Thunderbird Magazine Spring 2021 issue

SPRING 2021

THUNDERBIRD

MAGAZINE

Bringing the world to Thunderbird for 75 years 8 Meeting global challenges over the years 14 Anniversary activities throughout the year

34 Alumni helping address COVID-19 37 Featured story: 75th anniversary and the next 75 years of Thunderbird

Taking Thunderbird to the world (and beyond) for the next 75 years.

Global HQ

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Centers of Excellence - Phoenix, AZ (HQ) - Geneva, Switzerland - Moscow, Russia - Dubai, UAE - Nairobi, Kenya - Tokyo, Japan - Seoul, Korea - Shanghai, China

- Los Angeles, CA - Washington, DC - Jakarta, Indonesia - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Istanbul, Turkey - Bogotá, Colombia - London, UK - São Paulo, Brazil

- Mexico City, Mexico - Mumbai, India - Cape Town, South Africa - Skopje, Macedonia - Toronto, Canada - Sydney, Australia - Frankfurt, Germany - Riyadh, KSA

- Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam - Dakar, Senegal - Algiers, Algeria - Taipei, Taiwan - Manila, Philippines

SAVE THE DATE

Grand Opening of Thunderbird Global Headquarters and 75th Anniversary Global Alumni Reunion November 4-7, 2021 Phoenix, Arizona

WATCH LIVE FEED

Find out more details on how to participate:

thunderbird.asu.edu/tbird75

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

MAGAZINE

THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE

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Advancing Inclusive and Sustainable S P R I N G 2 0 2 1 C O NProsperity T E N Tin theSUniverse

Volume 70, Spring 2021 MANAGING EDITOR

Tomas Bilbao

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From the Dean: From Turnaround Thunderbird Mystique to Transformation

GENERAL MANAGER

Kyle Cardinal PROJECT MANAGER

Amy Chapman Beyond Sustainability

All editorial, sales, and production correspondence should be addressed to: Thunderbird Magazine, 400 E Van Buren Street, Suite 900, MC212, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Changes of address, advertising inquiries, and other subscription details can be emailed to: tbirdalumni@ thunderbird.asu.edu.

Editorial submission and letters to the editor can be emailed to: tbirdalumni@ thunderbird.asu.edu

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From the Peace Corps to Thunderbird

64

Chapter Connections

Philanthrophy by the Numbers Thunderbird's D.C. Program Graduates First Class Thunderbird Announces Masrin Center

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How Thunderbird Has Evolved Over the Years

10

The Thunderbird Evolution

16 27 34 54

The Next Round at the Pub

19 28 45 56

Thunderbird GHQ Technology

66

In Memoriam

70

The Future is Now

Global JEDIS Taskforce Alumni Impact During COVID-19 T-birds on the Rise

How Thunderbird Innovated During COVID-19 Thunderbird for Good by the Numbers Class Notes

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From turnaround to

T R A N S F O R M AT I O N ( 2 018 -2 0 21) Dear Thunderbird Global Family,

I

magine the year 2096 as we close out the 21st century.

What will we as human beings have evolved into? How will our enterprises, societies, economies, and polities be organized? Will our planet not only be sustainable but flourishing? Will humanity have begun to inhabit space? Will the incredible potential of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th ... ‘Industrial Revolutions’ be realized?

T-birds everywhere — join me and us in building the Thunderbird Intergalactic Academy of Leadership over the next 75 years. Together we can engender transformative progress and truly achieve sustainable and inclusive prosperity worldwide, into outer space, and beyond (see Thunderbird in 2096 article on page 38).

This year, my dear friends, is the 75th anniversary of our beloved institution. We have come a long way from the founding of the American Institute for Foreign Trade in Glendale in 1946 to Thunderbird School of Global Management with the Arizona State University Enterprise.

We will cherish those seven and one-half decades during our Global Reunion and new Global Headquarters Grand Opening in the first week of November 2021 (see the celebration details on page 14 and book your tickets!).

We will especially celebrate the last three years during which we have engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in global higher education history.

Thunderbird 4.0 @ ASU has risen from the ashes in Phoenix and we are once again the vanguard of the vanguard of global leadership and management in the world (see the breathtaking achievements of our first two years on page 6).

In fact, we have grown even faster and pioneered even greater innovation over the last year despite the manifold complexities, constraints, and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic (see how Thunderbird innovated through COVID-19 on page 28). We have continued to blitz-scale an unprecedented worldwide network model — we are Thunderbird across the world with our most digitally advanced Phoenix global headquarters and 20 regional centers of excellence in every region by the end of 2021 (read more about our centers of excellence on page 46) .

