US-born Begley, who wants to lift Smurfit into the global premiership of business schools, will be honoured alongside a cross-section of corporate leaders at an awards luncheon on 21 November in New York.

The keynote speaker is James Quinn, president of Tiffany & Co and also chairman of the American board of the UCD Smurfit school.

Other honorees include real estate magnate Sean Conlon, who featured in the RTE documentary Made in America;

Declan Kelly of Financial Dynamics; John Hartnett of Palm; Marina Donohoe of Enterprise Ireland; Alan Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble; Coca-Cola CEO E Neville Isdell; American Ireland Fund co-founder Dan Rooney; Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy and William Walsh of Sequoia, an early investor in Google and YouTube.

This is the 21st year Irish America has issued its Business 100 list.

"It is impossible to imagine Ireland's Celtic Tiger without the input of so many of these captains of American business who have always ensured that Ireland has a prime place at the table when it comes to American investment, " said Niall O'Dowd, founding publisher of Irish America.