnus Jovan Protić has invited us to the premises of idealo in the new Axel Springer building for his lecture “How artificial intelligence will change our lives and our economy: Lessons from Silicon Valley.”

Carl Kruse Tech Blog - Invitation to Harvard event in Berlin

About the Speaker:

Jovan Protić is Managing Director at idealo, Europe’s leading price comparison platform. He brings nearly two decades of experience in media and digital leadership, having played a central role in driving the digital transformation of media companies across Europe. Most recently Jovan was representing the Axel Springer group in Silicon Valley working on shaping AS AI future.

He began his career in 2005 at Ringier Axel Springer in Serbia, joined the leadership team of Ringier Axel Springer Media AG in 2016 as a COO – overlooking digital media transformation in nine CEE markets. Parallel to this role, since 2018 he held senior roles at Ringier Axel Springer Poland, most recently serving as Vice President of the Management Board from 2023. Throughout his career, he has launched more than 20 digital media and e-commerce products and established market-leading news portals in nine countries.

About the Lecture:

In his session, Jovan Protić examines how artificial intelligence will reshape the way we live, work, and do business. Drawing on six months spent in Silicon Valley studying leading media and e-commerce innovators, he shares the most influential ideas, technologies, and business models emerging from the global tech epicenter.

Jovan connects these insights with his hands-on leadership experience in European digital media and e-commerce, previously at Ringier Axel Springer and now at idealo. He highlights how AI-driven concepts can be translated into practical strategies, showing that the future of innovation is shaped not only in Silicon Valley, but also in the everyday decisions and ecosystems closer to home.

Tickets:

Members: 15 € p.p.

Non-members: 20 € p.p.

Attendance is limited to 35 guests.

Registration until January 8, 2026:

Please register via the following link: Registration

Payment options:

  1. Bank transfer: Please transfer the ticket to our bank account:

Harvard University Alumni Club of Berlin e.V.

IBAN: DE33 1007 0848 0036 7532 00

BIC: DEUTDEDB110

Reference: your name & Industrial Berlin

  1. Paypal: frohn@pwwl.de  family and friends

Reference: your name & Industrial Berlin

When: Wednesday, January 14,  2026 at 6:30 pm

Where: Idealo Internet GmbH, Zimmerstrasse 50, 10888 Berlin

The Harvard Club Berlin sees itself as a politically neutral institution. With its selection of speakers and venues, the HCB does not align itself with any political positions but rather wants to create space for open and respectful discussion.

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Past Events Berlin

Harvard Club Invite: Dinner with Author Jamaica Kincaid


Hello all!

The Harvard Club of Berlin invites us to an evening discussion with renown author Jamaica Kincaid on November 5 at 6:30pm at Restaurant Luther & Wegner, Charlottenstr. 56 10117 Berlin.

The invite is below.

Cheers!  

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle and Berlin Chair, Princeton Alumni Association in Germany

P.S.  Stammtisch, Tuesday, Nov 4 at Fredericks in Potsdammer Platz.

Dear members and friends of the Harvard Community in Berlin,

The Harvard Cub of Berlin is honored to invite you to a Leadership Dinner with Jamaica Kincaid.

Jamaica Kincaid will begin with a short reading followed by a conversation on her experiences as a writer and professor at Harvard University as well as her impressions so far as an American Academy Fellow in Germany.

The evening will be moderated by Clara Péron, the club’s vice president.

About Jamica Kincaid:

Jamaica Kincaid is a writer and Professor Emerita of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She holds honorary degrees from Amherst College, Tufts University, Middlebury College, and the University of the West Indies, among others. Celebrated for her evocative reflections on family, memory, gender, colonialism, her native Antigua, and gardening, Kincaid is the author of numerous award-winning and widely translated essays, short stories, and novels, including At the Bottom of the River (1983), Annie John (1985), Lucy (1990), A Small Place (1988), The Autobiography of My Mother (1996), My Brother (1997), Mr. Potter (2002), Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas (2005), See Now Then (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013), and most recently An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children (with Kara Walker; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024). Her “Talk of the Town” columns for The New Yorker appeared in Talk Stories (2001). She is the winner of the 2022 Paris Review Hadada Prize for Lifetime Achievement, 2017 Dan David Prize, a 2014 American Book Award and 2000 Prix Femina Étranger, among many other awards. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

We look forward to seeing you at our Leadership Dinner.

