Over 350 WHU Bachelor and Master Students Graduate

September 29, 2023—a day of change for over 350 students graduating from the bachelor’s and master’s programs at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. Among them, notably, were the first cohorts of the school’s Master in International Business and its Part-Time Master in Management. Hair in place, shoes polished, and robes adorned with handsome WHU-blue stoles, they sat before their educators, friends, and families, proud of all they had accomplished. The two consecutive ceremonies, each held at Vallendar’s civic center, featured the wise words of esteemed guests Christina Mühlenbein, Managing Director & Partner at Boston Consulting Group, and Clemens Hoch, Minister of Science and Health in Rhineland-Palatinate.

At the first ceremony, held for the undergraduates, Dean of WHU Professor Christian Andres expressed his gratitude for their perseverance in uncertain times. “This is the point at which we, the school, have to thank all of you,” he said on behalf of the school’s new Core Leadership Team. When this cohort’s journey at WHU had just begun, the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. Over those next three years, they experienced the initial adjustment period, with travel bans in effect and classes only held online, and then charged head-first into the new normal. “You were the first class to experience it all.”

Where Dean Andres proudly looked back over the past few years, Christina Mühlenbein, commencement speaker at the bachelor’s ceremony and herself an alumna of the school, offered the graduates insights into what their future lives might look like. “WHU is not the end. It’s the beginning,” she said. The successful consultant made note of the warm feeling that greeted her upon her return to Vallendar, reflected on the life skills she gained at WHU, and emphasized the power of the connections and friendships formed on campus. “This network is going to last,” she said, “and I encourage you to take care of it.”

Minister Clemens Hoch, commencement speaker at the master’s ceremony, recognized the role that the school plays: “WHU, with its study programs, enjoys an exceptional reputation both domestically and internationally. The university enriches the academic landscape in Rhineland-Palatinate and shows just how diverse our education offerings here are for young people. I would like to congratulate all the graduates on having earned their degrees and wish them all the best for the future.”

Neither ceremony was complete without words from the graduates’ class speakers (Anouke Franke and Henning Austrip [BSc]; Louisa Frank and Pedro Valesquez [MSc]), a standing ovation for the parents and guardians in the audience, and a note of thanks for Program Director BSc and MSc Dr. Steffen Löv and Director of the Career Center Heike Hülpüsch.

Wherever life may take these graduates, they will always remain connected to their alma mater, in particular through In Praxi, the school’s alumni association. Chairman Dr. Marco Vietor invited the new graduates to join the network, which comprises nearly 7,000 former WHU students to date. He also presented the In Praxi Outstanding Thesis Award to Nils Alt (BSc) for his analysis of funding allocation and Clara Leise (MSc) for her investigation of the relationship between foreign direct investments and environmental protection.

The dual ceremonies closed with a feeling of pride and satisfaction, as well as an understanding that, from that afternoon onward, this new batch of WHU graduates would be starting the next phase of their lives. For these young professionals, it is now time to look toward the future. And with everything that they have learned both in and out of the classroom, they are ready to tackle that future head-on and sculpt it into what they want it to be.