Annual gala

The Annual Gala is the principal fundraising event for the French-American Foundation. The event is held under the patronage of the French Ambassador and Consul General and attended by more than 300 individual and corporate supporters who are prominent diplomats, business leaders, and high-profile members of the French-American community in New York.

French-American Foundation Annual Gala 2011

In supporting the French-American Foundation and its many initiatives, gala attendees seize the opportunity to align themselves with the principal tenets of our mission: strengthening the relationship between leaders and institutions in France and the United States, deepening mutual understanding, and sharing best practices. In so doing, we can reach stronger conclusions, and together have a greater chance of resolving issues of common concern.

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Previous gala honorees

Each year at the Gala, the Foundation presents its Benjamin Franklin Award to individuals who have made significant contributions to the French-American relationship. The Vergennes Achievement Award is presented to long-standing supporters of the French-American Foundation. Past honorees include: Anne Lauvergeon, Patricia Russo, Ambassador Anne Cox Chambers, Henri de Castries, John A. Thain, Hon. C. Douglas Dillon, Hon. Walter J. P. Curley, Médecins sans Frontières, Bernard Arnault, Michel David-Weill, The Forbes Family, Maurice Lévy, Frederick W. Smith, David de Rothschild, Carlos Ghosn and Felix and Elizabeth Rohatyn. A list of past honorees from the past decade is below.

The Benjamin Franklin Award

The Benjamin Franklin Award is the highest award presented by the French-American Foundation to an individual or organization that has made a lasting contribution to the French-American relationship. Past recipients of this award include:

  • 2011 // Philippe Dauman, president and CEO, Viacom Inc.
  • 2010 // The Honorable Felix G. Rohatyn and Mrs. Elizabeth Rohatyn
  • 2009 // Mr. Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of the Renault Nissan Alliance
  • 2008 // Baron David de Rothschild, chairman, Rothschild Inc.
  • 2007 // Mme Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive officer, AREVA Ms. Patricia Russo, chief executive officer, Alcatel-Lucent       
  • 2006 // Mr. Henri de Castries, president, AXA Mr. John A. Thain, chief executive officer, New York Stock Exchange
  • 2005 // Mr. Frederick W. Smith, founder, chairman and president, FedEx       
  • 2004 // Mr. Maurice Lévy, chief executive officer, Publicis       
  • 2003 // The Forbes Family       
  • 2002 // Mr. Michel David-Weill, former chairman, Lazard Frères       
  • 2001 // 25th Anniversary Gala       
  • 2000 // Mr. Bernard Arnault, founder, chairman and chief executive, LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Inc.

Note: The list above indicates the position held when honored, and not necessarily the individual’s current title.

The Vergennes Achievement Award

The Vergennes Award is named for the Comte de Vergennes, the legendary French Foreign Minister who negotiated the official Treaty of Alliance between France and America, approved in 1778. A champion of the American colonists, he convinced King Louis XVI to fund their cause in the anticipated fight, thus securing French-American relations for centuries to come. The Vergennes Achievement Award is bestowed on an individual who possesses the characteristics of its namesake—unfailing loyalty, energy, generosity and personal foresight.

  • 2011 // David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author
  • 2010 // Michael Patterson
  • 2009 // The Honorable Arthur A. Hartman, former US Ambassador to France and the Soviet Union
  • 2008 // The Florence Gould Foundation
  • 2007 // The Honorable Anne Cox Chambers
  • 2006 // Mrs. Elizabeth Fondaras

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