Previous Gala Honorees

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:

 
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.

    
*Indicates the position held when honored, not 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.
 
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