Howard Wilkins

C. Howard Wilkins, Jr. was the US Ambassador to The Netherlands from 1989-1992. A prominent businessman, he bought the Kentucky Pizza Hut Franchise in 1966 and went on to build 16 restaurants in 18 months. He sold the stores to Pizza Hut, Inc. and became the company’s Vice President, responsible for establishing its international operations. The first Pizza Huts outside the US were built under his direction. In 1970, he established his own company, Pizza Corporation of America, which owned and operated about 270 Pizza Hut restaurants under franchise from the parent company, including Pizza Huts in London. Ambassador Wilkins is also a private investor and an active fund-raiser. He graduated from Yale where he studied European and American History and German.