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

T-birds everywhere should be proud, confident, and inspired — we have not just survived — we are thriving!

T-BIRDS THRIVE IN ADVERSITY Today, amidst the multiple associated pandemics ravaging humanity — anti-globalism and exclusionary-isms of all kinds, accelerating climate change and ecosystem destruction, COVID-19 and another global economic crisis, we T-birds are once again being called to duty. We do this amidst the greatest technological transformations ever witnessed — the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Just as when our founders established our beloved institution in 1946 to not only train a new generation of global leaders but to rebuild Europe with the Marshall Plan and fashion the post-WWII international system, we must ensure that 2021 is the start of an unparalleled decade of action, renewal, and transformation — to achieve the UN global Sustainable Development Goals and more, much more, for people, prosperity, and planet.

From our founding as a professional institute dedicated to spreading peace through international commerce and diplomacy after the Second World War, through the eras of decolonization and the Cold War, Thunderbird soared. The 1990s should have been another decade for us to shine but we lost our way and entered our “Kodak moment.” The School declined further with the shocks of 9/11 followed by the global crisis of 2008-09 and subsequent worldwide recession.

COVID-19 and associated pandemics have tested our fortitude and flexibility as educators and as a community, and in true Thunderbird fashion, we have risen to the occasion and adapted with creativity, conviction, and compassion. To name just a few examples, we safely transitioned to high-tech, high-touch hybrid modes of learning that accommodated the needs of our students and faculty, we launched innovative digital academic and executive programs, we saw first classes earn new degree offerings, and we delivered cutting-edge technologically enhanced commencement ceremonies for our graduates, among many other feats achieved during a period of turbulence that stretched many organizations to their breaking points.

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JOINING FORCES FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, & SUSTAINABILITY As we continue creating prosperous and equitable futures, new beginnings await us in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Thunderbird always preached global leadership and management practices for turning pitfalls into windfalls, and adversities into opportunities.

Pioneering innovation when others retreat is the Thunderbird way, and our success in navigating disruption with agility has continued to accelerate in scale since the pandemic emerged.

Although the world has changed in unprecedented ways, one constant remains at Thunderbird — our collective commitment to transformative, purpose-driven global leadership, management, and business education that advances inclusive, sustainable prosperity worldwide, an esprit de corps as vital today as it has ever been in the School’s 75-year history.

The culture of family and sense of unity that we have always cultivated at Thunderbird constitute a strength that has served us especially well in this time of adversity when the world is reckoning with the need to live up to ideals of social justice. Our Thunderbird Oath of Honor consists of three fundamental principles: We oppose all forms of corruption and exploitation We respect the rights and dignity of all people We advance sustainable and inclusive prosperity worldwide

Keeping the Oath of Honor has never been more important, and our evolution as a global institution includes refusing to settle for anything less than leadership in embodying these fundamental principles throughout all our operations and activities, from hiring and recruiting to training to thought leadership to our partnerships from the local to international levels.

Our new Global JEDIS task force (short for Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Sustainability) is broad in scope and deep in impact—far more than an advisory council, its work is already bringing a new vitality to everything we do. We have prioritized robust initiatives and devoted organizational resources to ensure that Thunderbird shines brighter than ever before as a beacon of hope, learning, and excellence for all, and I’m proud to say the whole team of faculty, staff, students, and alumni continues to embrace and deliver on our drive to cultivate Thunderbird as a paragon of worldwide welcome (read more about our Global JEDIS taskforce on page 27).

Sanjeev Khagram, PhD CEO, Director General and Dean

THUNDERBIRD IS NOT A PLACE, IT IS AN IDEA At Thunderbird, we believe ambition and opportunity are mutually energizing. That’s why we help students develop the agility, determination, and strategic thinking sought after by today’s transnational organizations. We graduate principled professionals who jump into the real world with a grounded sense of self, free of entitlement, guided by an abiding dedication to improving the state of the world and planet for all.

This 75-years-and-running project gets a new home base worthy of its storied mission when our stateof-the-art Thunderbird Global Headquarters opens on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus in the heart of the business district. Its 21st-century design and cutting-edge technology will allow our expert faculty to deliver world-class learning experiences for this new era of 4IR transformation (learn more about the technology in our new global headquarters on page 19). Like our other endeavors, its construction has continued safely and on schedule as we continue innovating and adapting in true T-bird fashion.

We all look forward to celebrating the School’s 75th Anniversary together in our beautiful new building. It’s an exciting time to be a T-bird, so I invite you all to dream big, be proud and confident, and join us for the grand opening, where you can share your inspiration for our next 75 years.

