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Thunderbird 4.0 @ ASU

Thunderbird’s rich history of training global leaders meets ASU’s rich history of innovation – unlocking opportunities for students, faculty, alumni and the communities they serve

It has been five years since Thunderbird joined the Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise. But the full benefits of the partnership – benefits for Thunderbird and for ASU – have come into better focus relatively recently. Our move last year to downtown Phoenix; the addition of two new executive degree programs; an accelerated program; a curriculum revamp to our MGM program which introduces 16 concentrations, 12 of which include courses from other ASU colleges and schools; and of course, the groundbreaking of our new global headquarters facility have all served to deepen our ties.

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JOINING FORCES

Thunderbird has, as President Crow has said, “an enormous amount to offer to ASU. For more than 70 years, Thunderbird has been a hidden gem in Arizona,” Crow said. “Now it will be a crown jewel in the center of our emerging global city, connecting ASU, our state and our country to the world and providing the best in leadership and management education.”

As the nation’s largest public university and the most innovative school in the U.S. for five years running, ASU likewise has an enormous amount to offer Thunderbird. “There are powerful assets, resources, partners, and capacities between ASU and Thunderbird that would have been much harder to access had we been independent,” explained Dean Khagram.

As one example: of the 16 con

Congressman Stanton, City Council member Nowakowski, Mayor Gallego, Dean Khagram, President Crow, Arizona Regent Fred DuVal and Hiroshi Hamada ’91

centrations we now offer, 12 include courses from other ASU colleges and schools (read about them on page 31). Together with the four delivered by Thunderbird, these concentrations enable our MGM – the world’s #1 master’s in management – to be truly transdisciplinary, providing graduates with the ability to reach across disciplines and sectors, the only way to solve the unique challenges posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Yet another example of the ‘stronger together’ nature of the Thunderbird-ASU partnership is the new 4+1 accelerated MGM program (read about it also on page 31). The program is available for undergraduates in any ASU major – whether it’s engineering or bioscience or journalism, or any of the 347 others. “Students get an incredible combination of deep domain expertise with a global leadership and management overlay,” Khagram explained.

PREPARING LEADERS FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Fast forward five years and the Thunderbird-ASU relationship has already yielded significant dividends, with more on the horizon as we continue to execute on our Thunderbird 4.0 vision. Thunderbird Director General and Dean Sanjeev Khagram and ASU President Michael Crow share a commitment to preparing leaders for the Fourth Industrial Revolution – a time of unprecedented change. Both Khagram and Crow recognized early on that together, ASU and Thunderbird would be better able to deliver a dynamic, transdisciplinary education that prepares students for the opportunities and challenges they will face in their global careers as this new era of rapid technological change unfolds.

“It is imperative that we have

leaders who can ensure that everyone contributes and shares in the immense benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Khagram said. “Thunderbird at ASU is at the forefront of shaping these leaders, people who can leverage the new tools of this era in ways that will empower the most vulnerable workers, communities and societies. We strongly believe the future health and prosperity of our global society depends on it.”

AN URBAN LOCATION FOR AN URBAN ERA

One of the defining features of this era has been the mass migration from rural to urban areas. Our move to downtown Phoenix – the heart of the fifth-largest and fastest-growing city in the U.S. – has and will continue to enable us to connect our diverse and global Thunderbird community to one of the most vibrantly flourishing international business communities in the country.

Downtown Phoenix is an exciting hub for innovation, collaboration, and culture. More than 12,000 students currently attend classes at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus; 280 new technology companies launched in the past 10 years, complementing more than 180 restau rants and bars, multiple world-class live performance venues, including two major sports arenas. As the largest state capital in the nation, Phoenix also affords T-birds with unique opportunities for public sector collaboration. Thunderbird is now part of a larger community that values entrepreneurship, innovation, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions

School for the Future of Innovation in Society

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College

Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

A unit of the Arizona State University Enterprise

Operations powered by ASU

Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

School of Sustainability

Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

W. P. Carey School of Business

leadership, compassion, and collabo ration just as much as we always have within the T-bird family.

As excited as Thunderbird is to be in downtown Phoenix, the downtown community is equally thrilled to have us. At a press conference last year, then-Mayor and current congressional Representative Greg Stanton said, “This is an exciting and important moment for the entire region. Thunderbird’s presence downtown will continue to enhance our competitiveness as we build an economy that competes on a global scale.”

PARTNERING FOR GREATER STRENGTH

Speaking at a celebration of the new Thunderbird-ASU alliance in January 2015, Ambassador Barbara Barrett called the partnership “a history-making combination.” She compared it to such historically successful pairings as Watson and Crick, who discovered the dou

ble-helix structure of DNA; Gilbert and Sullivan, famous theatrical partners; and Lewis and Clark, who made history in 1804 when together they mapped and explored the newly acquired western portion of the United States.

“Combinations, teams, collaborations have supercharged performance for eons. This combination bodes well for the future of ASU and for Thunderbird,” said Barrett, who served as interim president of Thunderbird in 2012. Indeed, Thunderbird brings a rich history of training global leaders in skills like cross-cultural management, cross-language communication, and cross-border negotiation. ASU brings a rich history of innovation in disciplines from biodesign to journalism, space science to humanities.

It’s the kind of innovative, transdisciplinary education that sets students up for success in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The kind unique to Thunderbird 4.0 @ ASU.

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