The van Vlissingen – Pendleton International Study Grants

Each year Emory & Henry students can apply for international study grants of up to $2,000 when studying with a faculty member abroad. These grants are made available because of a long-term partnership between the John & Marine van Vlissingen Foundation (Zeist, Holland) and Brooke and Bill Pendleton (Atlanta, Georgia).

But how did this partnership come about? Bill Pendleton, a member of the E&H class of ’72 and a Wytheville, Virginia native, majored in political science and economics. Before attending Emory & Henry, his travel experience had been limited, ranging mostly from Wytheville to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He had traveled only once on an airplane, from the Tri-Cities Regional Airport near Bristol, Virginia to Atlanta, and that trip was made without his parents’ knowledge.

During his junior year and with graduation fast approaching, his German professor, Frau Roth, reminded him that he needed six more hours of foreign language credits. To earn the needed credits, she suggested he travel with her during the summer break to Frau Roth’s hometown in Gottingen, Germany. There he would live with a German family, experience German culture and study the architecture of Western Europe. The total cost for the trip, including tuition, travel and food, was $1,500. Although his family was paying for his college education, they were unable to budget for his study abroad. Desperate to complete his German study requirement, Mr. Pendleton borrowed the money from a family corporation with the promise to repay with a student loan in the fall. The experience was profound for Bill – from the 12-hour prop plane flight from New York to Hamburg, Germany to the Opera House in Vienna, Austria and from experiencing a new culture as a picky eater reared on meat and potatoes to one day resolving to eat whatever healthy food was on his plate. Frau Roth wanted her students to engage with many experiences, including traveling into Communist East Berlin, where they witnessed her giving money to an East German citizen, an act that, if caught by the authorities, could have resulted in a prison sentence.

Meeting the German people without being fluent in their language revealed to Bill that all communities are comprised of remarkably similar people – the lawyer, the doctor, the shopkeeper and the street cleaner. Returning to the United States and Wytheville, Bill was unrecognized by his family. His life had been transformed by the realization that he lived in an immense world of many different, yet similar people (and having gained 25 pounds from drinking delicious, warm German beer). After college, Mr. Pendleton moved to Atlanta and began his career as a lending officer in a small community bank in the heart of the city. He soon became the chief lending officer and pioneered the bank’s entry into mortgage banking, selling loans to Freddie Mac. Soon the bank, still small in asset size, was recognized as the largest home lender in Metropolitan Atlanta. Twelve years later, the bank’s profitability made it an attractive candidate for purchase. It caught the attention of a representative of one of Holland’s wealthiest families, John Fentener van Vlissingen, who bought the bank. A relationship was formed between Mr. Pendleton and Mr. van Vlissingen that led to numerous other ventures, including commercial and residential mortgage companies, a new bank, and major real estate ventures at the Atlanta airport that included hotels, a centralized car rental facility and a convention center.

The van Vlissingen family built their wealth over generations through a variety of enterprises that included brick laying, coal distribution, major natural gas, oil supplies, and scrap metal acquisition. The van Vlissingen family is a collection of creative entrepreneurs, and John van Vlissingen thrived always on the cutting edge. Among his many successful ventures was a corporate travel company, which he grew from a small Atlanta-based enterprise to the second largest corporate travel company in the world – second only to American Express.

Mr. Pendleton and Mr. van Vlissingen have shared many experiences during their 35-year relationship and partnership. John has been a mentor to Bill, providing lessons from his life. JvV (The initials used by many when talking about Mr. van Vlissingen) has a favorite expression: “I like to make money, but also I like to have fun making money.” Both gentlemen understand the value of leveraging growth by encouraging others to co-invest. One of the most admirable characteristics of Mr. van Vlissingen, according to Mr. Pendleton, is the value he places on family members, which means not only setting aside time to be with them, but also including them in his work and thought processes as business is transpiring. To honor their successful partnerships and friendship in perpetuity, a $1.4 million trust was established to provide international study grants for E&H students. It is the hope of these two entrepreneurs that many other friendships and partnerships will be birthed.