Güler Sabancı, President of Sabancı University’s Board of Founding Trustees, addressed professionals
at Commencement:
•In 20 years, Sabancı University has become a university that has made a difference in Turkey’s higher education.
•For 20 years, we never said, “We’ve done that, it’s finished”; we have always sought to be better. Always seeking to be better, always looking into the future, always thinking of new twenty years to come–this is all an integral part of our DNA.
•We implemented a scientific, rationalist and participatory process to make use of all that technology has to offer to create a new and sustainable system of education.
•Learning, especially in today’s world, is a never-ending endeavor.
•The possibilities to access information are as unlimited as they have never been before. My advice to you so that you don’t feel lost in this boundlessness is to define your priorities, and never hesitate to consult to ask for a new perspective.
Sabancı University’s 2019 Professional Master’s Degree Programs Commencement ceremony took place on Saturday, October 19, 2019. This year, 220 students graduated from Sabancı University’s Information Technologies, Energy Technologies and Management, Data Analytics, Finance, Cyber Security, Management, Professional Management, and Executive Management (Executive MBA) Programs.
“In 20 years, Sabancı University has become a university that has made a difference in Turkey’s higher education”
Güler Sabancı, President of the Board of Founding Trustees of Sabancı University, said that in this 20th year of the start of the academic life of the University, the institution has become a university that has made a difference in Turkey’s system of higher education, earning international recognition. “For 20 years, we never said, ‘We’ve done that, it’s finished’; we have always sought to be better,” said Güler Sabancı. “Always seeking to be better, always looking into the future, thinking of new twenty years to come–this is all an integral part of our DNA” she continued.
Sabancı called attention to the fact that since the first day of its foundation, Sabancı University has always worked to be on the side of the community and the business world. On this she remarked, “We strive to be an institution that closely monitors events in the developing world as well as movements and trends all over the world, working to translate needs into educational programs. It is Sabancı University’s special qualities that give us this flexibility.” Sabancı added, “We implemented a scientific, rationalist and participatory process to make use of all that technology has to offer to create a new and sustainable system of education.”
Güler Sabancı said that the content of the school’s programs was open to change and designed to mesh with the areas of business of the future, adding, “Our goal was to provide you with competences that would be well grounded anywhere in the world.”
Sabancı stressed that the world was turning at such a head-spinning pace and changing so rapidly that anyone who wishes to be one step ahead needs to update and renew themselves. She underlined that those graduating with their Master’s Degrees had passed a critical threshold in doing this.
Underlining that learning is a continuous process, especially in today’s world, Güler Sabancı concluded her statements by saying, “My advice to you so that you don’t feel lost in this boundlessness is to define your priorities, and never hesitate to consult to ask for a new perspective, and also never forget Sabancı University.”
“We prioritize working more closely together with the sectors and developing our centers”
In his speech, Sabancı University Rector Yusuf Leblebici said that the recent advances the University had made had carried the institution to the top of both national and international rankings. He added that the entrance scores of the students accepted into Sabancı University’s undergraduate program have steadily risen over the years, arriving at an unprecedented level. He pointed out that as of 2019, the school was proud of earning the distinction of being the university to accept students at the highest base point. Stressing that the university now had close to 12,000 graduates, Leblebici said that these graduates had proven themselves successful in both business and academia.
Yusuf Leblebici added: “We also see systematic increases in the numbers of students joining our Master’s and Doctorate programs as well as in the quality of their academic achievement. Our goal is to soon position ourselves as a more prominent world university that stands out particularly with its graduate programs and research opportunities. We emphasize at every chance that we will not be satisfied with being only the best in Turkey but that our goal is to reach a quality of education that will make us a prestigious world-class university. Our status in the international university rankings places us at first place in Turkey, but our essential aim is to raise our ranking among the universities in the world. In this coming period, ‘positive’ differentiation will be one of our major goals.” The rector continued to say that to achieve this, the university’s priorities were to work with industry and the sectors and to develop its various Centers.
Yusuf Leblebici commented that the university’s research centers, active in engineering, management sciences and social sciences, were now involved in collaborations with the community and in industrial partnerships in large-scale major projects. He added: “The common feature of all of these projects is the fact that they are being executed together with the sectors, industries and the business community. As a university, we are aware that we can only maintain and further develop our leadership position by working closely with the business community. We continue to take steps to expand upon these relations, both in Turkey and on an international platform.”
“We are on the threshold of making new and outstanding strides with regard to our Professional Master’s Degree Programs”
Stressing that the professional training programs are an important element in their efforts, Leblebici continued, “As Sabancı University, we are on the threshold of making new and outstanding strides with regard to our Professional Master’s Degree Programs. We are activating our potential in this context both here in Turkey and internationally in order to meet the needs of business and in an effort to further increase the visibility of our university. Over the years, our professional programs have won great recognition and acknowledgment for their quality and effectiveness and we will now be adding new ones with plans to increase the diversity of the programs in the years to come.” Yusuf Leblebici remarked, “In support of these efforts, we have activated our plans to create a city campus.”
He concluded with the words, “Since its establishment, Sabancı University has always stood beside industry and the business world and succeeded in occupying a prestigious position in the community. In this, the 20th year of our starting out on our academic journey, we will continue to move forward with the support of you, our students and graduates.”
Gül Ulutaş, a graduate of the Information Technologies Program and Zeynep Bahar Çelik of the Alumni Association each presented speeches.