When?: Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 6:30 pm

Where?: Restaurant Luther & Wegner

Charlottenstraße 56, 10117 Berlin

Dresscode: Smart Casual

Tickets:

Members & partners: 45 € p.p.

Non-Members: 55 € p.p.

Welcome drinks and two course menu are included.

Drinks with the meal will be charged separately.

30 tickets are available for this event.

Please register via the following link: Registration  until October 29, 2025.

Payment options:

  1. Bank transfer: Please transfer the ticket to our bank account:

Harvard University Alumni Club of Berlin e.V.

IBAN: DE33 1007 0848 0036 7532 00

BIC: DEUTDEDB110

Reference: your name & HLD Kincaid

  1. Paypal: frohn@pwwl.de  family and friends

Reference: your name & HLD Kincaid

Past Events Berlin

A Conversation With Pulitzer Prize Laureate Elizabeth Kolbert

by Carl Kruse

Something of a last minute invite courtesy of Bill Woodward – an evening with journalist Elizabeth Kolbert taking place Monday, September 22 at 7pm at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Please see the invite below for full information.

Cheers!

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle


You are warmly invited to join us for the conversation

Our Climate Past and Future:
An Evening with Elizabeth Kolbert, Journalist and Pulitzer Prize Laureate
 
Monday, September 22, 2025
7:00 pm CET/GMT+1
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Jägerstr. 22-23, 10117 Berlin 

Climate change continues to reshape both domestic and global policy and politics on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite a shared reality in how the world is changing around us, Europe and the United States under President Trump are approaching the crisis in dramatically different ways. In conversation with Joshua Yaffa Bard College Berlin’s writer-in-residence, prominent journalist and Pulitzer Prize laureate, Elizabeth Kolbert, will share stories, and prognoses from the frontlines of a changing climate. Kolbert will speak to the way humans are changing the world around them, and how those changes reflect back on humanity. She will also address the current state of climate politics and policy in the U.S. and Europe—a gap in approach and even basic understanding that is quickly widening to a gulf. Is it possible to speak of a shared transatlantic climate policy, or even climate understanding? And can technology save us if politics doesn’t? 

Kindly register here.
 
For questions, please contact Dr. Berit Ebert, Director of Public Programs and Strategic Initiatives: b.ebert@berlin.bard.edu.

I hope everyone is well!

Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle
Past Events Berlin

Third Art Brunch With Helena Kauppila and Open Studios Tour

by Carl Kruse

The Ivy Circle Berlin would like to invite all to its third Art Brunch at the studio of Helena Kauppila, on Sunday, October 5, 2025, starting at 11:45 am on the fourth floor of Ackerstrasse 81, 13355 Berlin.

There will be a welcome drink, some finger foods, and a brief introduction by the artist at 12:15 pm. 

A mathematician turned painter, Helena is fascinated by complexity and emerging systems. While her colorful paintings may appear random and disjointed, there is a systems thinking behind them, often anchored in mathematics. Her work touches on the structure of DNA, mathematical theories, and the human connection to nature and the world around us.

Helena is excited to share new work from her Complex Systems series, along with a sneak preview of a collaboration with TU Berlin. 

Helena writes, “The Complex Systems series is the thread running through all of my work. It grew out of a desire to bring together color, science, and lived experience to explore how individuals connect to larger systems. My background in mathematics introduced me to complex systems — phenomena where simple parts combine to create something entirely new. Think of neurons firing to create conscious thought, or the dynamics of an ecosystem: each element plays a role, yet together they form something far greater than themselves.