Thank you for your support and dedication. I can’t wait to welcome you personally and advance our new glorious chapter as the most global and digital management, leadership, and business academy in the world.

With gratitude,

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GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS

STATE-OF-THE-ART CLASSROOMS, ALUMNI SUPPORTED ROOFTOP PUB, GRAND OPENING: NOV. 4-7, 2021

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REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

$

30mm

RAISED FOR GHQ, SCHOLARSHIPS, CENTERS

LAUNCHED NEW DEGREE PROGRAMS MANDARIN ONLINE MASTER’S, ONLINE BACHELOR’S IN INT'L TRADE, DC-BASED EXECUTIVE MASTER’S, AND STEM CERTIFICATIONS

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION NEW DIGITAL OFFERINGS SIGNATURE WINS (SABIC, GOOGLE, TOYOTA, CHASE, DIGNITY HEALTH)

NEW PARTNERSHIPS WEF, UN Global Compact, UNICON, Global Chamber, International Coaching Federation, Rotary, Habitat For Humanity, Horasis

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GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Globally Focused.

Future-Ready.

Highlights from Thunderbird’s Executive Education programs for individuals and organizations: Global Foundations for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Ethical Circular Economy Global Foresight & Leadership for Accelerated Growth Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Excellence Among over 30 leading-edge certificates – and growing

Learn how Thunderbird prepares professionals and organizations for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Thunderbird.asu.edu/Exec-ed

HOW THUNDERBIRD HAS E VOLVED OVER THE YEARS

A MESSAGE FROM FOUR SENIOR FACULTY

MARY TEAGARDEN

Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Administration and Professor of Global Management, joined Thunderbird as a tenured professor in 1995

LENA BOOTH

Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Finance, joined Thunderbird in 1995

W

hen Thunderbird was founded in 1946 as the American Institute for Foreign Trade, it was the only school of its kind. Our unique perspectives and values quickly made us the go-to destination for international business, leadership, and management education.

ROY NELSON

Associate Dean of Thunderbird Undergraduate Programs and Associate Professor, joined Thunderbird in 1993

MANSOUR JAVIDAN

Garvin Distinguished Professor of Management, joined Thunderbird in 2004

second language because we believe language is the lens to a culture and second-language proficiency prepares students to work in other countries.”

Since 1946, the world has experienced wars, decolonization, globalization, climate change, economic crises, natural disasters, and more. “Through it all, the world has evolved,” said Mary Teagarden, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Administration and Professor of Global Management. “And Thunderbird has always been at the forefront of that evolution.

We’ve added new studies, adopted new methods, and reshaped our curriculum many times over to stay ahead of changes and prepare leaders to be successful, adaptive, and innovative in an ever-changing world.”

Another key differentiator for Thunderbird is our incredible alumni network that spans continents, ethnicities, languages, and generations. “Over the years, Thunderbird has built an international alumni network that is unsurpassed. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Roy Nelson, Associate Dean of Thunderbird Undergraduate Programs and Associate Professor. “A T-bird can go anywhere in the world and find alumni in prominent positions in international business, nonprofits, and government who take delight in helping their fellow T-birds make connections and succeed.” (Find T-birds around the world on our online community platform at https://tbirdconnect.com)

We still are today. “Our reputation has spanned across the globe for 75 years,” said Lena Booth, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Finance. Setting Thunderbird apart is the fact that we’ve always integrated international business, global studies, and languages into the curriculum in a way that no other institution has successfully done. “Our focus on applied learning with many project-based courses is unique,” said Booth. “We also require students to be proficient in a

And unlike other professional schools, “global is in our DNA,” said Mansour Javidan, Garvin Distinguished Professor of Management. “From our diverse student and faculty population to the courses we teach and our extracurricular events, the global mindset is embedded in everything. Inside this institution, we eat, drink, think, grow and live global and we do it as naturally as breathing. It’s just who we have always been and will always be.”

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

It is because of our unique curriculum, worldrenowned faculty, alumni network, and global mindset that we’ve been able to adapt and evolve through many changes and challenges over the last 75 years.

EVOLVING THROUGH CHALLENGES AND CHANGES A great example of Thunderbird’s evolution is our decision to partner with Arizona State University in late 2014. Being part of the most innovative university in the world has expanded our opportunities and has enabled us to accelerate our work toward fulfilling our mission and vision. It has allowed us to maintain our reputation as the go-to destination for global leadership, management, and business education.

Another revolutionary marker was hiring Dr. Sanjeev Khagram as Thunderbird CEO, Director General, and Dean in 2018. “Dean Khagram is building on Thunderbird’s great strengths and taking us further,” said Nelson. “His unique global background and experience make him a perfect fit to lead Thunderbird.

