Background

The Turing Foundation was founded in july 2006 by Pieter and Françoise Geelen. The name of the foundation honours Alan Turing (1912-1954), the British scientist who is regarded by many as the founder of modern computer science. Turing has always been one of the heroes of Pieter Geelen. When Geelen and a good friend founded a company in 1991, they named it the Turing Machine Company. This company was later renamed to TomTom and it was listed on the Dutch stock exchange. From the proceeds of that IPO, Pieter and Françoise Geelen started the Turing Foundation.

Nowadays the foundation supports projects related to art expositions and music education, climate change and biodiversity and leprosy research. The budget is roughly €3,500,000 per year. Since it was founded, the Turing Foundation has made donations or allocated donations for over 600 (multi-)year projects.

Alan Turing

The name of the foundation honours Alan Turing (1912-1954), the British scientist who is regarded by many as the founder of modern computer science. His so-called 'Turing Machine' laid the foundations for the Complexity Theory; his 'Turing Test' is one of the philosophical cornerstones of Artificial Intelligence. Turing also helped decipher the Enigma Code during World War II, which was used by German submarines to encrypt their messages.

Turing has always been one of the heroes of our founder, Pieter Geelen. When Geelen and a friend who studied computer science together started a company in 1991, they named it the Turing Machine Company. In 2005 this company was renamed TomTom and it was listed on the Dutch stock exchange. From the proceeds of that IPO the Turing Foundation was founded.

The Team

Margreet Korsten
Director Art, Leprosy, Finance

margreet@turingfoundation.org

Margreet studied History at the University of Amsterdam. Previously, she worked as Coordinator for Fundraising and Sponsorship at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Beeld en Geluid) and as Head of Alumni Relations at the University of Amsterdam.

Lian Heinhuis
Director Climate and Biodoversity

lian@turingfoundation.org

Lian studied political science at the University of Amsterdam. She previously worked as a business and program manager at the Porticus Foundation. In addition to her work at the Turing Foundation, she is party leader of the PvdA in Amsterdam and spokesperson for sustainability, circular economy and energy transition.

Nevenfuncties:
Fractievoorzitter en raadslid Amsterdam (PvdA)

Sjaak Heuvels
Project Manager Art and Climate

sjaak@turingfoundation.org

Sjaak holds an MSc in Global Business & Stakeholder Management from Erasmus University. He has held various positions within sustainable trade and his last employer was The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH). As an independent consultant he has carried out projects for WWF, Oxfam, Solidaridad and Levi Strauss. In addition to his work at the Turing Foundation, he is a lecturer in business economics at Hermann Wesselink College in Amstelveen.