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On Friday afternoon, former secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce addressed Elliott School graduates at Smith Center.
Maria Livanos Cattaui, who also teaches an advanced skills course in the Elliott School, said the international scene is incredibly complex and graduates must think of creative ways to solve the world's problems.
"In this world, as we know it, the power of cooperative action has been influential," Cattaui said. She added that students must understand and confront the fact that the world is "unfairly complicated."
She said that graduates should be creative, rather than thinking in "autopilot" when creating policy in the future.
"The challenge to you who are graduating today is to make your own list of how the world ... could change, and how you would respond," Cattaui said.
Gen. John W. Vessey, Jr. told undergraduates of the School of Business to maintain a strong moral fiber to help maintain ethics in the corporate world at the school's ceremony Friday.
Vessey, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Ronald Reagan, told about 1,500 people at Smith Center that graduates should continue to broaden their horizons past the business world.
"Work to make yourselves as useful as you can be," said Vessey, who received a master's degree in administration from GW in 1966.
Vessey urged graduates to "grow with humility" and donate to GW and other causes during adulthood.
"Our nation is far from perfect," Vessey said. "It's led by fallible and sinful people like you and me."
The School of Business ceremony for graduate students took place later Friday evening and featured Gerardo Lopez, senior vice president and president for global consumer products for Starbucks. Lopez encouraged graduates to follow their dreams and passions.
