GISMA holds first-ever graduation ceremony
Fifty students attended in person, with the remaining students joining online from around the world for the live-streamed event. The families of the students were also part of the celebrations, along with the GISMA faculty, staff and special guests from the wider Global University Systems group. The ceremony saw students from five postgraduate programmes, including GISMA’s AMBA-accredited Global MBA, become the university’s first-ever alumni.
Professor Dr Fotis Papageorgiou, Vice-President of GISMA, opened the ceremony, welcoming graduates and guests and recognised the achievements of the students. The welcome remarks were followed by an address from Professor Dr Stefan Stein, President of GISMA.
He said: “We are celebrating our first graduate intake, knowing they will thrive in their professional life and become inspirational individuals. It is like your first child. We love them more than anything else. We love to see them grow.
“This is also a historic day for the entire GISMA team. I would like to congratulate every one of them for their commitment, dedication and hard work. I am also looking forward to seeing a strong network of GISMA alumni helping each other, sharing their experience and becoming inspirational figures for future student intakes.”
The guest speaker for the event was Karsten Hollasch, a Partner at Deloitte and Global Private Equity Leader Financial Advisory. He has also had leading roles within the consumer, retail, sport and leisure sectors. Karsten spoke about the exciting world of mergers and acquisition and how the GISMA students’ qualifications fit into the skills demand of the classical M&A cycle.
A highlight from the event was a speech from one of the graduating students, Selina Kappus, who joined GISMA in September 2021 on the MSc Leadership for Digital Transformation programme. Videos were played throughout the ceremony, highlighting the journey of the Class of 2022, along with messages from professors and fellow students.
Following the speeches, students were presented with their diplomas by Professor Dr Stefan Stein, and had photo opportunities with their fellow alumni, family and friends. The GISMA Career Centre was also present at the event to give students additional support and guidance to secure employment after university. The event was closed by a graduation party, also hosted at the Potsdam campus, which ran late into the night.