Frankfurt School Graduation Ceremonies

November 2021 was all about graduation ceremonies at Frankfurt School. On November 13, 26, and 27, FS bid farewell to 949 graduates in eight exclusive ceremonies. In the dignified atmosphere of the Alte Oper Frankfurt the students were able to celebrate their farewells appropriately together with family and friends. Graduates who were unable to attend in person followed the events via livestream.

The first event on November 13 was attended by 194 graduates of the various Bachelor Programmes. The graduation of this BSc Class of 2021 was originally scheduled for spring 2021 but was postponed due to the pandemic. The students of the BSc Class of 2021 were the first cohort to begin their studies at Frankfurt School's new campus on Adickesallee. The BSc farewell was directly followed by the graduation ceremony for107 graduates in the Executive Master of Business Administration, the MBA in International Healthcare Management and the MBA for Executives in Kinshasa. The next graduation ceremonies followed on November 26 and 27. On these two days, Frankfurt School bid farewell to 124 graduates of the Bachelor in Finance & Management Programme, 403 students of the various Master's Programmes and 121 MBA graduates.

Professor Jörg Werner, Vice President Degree Programmes at Frankfurt School, led through the programme together with co-hosts from the respective degree programmes. Professor Nils Stieglitz, President of Frankfurt School, also took the opportunity to be present in person at all the ceremonies to welcome all guests and graduates: "I congratulate you most sincerely on your achievements, dear graduates. Your family and friends who supported you during your studies can be proud of you. We at Frankfurt School are too. For many of you, graduation marks the end of a phase in your lives and new perspectives are opening up. Stay curious, have confidence in yourself, and take advantage of arising opportunities."

The graduation ceremonies also provided a fitting backdrop for awarding outstanding academic achievements. Frederick Maximilian Krauß (1st place), Michael Friedhold Josef Bayerl (2nd place) and Jonas Grundmann (3rd place) were the winners of the IFK Awards in the Bachelor Programmes, which were presented by Sarah Schmidtke, Managing Director of Interessengemeinschaft Frankfurter Kreditinstitute (IFK). The winners in the various MBA programmes were Sebastian Deppe (Executive Master of Business Administration), Nicole Maria Pinto (MBA in International Healthcare Management) and Aimé Matamba Cibamba (MBA for Executives in Kinshasa).

This year, Frankfurt School once again had the pleasure of welcoming long-standing partners as guests at its graduation ceremonies. Laudators included Nina Duft, Member of the Board, Janitos Insurance, and Florian P. Meyer, Executive Director Investment Banking, Goldman Sachs and FS Alumnus Class of 2017.

Several graduates took the opportunity to share the students' perspective and looked back on their studies at Frankfurt School in their speeches. Liubov Pikovska, who successfully completed her Master of Finance, said: ”Apart from the technical skills we acquired during our Masters, we also improved our soft skills. I think everyone will agree with me, that teamwork is the soft skill that we have improved the utmost. Collaborating in a group of people from different countries and continents, with different undergraduate backgrounds and professional experience showed us how beneficial working together as a group can be. We discovered that diversity is a key to the creativity in a team. No wonder, here at Frankfurt School we made friends for life, and some of us found their business partners, some probably even their soul mates.”

In line with this insight, Angelika Werner, Vice President Strategic Relations, and Lisa Ronneburger, Head of Student Services at Frankfurt School, concluded the ceremonies by introducing the Frankfurt School Alumni Network and inviting all graduates to remain connected to the FS community and to actively participate in dialogues and discussions with students, professors and professionals.