After 18 months of intensive study, the 14 graduates of the MBA class of 2018/2019 celebrated their Master of Business Administration degree in summer 2019 in Pensacola, Florida.
As graduates of the MBA, they are participants in the AACSB accredited collaborative program between the Transatlantic Institute of the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences and the University of West Florida (UWF).
The group had spent the last two weeks of their studies at the UWF campus. In addition to the class sessions, there was also time for joint activities with their American hosts, such as attending a baseball game of the "Blue Wahoos", during which the students were awarded honorary citizenship of the city of Pensacola.
The formal graduation ceremony was introduced by Interim Dean Prof. Dr. Eric Bostwick, who extended a warm welcome to the honorees and also to their friends and family, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Raab and Ms. Kathrin Paul of the College of Business and Economics.
He introduced the guest speaker, Bert Thornton, with an anecdote from his book, "An old gorilla": "Once upon a time, at the edge of a jungle, there were two young gorillas equal in strength, agility and desire for achievement. They shared a similar dream to climb to the top of a distant mountain that was surrounded and guarded by a difficult jungle. On their way they passed a band of old gorillas. The elder chief cautioned that they would greatly benefit from the voice experience. The first young gorilla says that he is strong, fast and smart and that he will go his own way. The second gorilla was curious and asked the elder chief to explain: "The jungle looks easy but the good path are difficult to find." The first young gorilla was not heard from for many years and he was surprised that the other young gorilla, upon returning from the mountaintop, had been unanimously named vice chief of the elders of the band."
Bert Thornton, Vice Chairman Emeritus of Waffle House, Inc, (one of the largest restaurant chains in the world) expressed his appreciation in the keynote address about successfully completing a part-time MBA program. His speech ended with a quote from his book: "The moral of the story is: On your way to the top, find an old gorilla to help you through the jungle. He knows where all the pathways are and also the quicksand."
The graduation ceremony was hosted by MBA Director Melissa Brode. Representing their cohort, Alma Imsirevic and Fabian Stein delivered the graduation speech. Alma Imsirevic began with a story that especially pleased guest speaker Bert Thornton, who was in attendance, "Back in January 2018, fourteen strangers left Germany by plane to Pensacola and we didn't know what to expect from each other or from the program. When we came to the US, things started rough. But at our first day we learned a lesson - as long as Waffle House is open, everything is going to be ok! Ice storm and rain was the reason that the university was closed and nothing was open but the Waffle House". Fabian Stein continued to describe the busy, but above all very nice times and to thank everyone who had supported her during her studies. Finally, Alma Imsirevic ended her speech with the statement: "The fourteen strangers now leave as friends."
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Raab, Director of the Transatlantic Institute, also congratulated the proud graduates in his emotional speech and also thanked the representatives of UWF, for the long and successful cooperation. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, he said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest rate - knowledge."
The ceremonial awarding of certificates followed, with each candidate receiving a big round of applause. A must was also the traditional throwing of the master hats and a corresponding group picture. Friends and relatives remaining in Germany were also able to follow the events live via the Internet.
To round off the event, a joint banquet was held in the evening.
We congratulate our graduates and welcome them to our MBA alumni network!
The alumni from Ludwigshafen are not the only ones who can currently look forward to an award: In June, for the third time in a row, the Florida Board of Governors named the University of West Florida as an outstanding public university. UWF achieved its highest score in the official performance-based assessment model for the 2018-19 academic year, and through increased graduation rates, academic progress and higher alumni employment rates, ranked second.
Commenting on the assessment results, Dr. George Ellenberg, UWF senior vice president, said: "These performance-based funding model results are another reminder of the outstanding improvements we have seen on this campus in the past six years." The comparison of the various universities UWF held its own against deals with 10 variables that weight the improvements and academic qualities of the participants. To learn more about UWF's award, follow this link.
If interested, they can attend taster sessions and/or make an appointment with us, our participants.
The next start of the Transatlantic Institute's MBA program in collaboration with the University of West Florida is January 2020, and applications will be accepted until October 2019. If you are interested, it is best to contact Ms. Kathrin Paul directly (kathrin.paul@hwg-lu.de, 0621-5203-440).
You can also find more information at http://www.transatlantik-institut.de/en/mba.html
