AIAC TO SPONSOR THE 2026 SHACKLETON MARITIME GALA BALL: A CELEBRATION OF LEADERSHIP, RESILIENCE, AND MARITIME LEGACY

L. M. Levie, Chairman of American Industrial Acquisition Corporation and Trustee and Poet Laureate of The Explorers Club, issued the following statement:

"It is a profound honor for AIAC and for me personally to support the Atlantic Shackleton Global Foundation in celebrating Sir Ernest Shackleton, one of history's most extraordinary leaders and among the most celebrated and admired members of The Explorers Club. Shackleton's greatest achievement was not the conquest of any geographic objective, but the safe return of every man under his command in the face of unimaginable adversity. In an age that too often confuses ambition with achievement, his story reminds us that the highest measure of leadership is the well-being of those entrusted to our care.

The launch of the 'Spirit of Shackleton' is a fitting tribute to his enduring legacy. As a living classroom upon the sea, this vessel will carry his values - endurance, humanity, courage, and optimism - to a new generation of young Irishmen and Irishwomen, and to young people from around the world. To sail beneath canvas, to read the stars, to navigate the open ocean, and to learn that one's own welfare is bound up with that of one's shipmates: these are lessons no classroom on land can fully impart. It is in this same spirit that I have offered a poetic and musical tribute to Sir Ernest, to be presented during the evening - for poetry, like the sea itself, speaks to the depths of the human soul, and the great explorers deserve to be remembered in verse as well as in deed.

AIAC is proud to stand with the Atlantic Shackleton Global Foundation, with our fellow sponsor Avara Pharmaceuticals, and with all those who recognize that the cultivation of leadership in the young is among the most vital expeditions of our time. We are deeply grateful to the Foundation's leadership and to the people of Dún Laoghaire and Dublin for hosting an evening that honors a son of Ireland whose example continues to inspire the world. We extend our particular admiration to President Catherine Connolly, the tenth President of Ireland, whose distinguished commitment to peace, to climate stewardship, and to the empowerment of young people aligns so beautifully with the values of this Foundation and with the very legacy of Sir Ernest himself; her anticipated participation in the launch programme of the "Spirit of Shackleton" lends the occasion a grace and dignity for which we are most deeply honored."

About the Atlantic Shackleton Global Foundation

The Atlantic Shackleton Global Foundation is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Sir Ernest Shackleton by inspiring future generations through education, maritime engagement, scientific exploration, and youth development. Its mission is to ensure that Shackleton's values of resilience, leadership, courage, and humanity continue to shape leaders, explorers, and communities for years to come. The Foundation's programmes include youth leadership training, maritime science education, and the operation of vessels that serve as floating classrooms for students of all ages.

For further information, please see:

https://www.atlanticshackleton.org

About Sir Ernest Shackleton

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922) was an Anglo-Irish polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic, including the legendary Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917 aboard the ship Endurance. When Endurance was crushed by pack ice in the Weddell Sea, Shackleton led his crew through nearly two years of survival on ice floes, in lifeboats, and on the desolate shores of Elephant Island, ultimately bringing every member of his expedition home alive in one of the greatest feats of leadership in human history. Born in County Kildare, Ireland, Shackleton remains an enduring symbol of resilience, humanitarian leadership, and the indomitable spirit of exploration.

About The Explorers Club

Founded in 1904, The Explorers Club is a prestigious international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. Based at its historic headquarters in New York City, the Club has served as a meeting point and unifying force for explorers and scientists worldwide for over a century.

The Club's membership includes many of history's most renowned explorers and scientists, from polar explorers Robert Peary and Roald Amundsen to oceanic pioneers Jacques Cousteau and Robert Ballard, from aviation legends Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart to space pioneers like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Jim Lovell. The Club continues to support cutting-edge exploration in every realm-from the deepest ocean trenches to the highest peaks, from archaeological discoveries to space missions.

The Explorers Club is renowned for its rigorous standards of membership, requiring nominees to have made significant contributions to exploration or the sciences that advance our understanding of the world. The Club's Board of Trustees, Legacy Society, and various committees work to preserve the Club's mission while fostering new generations of explorers through grants, expeditions, and educational programs.

The Club's famous annual dinner, featuring exotic cuisine and presentations by leading explorers, has become legendary in New York society. More importantly, The Explorers Club continues to fund and support expeditions that push the boundaries of human knowledge, from climate research in Antarctica to biodiversity studies in remote rainforests to preparations for future Mars missions.

