November 1, 2014
Eleven students from the 5th MASHLM cohort successfully defended their theses at the end of October and celebrated their new master's degrees with a graduation ceremony on November 1st, in Lugano, Switzerland.
The new graduates received their diplomas from Prof. François Degeorge, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at USI and MASHLM founder and director Paulo Gonçalves.
Prof. Degeorge welcomed the class to the "community of scholars" and congratulated them on their accomplishments, paying tribute to the fact that not only had they "chosen a field where the challenges are immeasurably higher than in other professions... also because you've chosen to embark on a program of studies at a time when many of you were busy with professional lives and families."
MASHLM alumni Jules Pieters, independent humanitarian consultant and former WHO coordinator of emergency operations support, gave the keynote address. Talking about the Ebola crisis, he urged the class to take their new knowledge and "go and help."
And MASHLM founder and director Paulo Gonçalves warmly told the class,
"This is a blessing, it's a blessing to have the opportunity to work with you and to have had the opportunity to learn from you and with you in the last year and a half."
At the end of the ceremony Anne Ukwuagu, representing the MASHLM 06 cohort, presented a small gift to her "senior colleagues," thanking them for "the support you have given to us, guiding us through," and pledging the support of the MASHLM 06 class in return.
