This year, Abdullah Gül University (AGU) graduated its students for the fifth time. 11th President Abdullah Gül also attended the graduation ceremony.
Besides 11th President Abdullah Gül, Rector Prof. Dr. Cengiz Yılmaz, Founding Rector İhsan Sabuncuoğlu, Kayseri Governor Gökmen Çiçek, Kayseri Deputies Çetin Arık and Dursun Ataş, Former Kayseri Deputies Prof. Dr. Mehmet Tekelioğlu, Faruk Bayrak, and Şaban Bayrak, Acting Kayseri Mayor Bekir Yıldız, Former Kayseri Mayor Mustafa Çelik, Abdullah Gül University Support Foundation (AGUV) President Mustafa Çıkrıkçıoğlu and AGUV members, students, parents, faculty, regional representatives of political parties, and representatives of non-governmental organizations were among the many guests at the Graduation Ceremony on the Sümer Campus.
11th President Abdullah Gül addressed the audience at the ceremony. He said that investment in education and prioritizing education are equal to the priority assigned to a country's future.
Mr. Gül talked about the importance of education in his address. "There are some countries rich with natural resources, but that does not mean anything as they lack qualified people. There are some other countries that, despite being small, contribute to humanity and societies immensely thanks to their qualified, skilled, and educated people. Türkiye is on the fast track to being the latter. Everyone realizes that now."
There is at least one university in every province of our country, and these universities need to compete within certain rules so that quality can increase, Mr. Gül stated.
Pointing out that it is necessary to pave the way in academia for universities that have capacity and energy, Mr. Gül added:
"AGU was established with this awareness and thoughts and has a philanthropic foundation. Its successes have made us all proud, and these successes must be sustainable. AGU completed its institutionalization. The University's founding Rector also did great service in this regard. The new Rector carries the University up on this foundation in the best and fastest manner, hand in hand. It is my belief that he will lead the University to more successes in the coming years. They teach English very well here. Scholastic Aptitude Test, used for college admissions in America, is held here, in Türkiye. All American universities trust AGU to administer their university entrance exam. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), proving people’s level of English, is also administered here. Thus, this is the level AGU has reached as a university."
Kayseri Governor Gökmen Çiçek took the stage afterwards and described Kayseri as a city of science, raising ulemas and scholars. Governor Çiçek reminded the audience that there are four universities in Kayseri and stressed their continued contribution to science. "The achievements listed by the Rector of Abdullah Gül University are testimonies to the latter. When one looks at the faces of the students here and hears about their achievements, it is impossible not to be proud."
Rector Prof. Dr. Cengiz Yılmaz attributed the original quality of AGU to its innovative, liberal, tolerant, open-to-change, visionary, and pioneering structure and stated that thanks to these features, despite being a very young university, it managed to become an academic institution that achieved many national and international novelties and assumed a leading position most of the time in the higher education system.
Rector Prof. Dr. Yılmaz drew attention to the international achievements of the University and stressed that AGU climbed to 23rd place in the WURI 2022 Ranking for the Global Top Innovative Universities.
The Rector commented, "We all witnessed that this list ranked the most respected universities worldwide. For instance, in the list, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is at 3rd place, Stanford University at 4, California Institute of Technology at 9, Harvard at 10, Princeton at 12, Cambridge at 19, Olin College at 22, AGU at 23, Columbia University at 27, Peking University at 31, Yale University at 41, Kyoto University at 43, and the University of Bonn at 48. Each university ranked in the list is the most respected educational institution in their respective countries. AGU is the only Turkish university in the list, and by taking its place among such prestigious universities, it has had its innovative and leading qualities certified."
Prof. Dr. Yılmaz also mentioned that AGU appeared in the top ranks of this year's Impact Rankings published by the Times Higher Education, one of the most prestigious international ranking organizations, similar to previous years. "Our university, securing a place in the 200-300 range globally and coming 3rd after METU and ITU in Türkiye, has become the youngest leading university worldwide in terms of positive contribution to the society," the Rector added.
Also addressing directly to the graduates, Prof. Dr. Yılmaz conveyed his expectation that they would apply the knowledge and competences they gained at the university on their future career paths.
Prof. Dr. Yılmaz said, "You are now in possession of all the knowledge and competences you will need for success in your career journeys following the university education. Suppose new competences emerge ba
Mustafa Çıkrıkçıoğlu, President of the Abdullah Gül University Support Foundation (AGUV), stated in his speech that the Foundation was established by philanthropic businesspeople of Kayseri to support Abdullah Gül University solely.
Çıkrıkçıoğlu opined that the fact that the University brings innovations to the city, develops visionary projects with the industry and local governments, is a leading higher education institution, and contributes to the country and even to the world makes them happy.
The 2022 Valedictorians, Bilal Kabaş and Muhammed Muhsin from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, and Mohit Vijay Purshotam from the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, also delivered their speeches at the Graduation Ceremony.
After the speeches, the diploma ceremony began. While the graduates received their diplomas from the Department Chairs, valedictorians and top students of the programs received their awards and diplomas from 11th President Gül, Governor Gökmen Çiçek, Acting Mayor Bekir Yıldız, and Rector Prof. Dr. Cengiz Yılmaz.
Totally 185 students from 8 bachelor's, 6 master's, and 3 doctoral programs graduated and got their diplomas.
The ceremony ended after the new graduates threw their caps and took souvenir photos.