This idea of emergence fascinates me. It resonates not only with the scientific ideas I encountered in my research, but also with my own personal journey of moving between countries, adapting to new cultures, and finding belonging within a whole.

In my paintings, I use simple elements that, when combined, generate complex color spaces. These forms resist traditional figure–ground relationships; instead, they evoke the statistical properties of a scene — suggesting a world where meaning emerges from patterns rather than from hierarchy.”

Kauppila resides in Berlin. She holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Columbia University and is the recipient of the Reginald Marsh and Felicia Meyer Marsh scholarship at the Art Students League of New York. 

RSVP helpful (but not required).

At 1 pm other ateliers in the building open as well, so there will be further opportunity to explore other art and meet other artists.

For any questions please contact Helena directly at helena@helenakauppila.com.

I look forward to seeing everyone on October 5!

Cheers!
Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle Berlin

We have done several events with Helena Kauppila in the past including a Double Art Event, the Miettenin Collection, and the Second Art Brunch in Berlin.

Past Events Berlin

Double Art Exhibition with Helena Kauppila – July 18

by Carl Kruse

Friend of the Ivy Circle and Columbia alum Helena Kauppila invites all to the opening reception of Ein guter Grund, a duo exhibition at Alter Kiosk Berlin. The event takes place on Friday, July 18th, starting at 6 pm, and there will be a performance.

Opening Reception
Ein guter Grund
Ernst Handl and Helena Kauppila
Friday, July 18, 2025
6 pm

Gallery location
Alter Kiosk Berlin
Grunewaldstraße 27
12165 Berlin-Steglitz

The exhibition’s title Ein guter Grund plays on the layered meanings of the German word Grund—referring both to a motive or reason, and to the painted ground that forms the essential base of a work. This duality reflects both Helena’s and Handl’s shared interest in how thoughtful beginnings—whether philosophical or material—shape the unfolding of artistic process.
The exhibition unfolds along a circular route through eight interconnected rooms, including an underground section presenting some video works, and a tall transitional passage that holds Handl’s large textile piece suspended from the ceiling. Several sunlit rooms will be filled with their paintings, including Helena’s recent work Spring! (2025), 30 x 30 cm, oil on linen. Inspired by the special yellow light as spring arrives, this is one of Helena’s favorite paintings.
There will be some introductory words and a performance around 7:30 pm.  Cheers!
Carl Kruse
Berlin Chair, Princeton University
Ivy Circle Berlin
Past Events Berlin

The Miettinen Collection Hosts Artist Helena Kauppila


By Carl Kruse

Ivy Circle member Helena Kauppila who we have done several events with in the past (see her well-received brunch here) invites the Ivy Circle and friends to her continuing exhibition at the Miettinen Collection.

Here is the invite from Helena herself:

“I am honored that my recent work Early Life (2025) will be included in the exhibition A Little Madness in the Spring, an exhibition in collaboration with Sotheby’s International Realty and the Miettinen Collection.

The exhibition is open by appointment until July 11th, 2025. To make an appointment, please contact Riina Kylätasku at the Miettinen Collection (the email contact is below).

The exhibition is curated by Riina Kylätasku and explores the themes of spring and the beauty of life. How artists translate nature’s wild renewal into paint–revealing beauty not just in what grows, but in how we feel it. The title is inspired by Emily Dickinson’s famous poem “A Little Madness in the Spring:”

A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown – 
Who ponders this tremendous scene – 
This whole Experiment of Green – 
As if it were his own!

In my painting Early Life, I go back to the very beginning of life on Earth. What is life? How did life first arise? How is life connected?  Not only genetics and biology but many fields of inquiry are involved in trying to answer these origin questions.

There’s a subtle visual element in this painting arising from the embedded DNA code: under certain lighting conditions, when blue or purple tones come forward, large-scale structures emerge—only to dissolve again as the light shifts. The painting thus balances between order and chaos, between system and individual.  

