The ceremony on November 5, 2019 took place as part of Journées de l'économie (Jéco). École normale supérieure de Lyon had the honour of awarding the insignia of Doctor Honoris Causa to Joseph E. Stiglitz, the American economist, Professor at Columbia University, and 2001 winner of the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel.

Jean-François Pinton, President of the ENS de Lyon, led the ceremony. He highlighted the remarkable nature of Joseph E. Stiglitz's career, whose seminal work on taking into account the effects of information asymmetry on all markets has revolutionized microeconomic analysis and, more broadly, the economy as a whole.

Laurent Simula, Professor of Economics at the ENS of Lyon, praised Joseph E. Stiglitz. At ENS de Lyon, economic researchers pay particular attention to the study of public policies and the links between economics and democracy. Their research was influenced at an early stage by Professor Stiglitz's work. This strong link continues at ENS de Lyon through the teaching in pre-master, Advanced Economics and doctoral studies. Students are particularly interested in the analysis of public policies in developed and developing countries, and in how best to reform them.

The ceremony was also an opportunity to listen to Luce Perret - a student at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon (CNSMD): the young trumpeter performed during the ceremony a piece of classical music - Aida, Act 2, Giuseppe Verdi's Grand March - and a piece of contemporary music - Gigue from suite n°1 for unaccompanied Cello, a study by Michael J. Gisondi on Bach adapted for trumpet.

Joseph E. Stiglitz ended with a conference entitled Beyond Neoliberalism: The Need for a New Paradigm. The Mérieux amphitheatre, which has 530 seats, was full. The audience was composed of professionals, economics students and the general public.