Hundreds of well-wishers crowded into Aberdeen’s Music Hall yesterday to watch their loved ones graduate on the second day of ceremonies for Robert Gordon University.
Students from the faculty of health and social sciences and the faculty of design and technology received their degrees from Chancellor Sir Ian Wood and Principal Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski.
Prof von Prondzynski welcomed a number of guests to the ceremony including chairman of the university’s board of governors and pro-chancellor Mike Salter and former principal Bill Stevely.
He also told the graduands that their graduation ceremony did not signify the end of their connection to RGU.
He said: “New graduates, you will continue to be members of the university community because your graduation is not goodbye. It is simply the beginning of a new path together which I hope you will gain some value from over the years.”
Former Wood Group chairman, Sir Ian, had some words of advice for the graduates from his own experiences.
He said: “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and don’t fear failure. The key thing is to recognise them quickly and rectify them. Some failure in life is inevitable unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you fail by default.”
Prof von Prondzynski paid tribute to RGU lecturer Andrew McKie who was found dead in the grounds of Royal Cornhill Hospital in June. The 55-year-old taught mental health nursing and ethics.