“Keep learning, keep growing”

The ceremony honoring the Full-Time, Part-Time, and Global Online MBA Class of 2024 at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management took place on May 16, 2025, at the CCD Congress Center in Düsseldorf. The cohorts were not only praised for their academic success, but also for their extraordinary level of engagement and how they have developed over the years, as evidenced by the personal stories shared throughout the day.

In his opening speech, Professor Christian Andres, Dean of WHU, congratulated the MBA cohorts and gave them some positive words for the road ahead: “Each year that goes by, the world seems to become more and more complex and, in many ways, divided. But in the face of the tension we are all feeling, in Europe and around the globe, we at WHU have the luxury of remaining hopeful. Because every one of us here in the room today understands that a bright future still lies ahead. The next generation of thinkers and doers are sitting right in front of us.”

He also extended his gratitude for the hard work of those responsible for the success of the school’s MBA programs: Academic Directors Professor Dries Faems and Professor Yuval Kalish; Program Directors Dr. Zeeshan Sultan, Sabine Noé, and Wiebke Rolf; Professor Martin Fassnacht; Miriam Kraneis, Head of the Career Center on Campus Düsseldorf; and the Program Management Team. 

The commencement speaker was Isabel Tufet, Chief Transformation Officer at Santander Germany, a business leader who, as Professor Kalish noted in his introductory speech, “truly exemplifies strategic leadership, transformation, and a deep commitment to diversity.” Tufet herself spoke of her own professional journey in management, as well as of her personal challenges being the mother of a son with a rare illness. Her secret? She shared with the graduates that positive leadership begins with self-reflection, humanity, and the conscious decision to find three positive things in every situation. “Three positive things, very simple things. Every day. Doing so has helped me feel happier and more positive.”

Following her speech, student representatives of the school’s programs reflected on their time together, highlighting their intercultural study modules at partner schools (including the Kellogg School of Management and Columbia Business School in the United States and NUS in Singapore) and sharing funny stories and anecdotes. One thing came through loud and clear: What sets the WHU MBA experience apart is more than mere academic excellence; it is more so defined by a sense of community, mutual growth, and the way people meet each other where they are. The new skills the students had acquired are already starting to bear fruit according to Christian Schüssler, a graduate of the school’s Part-Time MBA Program who will soon move to France to start a new job. “The knowledge I gained here has afforded me the chance to take this new step.”

The students of each program awarded the Best Teacher Award to Professor Stefan Spinler (GOMBA), Professor Garen Markarian (FTMBA), and Professor Martin Fassnacht (PTMBA). David Jaramillo, a graduate of the Full-Time MBA, also received the In Praxi MBA Outstanding Thesis Award from In Praxi representative Klaudia Wilde for his study on the application of artificial intelligence in proactive fraud prevention.

Before the ceremony came to a close, the students turned their tassels to the opposite side of their mortarboards and then tossed their caps to the sky. From that moment forward, they could truly call themselves graduates of WHU.