Graduation of the ILF Class of 2014 on 19 July 2014

The Class of 2014 comprising 43 students from 31 nations celebrated the completion of classes of the academic year 2013/14 at the official graduation ceremony held at the House of Finance on 19 July 2014. Amongst the guests were the families and friends of the graduating students, the ILF Board and faculty members, staff and alumni.

More than 200 guests were warmly welcomed by Prof. Dr. Andreas Cahn, ILF Executive Director. He recalled the very first day of the program in the House of Finance when the graduates met each other for the very first time. Hopefully, they have now built up strong friendships and ties which will accompany them throughout their lives. He emphasized that it was not only a year of studying hard and increasing one’s academic and professional knowledge, but also one of simply having fun with friends and he congratulated our 43 graduates on their achievements. 

Mr. Pedro Gustavo Teixeira, Head of the Supervisory Board Secretariat, European Central Bank, then delivered the commencement speech by speaking about the role of the new Banking Union set up by the European Union, in particular, having a Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) and a Single Resolution Fund (SRF). He voiced his view that its development in the European banking industry would have an effect on the future careers of our graduates. He concluded by giving some very useful advice on how to succeed in the future. Prof. Dr. Georg Hermes, Dean of  the Law Faculty, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main spoke thereafter about the ILF graduates being an important part of Goethe University and he extended his warm congratulations to our graduates on their good work and wished them all the best for the future.

Ms. Jane Xu from China, the class president, recalled world and class events that took place during the academic year 2013/14 which brought her classmates from so many different nations, cultures and languages together. She spoke of important friendships made through the sharing of many activities - this has definitely enriched each and every one of them. On behalf of her class, she thanked the sponsors, faculty and staff for creating good memories of their year at the ILF.

The class vice-president, Mr. David Roelandt from Belgium, went only to honor Mr. Stephen Hodgson (for the winter semester) and Dr. Peter Stenz (for the summer semester) with the Lecturer of the Year 2014 Award. They have been nominated by our students at the end of each semester. He also thanked the faculty members for their full support of the program.

The award of certificates followed shortly thereafter with each student of the Class of 2014 being presented with his/her certificate and personally congratulated by Mr. Teixeira and Prof. Dr. Hermes. At the end of the official ceremony, all guests were invited to the dinner and dance held at the Casino Building West Annex on Campus Westend. At the dinner, a video recapitulating special events of the Class of 2014 was shown and a band performance was also given by the graduates Mr. David Roelandt and Ms. Martina Kalamiza.