Thunderbird Breaks New Ground

From left, Phoenix City Council member Michael Nowakowski, Rep. Greg Stanton D-Ariz., ASU President Michael Crow, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Thunderbird Director General and Dean Sanjeev Khagram, Arizona Regent Fred DuVal and Thunderbird alumnus Hiroshi Hamada ’91 pose with shovels full of ceremonial dirt at the groundbreaking of the new downtown Phoenix home of Thunderbird School of Global Management on Oct. 7, 2019.

Dr. Michael Crow Hiroshi Hamada ’91

ASU and Thunderbird celebrate the start of construction on new global headquarters

On a hot, sunny day in October 2019, Thunderbird hosted an international block party to break ground on its new iconic global headquarters in downtown Phoenix. It was an evening to remember, full of music, dance, and food from different world cultures, which is fitting because the celebration was all about building for the future while honoring our past. Four generations of T-birds, partners from ASU, and friends from across the world came together in a spirit of optimism and unity to celebrate the official start of construction.

The School will move into its new state-of-the-art global headquarters on the Downtown Phoenix campus of Arizona State University in 2021 — Thunderbird’s 75th anniversary. Thunderbird started after World War II as a training institute for international businesspeople, and its motto was coined by a founding faculty member: “Borders frequented by trade seldom need soldiers.”

Dr. Sanjeev Khagram, Director General and Dean of Thunderbird, reiterated that sentiment during the groundbreaking ceremony. “Advancing peace and prosperity through global commerce remains the principle we abide by to this day,” said Khagram, an Asian-Indian refugee from Uganda during the reign of Idi Amin, who has worked across all sectors and has lived in every region of the world. “Around the world, the forces of nationalism and parochialism are on the rise. We always have to be thoughtful, we have to do the hard work, we have to be creative, but we will always be a commit ted champion for globalism.” ASU President Dr. Michael Crow told the crowd at the groundbreaking ceremony that from the time he arrived at ASU in 2002, he wanted to partner with Thunderbird. “When I came from New York City I was thoroughly impressed by the Thunderbird history, the Thunderbird mystique, the Thunder bird graduates, the logic, the people I got to know,” President Crow said.

“I said, ‘We have to find a way to work with these people.’ Thunderbird is a leadership academy. It’s a place that takes people interested in how to make the world a better place and brings them together with like-minded individuals,” he said.

Crow said the new Thunderbird building is a “tripling down” on the pledge to ensure the continued development of the

global economy and the movement of people out of poverty. Thunderbird’s new global headquarters also reflects and fosters ASU’s continued partnership with the City of Phoe nix, Crow said. “You’re sitting in what is an emergent hub of intellectual and creative energy right here in central Phoenix, which is unparalleled,” he said. The city pledged $13.5 million toward construction. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego agreed that Thunderbird is a perfect fit for downtown. “Phoenix recognizes that global trade is the future,” she said. “We are a large capital city in a border state, and what happens in the global market truly affects us here in the Phoenix Valley.”

Khagram said Thunderbird’s passionate base of 45,000 alumni in more than 140 countries is its greatest asset. “We have sent people to all corners of the world and they have come here from all corners of the world,” he said. Hiroshi Hamada, CEO of the ARUHI Corp. in Tokyo, is a 1991 graduate of Thunderbird, and the chairman of the Thun derbird Global Alumni Network. He told the crowd that he still has good memories of the old campus in Glendale but can’t wait to make new ones in Phoenix.

“However, the excitement I have about the new headquarters is big enough to blow away my sentimental memories,” he said.