Graduation Day 2017: Watch the ceremonies

Celebrate. Share. Inspire. Those were the watchwords for the graduation ceremonies that were held at the Maison de Radio France in Paris on Friday, 30 June and Saturday, 1 July, for more than 1,800 graduating students and their families. Watch the ceremonies on our Livestream channel. 

This year four ceremonies took place in the Grand Auditorium of the Maison de la Radio, with guest speakers and students of honour joining Frédéric Mion, President of Sciences Po and Cornelia Woll, Vice President for Studies and Academic Affairs. 

Ceremony 1: Urban School & School of Public Affairs - Friday, 30 June from 6pm to 8.30pm

With Patrick Le Galès, dean of the Urban School, and Yann Algan, dean of the School of Public Affairs. Master of Ceremony: Sana de Courcelles, executive director of the School of Public Affairs. 

Guest speaker: Bernard Cazeneuve, former prime minister and former minister of the interior in François Hollande’s government (2014-2016). Mr. Cazeneuve has also served as budget minister and European affairs minister after an almost uninterrupted career as an MP from 2002 to 2012.

Graduate of honour: William Cox, graduate of the Urban School, pursued a Master in Governing the Large Metropolis. He previously studied at the Boston University School of Management. He came to Paris in 2013 and founded the literary publication Belleville Park Pages.

Ceremony 2: School of Communication, Department of Economics, Master of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources - Saturday, 1 July from 10am to 12pm

With Marie-Laure Djelic, co-dean of the School of Management and Innovation, and Henri Bergeron, director of the Master of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources. Master of ceremony: Eva Bellinghausen, deputy director of the School of Communication.

Guest speaker: Paul Duan, data scientist. A graduate of Sciences Po (2012) and the University of Berkeley, Paul founded Bayes Impact, an NGO that works to resolve organizational and governmental issues using mathematical formulas and personal data, in April 2014. Convinced that algorithms can improve people’s lives, he created a smart portal to combat unemployment in France. > Read more about Mr. Duan on the Sciences Po website

Graduate of honour: Julie Dautel graduated with a Master of Communication. She came to Sciences Po after a degree in product design from the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs. Julie is a co-founder of Zephyr Solar, a startup incubated at Sciences Po that develops solar balloons capable of supplying electricity to disaster-affected populations. > Read more about Ms. Dautel on the Sciences Po website

Ceremony 3: Doctoral School, Law School, School of Journalism - Saturday, 1 July, 2.30.pm to 4.30pm

With Christophe Jamin, dean of the Law School, Bruno Patino, dean of the School of Journalism, and Jean-Marie Donegani, dean of the Doctoral School. Master of ceremony: Anne-Solenne De Roux, executive director of the Law School.

Guest speaker: Laëtitia Avia, partner at APE Avocats, a law firm she co-founded in 2016. Laëtitia Avia, a member of La République En Marche, has just been elected deputy for the 8th district of Paris. Ms. Avia graduated from Sciences Po Law School in 2008 and is an alumna of McGill University. She began her career as a corporate lawyer with Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier. > Read the article about Ms. Avia in Libération

Graduate of honour: Joséphine Devambez graduated with a Master’s from the School of Journalism. Ms. Devambez has a degree in history and international relations from Université Paris 1. During the two years of her Master’s programme, she worked as a reporter for France 2, where she is now pursuing her career.

Ceremony 4: Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) - Saturday, 1 July, 7.15pm – 9.30pm

With Enrico Letta, dean of PSIA. Master of ceremony: Vanessa Scherrer, vice-dean of PSIA. 

Guest speaker: Arancha Gonzalez, executive director of the International Trade Center (ITC), a subsidiary body of the United Nations and the WTO. Ms. Gonzales, an expert in international trade, served as Chief of Staff to WTO Director General Pascal Lamy. She has held various positions within the European Commission, including negotiating trade agreements and assisting developing countries expand their trade opportunities.

Graduate of honour: Anjali Sualy graduated with a Master's in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action from the School of International Affairs. After graduating from the University of Oxford in 2012, Ms. Sualy spent three years at a law firm in the UK, her home country, before working as a lawyer for the UN in Mali. She is a human rights lawyer for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

Find out more

• Sciences Po's seven graduate schools