If you would like to add Early Life to your collection, or are interested in visiting the exhibition A Little Madness in the Spring, please contact Riina Kylätasku at the Miettinen Collection: kylaetasku@miettinen-collection.de

Best regards,
Helena

About Helena:
A mathematician turned visual artist, Helena is intrigued by complexity and emerging systems. While her colorful work may appear random and disjointed, there is a systems process behind it, often anchored in mathematics. Her work touches on the structure of DNA, mathematical theories, and the human connection to nature and the world around us..

Kauppila lives in Berlin and holds a doctorate in Mathematics from Columbia University and is the recipient of the Reginald Marsh and Felicia Meyer Marsh scholarship at the Art Students League of New York.

Past Events Berlin

Introductory Tango With The Ivy Circle

by Carl Kruse

We’re excited to invite you to a special evening — a private Argentine tango introduction workshop followed by networking over wine and the chance to experience Berlin’s famous Milonga. All exclusive and private for the Ivy Circle.

No experience? No problem! Most of us have never been introduced to tango and this evening we’ll be guided by Berlin’s top tango teachers at Nou Tango Berlin, the city’s most prestigious tango school.

We start completely from zero:

  • Learn tango basics, the unique etiquette, and how to walk comfortably
  • Get a glimpse into the rich, magical world of Argentine tango.
  • No partner or special shoes needed — just bring yourself!

Program:
🕓 4:30 PM – Private tango class exclusively for the Ivy Circle.
🕕 6:00 PM – Wine & networking in our private mirror room at the venue.
🕢 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM – Join or watch Berlin’s famous Milonga (the lively social dance event open to the wider tango community)

You can either join the dancing and try your new skills or simply relax with a glass of wine and watch beautiful tango dancers in action.

Event Details:
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025
Location: Nou Mitte (Chausseestraße 102, 10115 Berlin). (U-Naturkundemuseum).
Cost: 20€ (includes the workshop + one glass of wine)

Milonga? A milonga is a traditional tango gathering — a warm, welcoming evening full of music, dancing, and community.

Fun fact: Berlin has the largest and most vibrant tango community in the world outside Argentina!

RSVP:

Please RSVP to Carl Kruse at carl@alumni.princeton.edu before Saturday 03 May if possible.

+1s are warmly welcome! Bring a friend, partner, or fellow alumni — the more the merrier.

Don’t miss this opportunity to discover the magic of tango, make new friends, and enjoy a beautiful evening with the Ivy Circle.

We look forward to dancing and toasting with you!

Cheers!
Carl Kruse

P.S. May thanks to LSE Alum Avitosh Sawhney for the original idea and organizing of the event.

Past Events Berlin

Harvard Club Event in Berlin: Fireside Chat with Dr. Gregor Schmitz

The Harvard Club of Berlin invites members of the Ivy Circleto the Fireside Chat – “Turning Point. In the World. In the United States? In Germany ?” with Dr. Gregor Peter Schmitz scheduled for Wednesday, 28 May 28, at 18:30 at the Marriott Hotel on Potsdamer Platz. in Berlin.

About Dr. Gregor Peter Schmitz:

Gregor Peter Schmitz, born in 1975, is Chairman of the editor-in-chiefs of STERN, GEO and Capital. He is also responsible for the joint digital offering Stern +. A lawyer and political scientist with degrees from Cambridge and Harvard began his professional career as head of the Brussels office of the Bertelsmann Foundation. He spent six years as SPIEGEL’s USA correspondent in Washington before he took over as European correspondent in Brussels. After heading the capital city office of “WirtschaftsWoche” in Berlin, Schmitz spent four years as editor-in-chief of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”, one of the highest-circulation and most-cited German daily newspapers.

