HEC Paris in Qatar honours Class of 2019 graduates

HEC Paris in Qatar honoured the Class of 2019 at a special graduation ceremony held in Doha recently.
This year’s graduating classes included 31 Executive MBA (EMBA), 80 Specialised Master in Strategic Business Unit Management (SBUM) and 16 Specialised Master in Strategic Business Unit Management – Financial Regulation programme participants.
While a vast number of SBUM graduates are Qataris, a large number of international participants were present in both programmes, HEC Paris in Qatar said.
“Graduation  is great occasion as we are celebrating the success of the graduates. We are a member of Qatar Foundation and working in close collaboration with the Qatar Foundation family with the two objectives of ‘Impact’ and ‘Excel’. ‘Impact’ means to help the transformation of Qatar into a knowledge economy and ‘Excel’ refers to whatever we do will be world-class,” Dr Pablo Martin de Holan, dean of HEC Paris in Qatar, told Gulf Times on the sidelines of the ceremony.
The event was attended by Franck Gellet, French ambassador to Qatar, and anchored by Wassim Maksoud, head of Finance and Administration at KPMG and HEC Paris alumnus.
Dr De Holan was joined by Prof Wolfgang Amann, academic director of HEC Paris in Qatar Specialised Master’s Degree, for the distribution of certificates to the graduates.
The Class of 2019 witnessed a much higher ratio of female participants in the SBUM programme. The graduates from both programmes this year came from different corners of the globe – Middle East and North Africa, Europe, Central Asia, North America, South Asia and Africa.
“A few years, ago you decided to join this institution to become a better professional and a better person. All of you worked hard and overcame many obstacles and have ultimately succeeded in your mission, which is why you deserve our undivided attention and our most sincere accolades. You did the best you could and you have been rewarded,” added Dr De Holan.
The event also included an award ceremony honouring participants for their work.
The award for the Best Capstone Project for the EMBA Class of 2019 went to Jawaher al-Naimi; the award for the Best Thesis for the Specialised Master 2019 Cohort 1 was received by Aldana al-Sulaiti; the Best Thesis for the Specialised Master 2019 Cohort 2 was awarded to Najla al-Thani; and the Best Thesis award for the Specialised Master 2019 Financial Regulation went to Reem Shaheen.
The event was also marked by the farewell speeches from Faris Abdelmuti - EMBA 2019 class representative; Shoaa Heedan - SBUM 2019 C2 class representative; and Salman Alsooj - SBUM 2019 FR class representative.
Other 2019 class representatives are Khalifa al-Obaidli - EMBA 2019; Fawaz al-Mejlad, Hadil Kaawar, Sabreen Taha - SBUM 2019 C1; Hend al-Naimi, Mustafa Aref - SBUM 2019 C2 and Reem Shaheen -2019 FR.
Since joining Qatar Foundation in 2010, HEC Paris has graduated 720 participants in Qatar - 310 in the EMBA programme and 410 in the SBUM programme.