His emphasis on the Fourth Industrial Revolution is challenging us to help future managers take advantage of the breakthroughs in technologies and mindsets that are creating amazing opportunities worldwide.”

“

Through every challenge and change – and because of them – Thunderbird is not only surviving but thriving. .

“WITH ASU, THUNDERBIRD IS EVEN MORE WELL-POSITIONED

TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARISE

AROUND THE WORLD. TO AN EVEN GREATER EXTENT THAN BEFORE,

WE’RE TAKING THUNDERBIRD TO

THE WORLD AS WELL AS HAVING THE WORLD COME TO US.”

– LENA BOOTH

75 AND THRIVING In 2021 – even in the throes of a historic pandemic – Thunderbird is doing better than ever. One of the most exciting projects we’ve been working on is our first global headquarters in downtown Phoenix. “We are building the most technologically advanced education headquarters in the world,” said Teagarden. “It’s going to open up so many opportunities for our students and be the heartbeat of our global network.”

And our global network is growing rapidly. “We’re on this exciting journey of expanding our footprint to different countries and markets all over the world,” said Javidan. “Our goal is to have 25 regional centers of excellence by 2025, allowing us to have an even bigger global impact.”

In our global headquarters and at each of the regional centers, we are creating new degree programs and new executive education programs while nurturing new and existing collaborations. “The partnerships we’re building with global universities and organizations will create new opportunities for Thunderbird students,” said Nelson. “They will allow us to serve our students and our alumni networks and will help us advance global change.”

“The same premises that earned us a worldrenowned reputation still persist; however, we have pivoted to meet the demands of the world,” said Booth. “The School is future-ready, emphasizing the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a multidisciplinary approach and digital global mindset.”

THE NEXT 75 We are proud of Thunderbird’s history and evolution over the last 75 years. And as we look into the next 75 years, we are excited and hopeful about where we will go, what we will do, and who we will impact.

Succeeding will require the coordinated efforts of our global village. “The whole Thunderbird community has to work together to help achieve our mission,” said Booth. “All stakeholders – students, faculty, staff, alumni, and education partners – have to work handin-hand, serving in different capacities to advance the School’s mission. Thunderbird has a great reputation around the world, and that reputation will be expanded more broadly to more countries in the coming years.”

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THE THUNDERBIRD EVOLUTION

10

1.0

2.0

Founded in 1946 on the grounds of a deactivated airbase (Thunderbird Field No. 1), Thunderbird was the first graduate management school focused on global business.

The 1960s proved to be a time of global expansion for the institution.

Thunderbird enjoyed steady growth and with that came a sense of identity in the world of international education and business.

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4.0

In 2015, Thunderbird joined ASU, bringing the world’s #1-ranked Master of Global Management program under the umbrella of the most innovative university in the United States. With a new global headquarters facility under construction in ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus, Thunderbird is now strategically focused on delivering the world’s finest leadership and management education for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

3.0 By the 1980s, Thunderbird had risen to become a major player in the corporate and academic arenas, ranking #1 in the world for international management.

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WATCH VIDEO

FROM THE

PEACE CORPS TO

THUNDERBIRD

- A N AT U R A L T R A N S I T I O N

I

t was 60 years ago that President John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps, to “promote world peace and friendship.” In the decades since, Thunderbird has welcomed Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who, like all T-birds, have a unique perspective on the world.

Moving from the Peace Corps to Thunderbird is a natural transition because the values and perspectives of RPCVs and all T-birds are similarly rooted in global citizenship and a dedication to improving people’s lives. Through hands-on, cross-cultural experiences, RPCVs have cultivated a global mindset, emotional intelligence, and compassionate attitudes. To that experience, Thunderbird adds concentrated training in global business, management, leadership, and international affairs along with opportunities for hands-on consulting in emerging and developed markets. Together, the Peace Corps and Thunderbird equip students with the resiliency, adaptability, and creativity to propel their careers and change the world.

“Had it not been for the Peace Corps, I probably wouldn’t have gone to Thunderbird. Thunderbird inspired me to pursue an international business career in an era when women didn’t have a lot of career options,” Hayes said. “These experiences opened up the world for me.” In 2019, in an effort to provide others the same opportunity, Hayes funded the Thunderbird Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Scholarship. She encourages other alumni to donate in order to expand the program’s reach.