He has received numerous awards for his journalistic work, including the Henri Nannen Prize, the Theodor Wolff Prize, the Arthur F. Burns Prize and several times as “Editor-in-Chief of the Year”. His first book, “Wetten auf Europa: Gespräche mit George Soros” published by Random House, was a SPIEGEL bestseller and was translated into numerous languages. Schmitz is a regular guest on national and international TV and radio programs, such as Markus Lanz, Anne Will, Maischberger, the Presseclub, Deutschlandfunk and the BBC. At the end of 2022, after his first year as the new editor-in-chief at STERN he has been awarded by both a 100-member jury of the “Medium Magazin” as well as by the trade magazine Kress as “Editor-in-Chief of the Year”.

We are very much looking forward to seeing you at our Fireside Chat!

Tickets: Members & partners: 25 € p.p.

Non-Members: 35 € p.p.

Soft drinks and finger food are included.

Registration here: Registration Link

Payment options:

  1. Transfer: Please transfer the ticket to the account: 

Harvard University Alumni Club of Berlin e.V.

IBAN: DE33 1007 0848 0036 7532 00

BIC: DEUTDEDB110

Reference: your name & Gregor Schmitz

  1. Paypal: frohn@pwwl.de  family and friends

Reference: your name & Gregor Schmitz

This promises to be a great event.

Cheers!
Carl Kruse
Ivy Circle Berlin

Current Events Berlin

Ivy Circle Berlin Stammtisch – 3 February 2026

by Carl Kruse

The Ivy Circle Berlin Stammtisch takes place every first Tuesday of the month.

The Ivy Circle Berlin monthly Stammtisch is back on Tuesday, February 3, 2025 from 6-9 pm at FREDERICKS, located at Bellevue Str 1, 10785 at Potsdammer Platz.

We have gathered at Frederick’s several times and everyone likes it and so we return.

For those who have not been there, Frederick’s is an upscale restaurant-and-bar housed in the historic Kaisersaal of the former Grand Hotel Esplanade. The space blends Belle-Époque details—soaring ceilings, chandeliers, ornate marble—with contemporary art and a dramatic, wraparoud bar. It feels at once grand and playful.  Fredericks’ is happy to welcome the Ivy Circle again for after work cocktails.

Complimentary wine while it lasts.  Cash bar.

Come meet old and new friends alike.  It will be good.

See you at Fredericks on Tuesday, February 3!

Cheers,
Carl Kruse
Berlin Chair, Princeton Alumni Association of Germany
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Former events include Champagne and Art with Jade Cassidy, and the Boros Bunker Sammlung Tour.

Past Events Berlin

London School of Economics Invite To GENERATE Event

By Carl Kruse

Our friends at the London School of Economics (LSE) invite the Ivy Circle to join in the launch of the LSE Generate chapter in Berlin and a discussion of European tech resilience.  This launch is LSE’s third Generate chapter in Europe, with the goal of bringing together the broader community of socially-minded and entrepreneurial alumni in Berlin — connecting innovators from LSE and beyond — and contributing to Europe’s evolving startup ecosystem.

  • When: Wednesday, 21st May, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm. The panel will kick off shortly at 7 pm and run for about 1 hour, followed by some informal networking.
  • Where: Clubhouse Berlin on Torstraße 85 close by Rosenthaler Platz.
  • Who: Saad Saeed, co-founder of Flink and now building Layla, a leading AI-powered travel platform; André Wilkens, one of the founding members of the European Council on Foreign Relations and LSE alum; Melina Sanchez Montanes, climate investor, Principal at AENU, and Harvard and Dartmouth alum. The discussion will be moderated by Marcela Mogilska, founder of Radia, the inclusive tech network.
  • What: The event marks LSE Generate’s third chapter in Europe with a panel on European tech resilience.

This promises to be a great event and members of the Ivy Circle can sign up here: https://lu.ma/k2xwoq74

Hope to see everyone there!

Carl Kruse
Other current events include the Theater Reading Discussion Group.