On November 24, 2011, Janika Albers (BC06/DC07, Germany) passed away as a result of an accident while on holiday. She was a person of tremendous energy and determination, a dedicated member of the Bologna community and a much-valued member of Oxford Analytica where she had worked since completing her SAIS degree. Over the years, she not only spearheaded a number of important projects, but also collaborated closely with other SAIS alumni and members of the faculty (in particular with Professors Mahrukh Doctor and Erik Jones).

On March 11, 2012 many of Janika's friends gathered in Washington, D.C. to share memories about her and remember the many rich experiences shared with Janika both during their years together at SAIS and after their graduation. A link to the event is posted on Facebook.

Following Janika's untimely death, both her classmates from Bologna (Class of 2006) and her family began exploring ways to honor Janika's memory. The Class of 2006 decided to undertake the project that Janika was organizing with Professor Erik Jones at the time of her passing. Political Risk was one of Janika's strongest interests and the goal of this initiative is to help support the organization of a yearly memorial Lecture on Political Risk to be held at the Bologna Center.

Since its inception, the initiative has had an incredible success and the initial goal - to raise $6,500 and support the first Janika Albers Memorial Lecture - has been reached in three months. Now the initiative is ongoing with the long term goal to create an endowed Fund as to honor in perpetuity Janika's memory with each new Bologna Center generation.

Since 2013, eleven Janika Albers Memorial Lectures have been organized. See past events below for details.

View Past Events

In 2021, to celebrate their 15th anniversary the class leaders decided to build on what they started ten years ago when they raised money for the first Janika Albers Memorial Lecture on Political Risk.

They launched a new fundraising drive to endow a perpetual Bologna Class of 2006 Tribute Fund which, once established, will support in addition to the annual conference many other activities for the benefit of SAIS Europe students.

Classmates who are interested in joining this meaningful initiative should contact the Bologna Center Development Staff or the class leaders:

• Amy Cloud
• Jane Bloom
• Holger Wilms

Make a pledge and/or a gift now on our Online Donations page.

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