AIAC Chairman L. M. Levie serves as Member of its Board of Trustees and as Poet Laureate and Member of its Legacy Society. As Poet Laureate, Mr. Levie contributes to the Club's cultural mission by capturing the spirit of exploration through verse, honoring both historical achievements and contemporary discoveries that continue to expand the frontiers of human knowledge and experience.

For further information, please see:

https://www.explorers.org

About The Explorers Club Annual Dinner

Held annually since the club's inception in 1904, The Explorers Club Annual Dinner has served as a celebration of the world's greatest achievements in exploration. Known as the most coveted invitation in the world, the formal, black tie event traditionally was held at New York's Waldorf Astoria, and in recent years has migrated to the Glasshouse, a sleek, modern ballroom astride the Hudson River in Manhattan.

While The Explorers Club Annual Dinner's original menu at the Waldorf Astoria was famous for serving exotic animals, the Club has long since departed from this tradition and now embraces conventional cuisine, as the club's conservationist credentials have taken precedence. Nevertheless, tempting insect hors d'oeuvres are still available for adventurous connoisseurs during the cocktail reception prior to the formal dinner.

Attendees of the iconic Explorers Club Annual Dinner have included the most prominent figures from the worlds of exploration, business, finance, government, media, and entertainment.

For further information, please see:

https://www.felixkunze.com/explorers-club-annual-dinner-2025

About American Industrial Acquisition Corporation

American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) is a diversified industrial group with manufacturing and distribution sites in 24 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia-New Zealand. AIAC has acquired and grown non-core subsidiaries and divisions of Boeing, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Visteon, Carlyle, Ahlstrom, Tolko, Groupe Suez, Groupe Rexel, and many other leading multinational corporations.

AIAC companies serve companies and governmental entities worldwide in all major sectors, including aviation, space, defense, automotive, truck, rail, marine, petrochemical, solar, nuclear, food, confectionary, beverage, civil engineering and infrastructure, commercial construction, mining, dredging, disaster relief, education, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, AIAC companies are exclusive, authorized distributors of leading branded industrial and consumer products and serve as critical suppliers for the construction of major airports, schools, hospitals, performing arts and sports centers, offices and hotels throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. AIAC is a leading manufacturer of building, street, and highway signage in Europe, and a distributor of electrical products throughout France.

Of note, AIAC purchased Boeing Canada in 2005 and has produced over 10,000 unique components for every Boeing jet plane ever since, reliably serving Boeing from manufacturing facilities in North America. A leader in ultra-high precision jet engine component manufacturing, AIAC companies produce 2,200 fan blades for each jet engine produced by GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Honeywell.

AIAC companies actively support exploration into outer space, manufacturing critical components for launching and propelling spacecraft and satellites. AIAC customers in this sector include NASA, the European Space Agency, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing. AIAC affiliate, Champlain Cable Corporation, supported the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions with high performance wire and cable. AIAC companies also lead in the design and manufacture of undersea umbilical cables for worldwide oceanographic research.

AIAC companies produce the critical automotive wire and cable for Tesla, GM, Ford, Chrysler-Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan. In connection with its kraft paper manufacturing interests in Canada and the US, AIAC sustainably manages 22 million acres of Manitoba, Canada forestland, an area equivalent in size to the nation of Hungary.

AIAC affiliate, Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen GmbH, located in Germany, designs, manufactures and distributes high performance, emergency portable power generators utilized in global conflict zones and during natural disasters.

For further information, please see:

www.aiac.com

About AIAC Philanthropy

AIAC and the AIAC Foundation support a wide range of nonprofit, nonsectarian, bipartisan organizations which promote international conflict resolution, disaster relief, economic development, environmental sustainability, exploration, and the performing arts.

The exploration-focused nonprofit organizations which they actively support include The Explorers Club, the National Geographic Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Space Society, and the United States Space Foundation.

AIAC's other beneficiaries include the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation Inc., the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - Gates Philanthropy Partners, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carter Center, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institut Française des Relations Internationales, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Crisis Group, the International Rescue Committee, the Japan Society, the JFK School of Government of Harvard University, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the Sierra Club, the Trilateral Commission, and the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute.

For further information, please see:

https://www.aiac.com/our-values

Media Contact:

Isabel Carro-Toro, Vice President
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
+34 689 295 827 (Spain)
+1 787 244 3175 (USA)
[email protected]