• Stephen Adler (2007-2008)
  Editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek Magazine.
• Roger W. Sant (2006-2007)
  Co-founder and former chairman of AES Corporation.
• Lawrence Bossidy (2005-2006)
  Former CEO of Allied Signal Corporation
• Edward Gramlich (2004-2005)
  Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• Arthur Levitt (2003-2004)
  Former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
• William Flynn (2002-2003)
  Board chairman of Mutual of America
• Louise Fréchette (2001-2002)
  United Nations Deputy Secretary-General
• Curt Weldon (2000-2001)
  U.S. Congressman

The Benjamin Rush Award Ceremony recognizes outstanding achievement by a member of the business or government community. The individual accepting the award presents a public lecture addressing the relationship of a liberal arts education to the business or government world. Opportunities for members of the College community to converse and discuss issues with the award recipient occur while the recipient is on the campus.

The recipient of the award is presented with an honorarium and with a bronze medal which bears the likeness of Benjamin Rush, the prominent colonial Philadelphia physician who was a key founder of the College and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The first Benjamin Rush Award was presented in 1985 to the board chairman and chief executive officer of CBS. Recipients since then have included three other corporate executives; the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea; the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget; the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations; and the Chairman of the Board of Mutual Life Insurance of America. The 2003-04 recipient was Arthur Levitt, former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.