The David Gillingham Award celebrates excellence and innovation in international business education across the Network of International Business Schools (NIBS). The award recognises outstanding, internationally oriented educational initiatives developed by NIBS member institutions. Its goal is to showcase exemplary work that enhances business education, promotes collaboration, and strengthens student learning and engagement.
Members are invited to present projects at the NIBS Annual Conference which advance business education through improved teaching, learning, curriculum design, student support, or pedagogical innovation. Initiatives with international relevance, measurable impact, or strong engagement from students, faculty, or staff are particularly encouraged.
Date of Presentation: 5-8 May, 2026 (Exact date to be confirmed)
Submission deadline: Monday 20 April, 2026, registration form
This FAQ guidance document provides practical guidance for applicants, finalists, and conference delegates. David Gillingham Award FAQ v3 (updated Feb 2026)
Past Winners:
2025
Winner: “American Citizen, Global Citizen”
Caden Whitt & Mollie Kate Erwin, Sorrel Global Scholars, Troy University, USA
Runner-up: “Global Social Entrepreneurship through Social Immersion”
Dr. Adity Saxena, Woxsen University, India & Ed Overes, Zuyd UAS, Netherlands
Runner-up: “International Sustainability”
Mrs Dina De Cuyper, Mrs Kim Plevoets, Dean of the Faculty of Management & Dr. Femke Sterckx, UCLL, Belgium
2024
Winner: Pure Living Project, Grow Your Own Home
Dr Petra van Heugten and Drs Gemma Coughlan, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands presentation
Runner-up: Empowering Ragpicker Communities: A business tournament COIL Project for Cross-Cultural Entrepreneurial Solutions in India and Brazil.
Dr Adity Saxena, Woxsen University, India presentation
Runner-up: Go Global
Prof Liz Warren & Stewart Morrell, Manchester Metropolitan University, presentation GoGlobal presentation NIBS Conference 2024
2023
Winner: International Marketing Week Network
Barbara Brooijmans, EPHEC, Belgium
Sven Cerulus, Mario De Wolf, UCLL, Belgium
Professor Joachim Link, Heilbronn UAS, Germany
Runner-up: Authentic Actions: “Becoming the Change You Want to See in the World”
Dr. Petra van Heugten, Gemma Coughlan, PhD(c), Hanze UAS, the Netherlands
Runner-up: International Debate Series
Professor Marieta Velikova, Belmont University, U.S.A
Runner-up: Dashboard for data-driven intercultural learning
Ed Overes, Zuyd UAS, Netherlands
Runner-up: Cross border projects
Chris Schrage, Laura Zabala Velez, University of Northern Iowa, U.S.A
2022
Winner: International Collaborative Inclusion through Business Simulation
Ed OVERES, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
Runner up: Motivating international newbies for strategic management through a COIL XL
Neji Milad, Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, Belgium
Runner up: Student Learning Ambassadors Module (SLAM)
Professor Ding Ning, Mariusz Soltanifar, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, Netherlands
Runner up: Working Across Borders (WAB)
Sven Cerulus, University College Leuven-Limburg (UCLL), Belgium
Runner up: An innovative approach to over the technical challenges as a result of Brexit, for Swedish student’s funding provision, studying validated U.K. top-up programmes in Sweden.
Colin Knapp, Rebecka Persson and Otto Lilliehöök, Företagsekonomiska Institutet (FEI), Sweden2021
2020 The David Gillingham Award wasn’t run due to the global pandemic.
2019
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands, for ‘The Rotterdam Business Case’. This unique project partnered with The Foundation Entrepreneurs Soundboard and Rotterdam City Council combined to nurtured and mentor over 400 successful entrepreneurs from below the poverty line. Students, mentors and businesses combined in a young + old = gold initiative to support developing businesses. The model’s success was shared with partners in Finland and Brighton to add an international dimension.
2018
2017
Carleton University, Canada, for the ‘From Buckets to Rain Barrels‘ learning initiative in which business, engineering and industrial design students collaborate with NGOs and residents to develop water purification and storage solutions for a drought-impacted region of Tanzania.
>> Read the news article (Carleton University)
2016
Jackson State University, USA, for the ‘Passport to the World‘ initiative for students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds.
2015
FH Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences, Austria, for the Scaling Up from Local to Global collaborative entrepreneurship and learning program.
>> Read the news article (English translation in Wirtschafts Zeit)
2014
International Business Academy, Denmark, for the VELUX Foundation Project.
2013
Arkansas State University, USA, for their Ecuador Project in Salinas de Guaranda.
>> Read the news article (ASU News)