Alumni profiles and events

Aspire catches up with Gulay Karahan, an alumnus of the Business School and reports on a recent recruitment and alumni event in Delhi in April 2013

Gulay Karahan, MSc International Finance, 1995

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In 1995, I was awarded a Chevening Scholarship for postgraduate education overseas. University of Glasgow was one of my three choices due to its rich program offered by its business school. I was not particularly looking for a research degree, yet was quite certain about the major (International Finance), which was by the time offered only by a couple of universities in the UK. I have to admit that I was also excited about being offered by a research study as part of the program.

The program was a very good combination of both Economics and Finance curriculum. I had a BA degree in Economics and the courses provided by Economics department were quite complimentary of the Finance courses we would be taking. I believe Adam Smith Business School with its new naming, which reflects its unique legacy, would take it to new heights among other reputable business schools in the UK and enhance its visibility across the global community.

I returned to Turkey right away after graduation. I have been offered a new position at Citi. I would be part of a group of Citi bankers who teamed up to run special projects for the CEO’s office. After a year, I moved to Finance as controller. During my tenure as Financial Controller (for over 6 years), I worked closely with the senior management team of the bank. By the time I moved to Corporate & Investment Bank, I have already had a good understanding of Bank management. Currently I continue my career as Vice President and Business Manager in Corporate & Investment Bank at Citi, responsible for the strategy and the management function of the business.

My stay in Glasgow was an extremely memorable experience. I have wonderful memories of the quality time I have spent with my professors, in particular Professor Simon Keane, Professor John Holland and Professor Farhad Noorbakhsh.

Recruitment and Alumni Event in Dehli

At the end of April 2013, the Principal and delegates from each of the four colleges, as well as members from the Recruitment & International Office and Development & Alumni Office travelled to Delhi for a full scale Recruitment/Alumni event. The aim was to raise the profile of the University, increase student recruitment from India and update university alumni with current activities at Glasgow. Margaret Milner, Director of Undergraduate Studies from the Adam Smith Business School joined this exciting event and presented in the recruitment conference held on 22nd April 2013. Hitesh Mediratta, an MSc graduate in International Banking & Finance (2005) joined Margaret and gave a short presentation about his experiences of Glasgow and his career journey since graduation. Hitesh then answered multiple questions from participants relating to course selection, lifestyle, culture, modes of teaching and the Glasgow student experience. All the audience were very impressed by Hitesh’s not only useful but also very interesting talk and answers!

On the following evening, 19 Business School alumni attended the Alumni Dinner held in the gardens of the prestigious British High Commissioners Residence and shared their stories with our university staff.

The School is committed to encourage the best students from every country to study at Glasgow and our alumni ambassadors can make a significant difference to our ambitions in this area. We would be extremely grateful to you if you, alum of our Business School, consider giving your time to support us in this initiative.

Please email business-alumni@glasgow.ac.uk to register your interest.