About ESE
Distinguished Guests & Awards
The European School of Economics has hosted and awarded a number of statesmen, dignitaries, Nobel Prize winners and celebrities.
Distinguished guests
John Nash · Merton Miller · Betty Williams · Mikhail Gorbachev · Joseph Rotblat · John Galbraith · Andrew Michael Spence · Harry Markowitz · Douglas North · Gary Becker · Franco Modigliani · James Heckman · Dominick Salvatore · Nicholas Negroponte · Gordon Bethune
Lifetime Achievement · Vision & Reality Award recipients
Beyoncé Knowles · Valentino · the Hilton Family · the Trump Family · former President George H. W. Bush · Houston Mayor Bill White · Vogue Italia Editor-in-Chief Franca Sozzani · Nobel laureate Sir James Mirrlees · Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg · Dr. Aubrey de Grey (SENS) · Mikhail Gorbachev
From the archives
John Nash addresses ESE students · Beyoncé receives the Millennium Award in Houston, where Matthew Knowles accepts the Vision & Reality Award before 200+ guests · the Trump and Hilton families honoured at Cipriani, New York · Franca Sozzani celebrated at ESE's 20th Anniversary New York Ball at Trump Tower · Stefan Edberg presented the ESE Sportsmanship Award at the Alumni Reunion Gala in Florence.
This heritage of prestige carries directly into the 30th Anniversary Graduation Gala — London, July 2026.
The 2026 Anniversary Gala