The 2021 Commencement Ceremony of Sabancı University Professional Graduate Programs, and the 2020 Professional Graduate Programs Alumni Gathering, which had previously been held online due to the pandemic, were held at Sabancı University Tuzla Campus on Saturday, November 20, 2021 in line with the pandemic conditions.
During her speech at the ceremony, Güler Sabancı, the Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University, said the following to the alumni: “Today, our 294 students, who have completed their professional graduate programs in the Sabancı Business School and the Graduate School of Science, are graduating. We know how important this commencement day, which brought us all together, is for you. This commencement does not only represent a new and important step in your future plans, but also your dedication and determination during the pandemic. We are going through a period which brings along extremely important changes for the world. To be successful in this period, it is very important to think in a versatile way, be open to continuous development and change, be resilient, make the most of available resources to get to solutions, and be solution-oriented. With this degree that you have obtained from Sabancı University, you will make a difference in every field where you work under the conditions of the new world”.
Highlighting that Sabancı University did not give up investing in the future even during the pandemic, Güler Sabancı said that the best example of it was Altunizade Digital Campus, which was inaugurated last month. Güler Sabancı said, “The construction of our campus, which started before the pandemic, was completed with exemplary technological investments based on what we learned from the pandemic. I am glad that our campus, of which there are only a few examples in the world, and the first one in Turkey for its technological infrastructure, hosts our professional graduate programs”. She continued as follows: “As Sabancı University, we always believed in the power of creating and developing together. Accordingly, we gave priority to building the triangle of success, which I find very valuable both in academia and the business world. I believe in this triangle of success composed of the private sector, the public sector, and academia that we implemented at our University, and think that it contributes greatly to us all. Currently, we implement this triangle of success to the best extent through our world-class education, our important collaborations with the private sector, and our projects with public institutions”.
THE ONLY UNIVERSITY IN TURKEY IN THE TOP 100
Delivering a speech at the commencement ceremony, Yusuf Leblebici, President of Sabancı University, said they positioned Altunizade Digital Campus as an educational base equipped with the state-of-the-art technology. He continued as follows: “Born from the merger of the words ‘hybrid’ and ‘flexible’ into one word, HyFlex education is greatly featured in our new campus, which enhances the use of digital technologies in the field of education, and which is our new address in the city center. We will continue to lead in this area by combining our expertise in digital technologies and computer science, one of the fields where we at Sabancı University are the strongest and the most ambitious, with our deep-rooted experience in teaching. The Digital Campus will also provide us with the ideal environment to work together with our industry partners, and develop new applications, and serve as a meeting point to further strengthen university-industry collaboration”.
Stating that professional graduate programs at Sabancı University were designed to respond to the needs of the business world and open new horizons in the careers of professionals, Yusuf Leblebici said the following: “We believe that these applied, project-oriented programs, both in the field of engineering and business administration, create important value in terms of academy-industry collaboration. We are proud to see our professional graduate programs in international rankings as a result of our meticulous efforts. Very recently, we have been ranked among the best business programs in the world in the QS World Rankings Executive MBA list, becoming the only university in Turkey in the top 100.”
Sabancı University Professional Graduate Programs include Information Technologies, Energy Technologies and Management, Cyber Security, Data Analytics, Finance, Business Administration, Business Administration for Professionals, and Executive MBA.
CENK ALPER: “I AM ONE OF THE GRADUATES OF THESE PROGRAMS”
The guest speaker of the commencement ceremony, Cenk Alper, Board Member and CEO of Sabancı Holding, emphasized that he also completed a Sabancı University Professional Graduate Program,and continued: “I am one of the first alumni of this program. First of all, I should say that what I learned there contributed greatly to my professional life”.
Highlighting that the concept of success changed a lot recently, Cenk Alper said the following:
“Being successful does not mean any more that your company makes the highest profit. What you sacrifice or how you contribute to others while making the highest profit are also among the most important success criteria. We should hear all the voices around us. We should ‘listen’ and ‘implement’ more and more. This is the only way we can move forward and adapt to the world. We can create a collective spirit by managing our business with a leadership approach free from ego and castes.”
Advising the alumni to go for sustainable ones among all the opportunities brought to them in their future lives, Cenk Alper gave the following messages: “Whatever you do, please act by thinking about our world and the future generations first. Let your choices be ‘sustainable’ all the time. There is only one theme for our professional and private lives going forward: Sustainability. Sustainability for the nature, the society and the production. We can and must hand over a more livable world to the generations to come. We do not have the luxury to leave this responsibility to future generations. The times when we evaluate our work purely on financial criteria are well over. Nowadays, our clients and investors assess us, companies, based on our environmental, social and governance performance as much as our financial indicators, and they sometimes fail us for poor performance in those fields. We must take notice of the climate emergency, know that our resources are not infinite, and we must take measures urgently. We all have some responsibility to assume in this.”
The special speaker of the 2020 Alumni Meeting was Cüneyt Evirgen, Sabancı University Executive Development Unit, EDU Director.
Zeynep Bahar Çelik, President of the Alumni Association, made a special speech at the Graduation Ceremony and the Alumni Gathering. On behalf of the 2021 graduates, Seher Yalçın from the Management for Managers Program, Gökhan Gençörnek from the Management for Professionals Program and Pamir Can Karakurt from the Management for Professionals deliver their speches also.