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UCL 2016 Graduation: 2,712 new doctors, architects, engineers, lawyers and more

13 July 2016

UCL Graduation: 2,712 new doctors, architects, engineers, lawyers and more instagram.com/p/BHmRgXUhpQs/?taken-by=ucl" title="UCL students celebrate after their graduation ceremony " target="_self">
UCL Graduation: 2,712 new doctors, architects, engineers, lawyers and more

Countless late nights studying have paid off for 2,712 happy UCL students who donned their caps and gowns to graduate at the Royal Festival Hall last week in front of more than 7,000 proud family and friends.

Six graduation ceremonies took place over the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week and included graduate students from the Faculty of The Built Environment, the Faculties of Brain and Life Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering Sciences and the Faculties of Medical Sciences and Population Health Sciences. As well as graduates and undergraduates from the Faculty of Laws and the UCL Medical School.

Among the thousands of wonderfully intelligent and talented graduands (who all looked stunning in their suits, dresses and robes) were the winners of several medals and prizes, including prizes for outstanding performances in examinations. One such winner was Desiree Loke, who scored a perfect 45/45 in her International Baccalaureate before joining UCL in 2013 (putting her in the top 0.3% of students worldwide). Desiree was presented with the Laws Faculty Medal after obtaining first class marks in eleven out of her twelve subjects.

Fantastic achievements

But it wasn't just the students who were recognised for their fantastic achievements, both the Faculty of Laws and the Medical School commended excellent teaching by presenting four awards known as EXALT (Excellence in Legal Teaching) in the Laws Faculty and four individual and three team EMEAs (Excellence in Medical Education Awards) in the Medical School. These awards are based on student feedback and popular vote to celebrate staff who have made an outstanding contribution to teaching and supporting the student experience.

Honorary Fellowships were presented to Mr Malcom Walker, whose philanthropic endeavours include the ground-breaking plastic carrier bag project which could result in an estimated £50m raised for UCL Dementia Research. As well as Ms Ruth Kennedy, founder of the Louis Dundas Centre for Children's Palliative Care at Great Ormond Street Hospital and UCL Institute of Child Health, Professor Dame Sally Davies, the first woman to hold the position of Chief Medical Officer for England, and Ms Sophie Chandauka, Executive Director and Chief Administrative Officer of Morgan Stanley's Legal Compliance Division to name but a few.

Honorary degrees were presented to Judge Spielmann, former President of the European Court of Human Rights, Professor James Gita Hakim, former Chair of Medicine at the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, and Professor Jose-Marie Griffiths, President of Dakota State University in Madison and previously presidential advisor to four different U.S. presidents.

After the ceremonies came the receptions for the newest additions to the ranks of UCL alumni. The sun finally decided to put in an appearance to offer its congratulations as the graduands spilled out of Royal Festival Hall to drink champagne on the South Bank and nibble canapes on the balcony overlooking the Thames with a view of Big Ben. 'Beautiful' was the word on everyone's lips - a beautiful ceremony, beautiful weather, and everyone looked beautiful.

If you graduated from UCL this week or are going to graduate soon, don't forget to tag your tweets and Instagram posts with the hashtag #UCLgraduation.

A massive thank you to the Graduation Ceremonies Team for all their dedicated hard work to ensure that the ceremonies ran smoothly, and of course, a huge congratulations to the new generation of doctors, clinical practitioners, architects, scientists, engineers and lawyers - hats (and mortarboards) off to you!

Images

  • UCL students celebrate after their graduation ceremony (credit: @fabio_schifano)
  • You all become UCL alumni (credit: @csmony)

Annie Warren, UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Team