May 14, 2011

Over 500 people (alumni, graduates, students, faculty, staff, advisory board members and VIPs) attended the Vienna campus 30th anniversary ball. It was a true alumni homecoming with about 200 alumni of whom many travelled to the event from Iran, Egypt, Russia, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Iceland, etc.

The Webster community celebrated an outstanding, high-end event in the grand surroundings of Vienna’s Palais Auersperg. A Viennese summer ball featuring everything a traditional Austrian ball should have: from corporate sponsoring, VIP patronage and presence, a cocktail reception, an official opening with 14 Webster couples wearing beautiful white ball gowns and tuxedo’s, a fashion show by Webster alumnus Aleksandar Zabunovic, BA ’08, a Lancôme make-up corner, a raffle with the proceeds going to the charity "kleine herzen" (little hearts), great Lancôme give aways, classical music, and a disco.  As Arthur Hirsh, Director of Webster University Vienna, quoted: “The whole event was so spectacular, it took my breath away!”

The guestlist included:

• Dr. Elizabeth Stroble, President of Webster University
• Dr. Julian Schuster, Provost and Senior Vice President of Webster University
• Dr. Robert Spencer, Director of Webster University Geneva and Director General of Europe
• American Ambassador H.E. William C. Eacho, III
• Hungarian Ambassador Vince Szalay-Bobrovniczky
• Deputy Chief of Mission Takeshi Kamiyama, Japanese Embassy
• Deputy Chief of Mission Carol Fuller, US Mission to the OSCE,
• Michael Crouch, District Manager Starbucks Coffee Austria
• Mag. Harald Neumann, former CEO of G4S Security Services (main sponsor, Advisory Board member)
• Prof. Thomas Hintze, CEO of UPC Austria (main sponsor and head of Advisory Board)
• Dipl. Ing. Rudolf Hamp, Managing Director General Motors Powertrain Austria (main sponsor, Advisory Board) alongside other GM employees
• Dr. Walter Schön, CEO of Schön Aerospace Trading & Consulting (Advisory Board)
• Dr. Patricia Helletzgruber, Executive Director Emeritus, American Chamber of Commerce (Advisory Board, also part of Ball Committee)
• Dr. Lydia Goutas, Managing Partner, Lehner Executive Partners (Advisory Board Member emeritus, also part of Ball Committee)