Staff Reporter, Dhaka : BRAC University organised its 15th Convocation on 20 March 2023 at Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center. A total of 4889 students received degrees while 31 gold medals were awarded in various categories in this convocation.

Dr Dipu Moni, Honourable Minister, Ministry of Education, was the Chief Guest and presented the Chancellor’s gold medals. Professor Syed Mahfuzul Aziz, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Acting Vice-Chancellor, BRAC University, presented the Vice-Chancellor’s gold medals. Among others, Tamara Hasan Abed, Chairperson, Board of Trustees (BOT), BRAC University, attended the event. Omar Ishrak, Former Chairman and CEO, Medtronics, was the convocation speaker.

Dr Dipu Moni, Honourable Education Minister, congratulated the graduates who participated in the 15th convocation of BRAC University. Addressing the graduates, she said, “We want our students to lead in knowledge creation, be progressive in thinking, inspired by honesty, humanity and patriotism, healthy in body and mind and energetic in action.”

The Education Minister praised various steps taken by BRAC University in higher education. She said, “Since its establishment in 2001, BRAC University has been producing competent graduates by imparting quality education. The founder of this university, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, wanted to create a university to produce qualified leadership for Bangladesh and the world. BRAC University is doing that efficiently.”

Tamara Hasan Abed, Chairperson, BOT, BRAC University, hoped that BRAC University graduates would be a vibrant force as their education is focused on the most pressing issues, amplifying voices from the global south, aiming to make graduates knowledgeable and competent and enabling them to lead their careers with integrity and ethics. By exercising BRAC University’s teachings on empathy, graduates can switch on the light of hope for others, she said. She also added that the graduates will take many journeys and reach many destinations over the next 50 years taking Bangladesh to the forefront.

Professor Mahfuzul Aziz, Acting Vice-Chancellor, BRAC University, congratulated all graduates for their accomplishments. “As a forward-looking institution, BRAC University aims to help students develop empathy, creativity and entrepreneurship so that they can thrive despite significant social changes and grow as future leaders. This will go a long way to help fulfill the mission of the present and future governments, businesses and social enterprises,” Professor Aziz said.

The convocation speaker, Omar Ishrak, urged the graduates to develop a sense of purpose and a vision on how they all could make a difference. This is the right time to think about it and drive priorities. Having long term goals makes a difference and graduates should achieve purpose in life, remain committed to lifelong learning, stay informed and adapt to challenges, he added.

He also mentioned that Bangladesh has a massive potential market and students should apply whatever ideas they have locally first to achieve scale, which would help avail lower costs. Moreover, English is the language of international business and the graduates should use their familiarity with the language to their advantage, he added.