The institution of scholarships was initiated in the first year of operation of the Department, in 1991, awarding the then 8 distinguished students, by the first President of the Department Emeritus Professor Takis Athanasopoulos and since then it has been held every year, with the valuable help of Banking Institutions, Organizations and Businesses that, despite the difficult economic situation, demonstrated a high level of corporate social responsibility in sponsoring them.
The Department of Banking and Financial Management honors and recognizes in the person of its awarded students, the authentic term of excellence, in the sense that the award is about excellence as a life attitude, a fact that activates the virtues that each person possesses, with the purpose of its continuous progress; it rewards the effort for continuous improvement and distinction through noble competition and the effort to make the most of the equal opportunities that all should enjoy.

The ceremony was attended by the Rector of the University of Piraeus Professor Michael Sfakianakis and Kourogenis Nikolaos, Professor of the Department of Banking and Financial Management, Institution Internal Member. .

The Rector of the University of Piraeus, Professor Michael Sfakianakis, expressed his warm congratulations to each of the students individually but also to the parents, professors, colleagues and all those who contributed, in their own way, to the achievement of this excellence and pointed out that we are here today to reward the excellent performing students but also to give all students the motivation towards maximizing their efforts. Because as Aristotle taught us, excellence is never accidental but the result of high intention, sincere effort and intelligent execution. It represents the wise choice between many alternatives so consequently, choice and not luck determines one's career path.

The President of the Department of Banking and Financial Management Professor Seraina Anagnostopoulou pointed out that: "Our Department has the responsibility and the honor at the same time, to serve one of the longest and noblest institutions of education, which is none other than the award of Excellence. As at the beginning of their operation, now the Excellence scholarships are a very profitable investment if one compares the cost-benefit ratio, benefits not only being personal, but wider in a social sense. The scholarship institution once again confirms the long-term and diverse activity of our Department to promote excellence, highlighting the characteristics of those who "excel", those who exaggerate and try to surpass themselves."

Then the President of the Department of Banking and Financial Management Professor Seraina Anagnostopoulou, greeted the Emeritus Professor of the Department Gikas Hardouvelis, referring to his impressive CV and highlighting his role in the Department as an educator and mentor with his skills and strong personality and handed over to him a copy of the first Bank Note of the National Bank as a personal reference to and as a minimal token of gratitude for his contribution to the Department of Banking and Financial Management

Emeritus Professor of the Department, former Minister of Finance and current President of the National Bank Mr. Gikas Hardouvelis, among others, noted: "Today we are here to send exactly this message. To reward excellence as a lifestyle and not only in the narrow sense of the term. To reward the continuous effort to improve. To send the message that it is important to set high goals above our strengths, in order to constantly improve. To send the message that here we reward the best, but also that we can all excel in what we love, as long as we try."

Ms. Eirini Danomara, HR Business Partner PwC Greece, representative of the sponsors emphasized: "We believe in the value of Greek universities and the young people who graduate from them. We are participating in a program that brings the student community closer to the labour market and gives us, businesses, the opportunity to reward and support excellent students."

Mr. Nikolaos Katsanevakis, representative of the award-winning students, thanked "the organizations that finance the awards and the administration that supervised the awarding" and emphasized that: "The Department's contribution does not stop when the course ends, it is a community with solidarity values. Our friends who were sitting in the same seats were by our side in every difficulty, our teachers who used their experience to guide us professionally. And of course all the staff who did everything possible so that there were no obstacles during our study. Because the Department is not the building and the rooms in it, it is us."

The 78 prizes, with a total value of €85,000, were offered by the following SPONSORS, by amount category and in alphabetical order:
Athens International Airport
PWC Greece
Cosmote
NBG Factors
Eurobank - Konstantinos S. Kapsaskis Foundation
Captain Vassilis and Carmen Constantakopoulos" Foundation
Bank of Greece
The Hellenic Bank Association
Non-Profit Civil Company AEGEAS
Accenture Greece
Danaos Shipping Co. Ltd
Deloitte Greece
Imerys S.A
Titan SA
Piraeus Bank
M.Sc in Banking and Finance
M.Sc in Banking and Finance Law
Tsibanoulis & Partners Law firm

The Department of Banking and Financial Management warmly thanks all the representatives of the sponsors for their presence at the Ceremony, but also for their contribution to the initiative of training and preparing the new generation, from which the next active executives in the labour market will emerge.