John Cullison ’72, Master of International Management Peace Corps 1968-70, Ethiopia During his two-year tour in Ethiopia, John Cullison and his team developed a program to help farmers properly clean and dry cowhides in order to maximize

MEET SOME OF OUR RETURNED PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER T-BIRDS Susan Hayes ’72, Master of International Management Peace Corps 1968-70, Colombia Susan Hayes served two years in El Tambo and Pasto, Nariño, Colombia, where she lived and worked teaching classes to women and girls on nutrition, cooking, home sanitation, and creating handicrafts from locally available materials that they could sell to supplement family income. Upon completion of her time in the Peace Corps, she attended Thunderbird on a full-ride scholarship based on her Peace Corps service.

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A worker in Ethiopia cleans and dries cowhide for sale.

their profits as they sold the hides for leather. The team started with eucalyptus frames to dry the hides and used special knives to remove any remaining meat. The program was such a success that the World Bank funded its rollout to the entire country.

When his time in the Peace Corps came to an end, Cullison knew Thunderbird was the right next step.

“My experience at Thunderbird allowed me to build on my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer, which led me to an international career,” he said. “The Peace Corps gave me a foundation and Thunderbird allowed me to focus on international business and meet other students who had a similar mindset. Going to Thunderbird opened up a lot of doors for me.”

Kelsey Teske ’20, Master of Global Management Peace Corps 2015-17, Jamaica Kelsey Teske always dreamed of joining the Peace Corps, so when she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from ASU, she decided to join. She served in Jamaica for two years as a literacy advisor. She helped improve literacy scores among youth, played an integral part in opening a Boys Club and Girls Club in local schools, coached soccer, and led planning for the first annual Boys Camp using a grant from an initiative of Michelle Obama’s.

In 2019, Teske began her Master of Global Management program at Thunderbird. “The experiences I gained as a Peace Corps Volunteer prepared me for and complemented the specialized knowledge and experiences I gained at Thunderbird,” she said.

Wanting to share this opportunity with others, Teske worked with a team of other RPVCs and alumna Susan Hayes to get the Thunderbird Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Scholarship up and running. “I was happy to have the opportunity to help other RPCVs get a scholarship to attend Thunderbird and propel their global careers.”

Stacey Abella '05 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua 2001-2003

Stacey Abella ’05, Master of Business Administration in Global Management Peace Corps 2001-03, Nicaragua Since the seventh grade, Stacey Abella knew she wanted to attend Thunderbird. On her road to the School, in 2001 Abella joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to Jinotega, Nicaragua. While there, she partnered with an NGO that focused on micro-financing for small businesses. She worked with loan officers on business development and with loan recipients on making the best use of their loans.

Once her time in the Peace Corps was complete, Abella was thrilled to accomplish her dream of becoming a T-bird. “The Peace Corps opened my mind to a new culture and helped me learn about myself and develop deep relationships,” she said. “But my global mindset was more firmly established at Thunderbird. I was able to expand my network and my perspective.”

Christine Muraguri ’21, Master of Global Management Peace Corps 2013-15, The Gambia Christine Muraguri is a current Master of Global Management student, set to graduate this year. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia from 2013 to 2015, working as a health extension volunteer where her responsibilities included vaccination support, health education and training, and general first aid.

A few years after her service in the Peace Corps, Muraguri decided to attend Thunderbird because of the international focus and diverse student population. “Thunderbird has a dynamic group of fellow RPCVs who have been so helpful in sharing information and developing my community,” she said. “Thunderbird’s cross-cultural mindset and welcoming approach, the diversity of staff, students and faculty, and the opportunities to serve the community make Thunderbird a great choice for RPCVs to continue their education.”

To contribute to Thunderbird's RPCVs scholarship please visit: https://thunderbird.asu.edu/rpcvscholarship

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Looking Back and Ste C e l e b r a t i n g T h u n d e r b i r d ’s 7 5 t h A

O

n Founders’ Day, April 8, 2021, Thunderbird will launch its 75th Anniversary Celebration in typical T-bird fashion—with a 24-hour aroundthe-world celebration. Through innovative technology platforms, alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends will convene for a series of interactive discussions and virtual networking events designed to bring T-birds together as never before.

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In between discussions, the T-bird Virtual Pub, modeled after our new pub in Thunderbird Global Headquarters, opening this fall, will be open for business so participants can take a break and enjoy some networking and a beverage of their choice. A virtual photo booth will add to the festivities, allowing users to record messages of

75th Anniversary Events

Founders’ Day Virtual Celebration

March

Centers of Excellence Launch

THUNDERBIRD 2021

Participants can connect with our regional centers of excellence to discuss timely global topics like “Africa’s Path to Globalization,” and “What’s Next for Brexit” or

hear from our newest faculty in the Masrin Center for Global Entrepreneurship and Family Business on the “Role of Bitcoin in the Future of Family Business.” New sessions and events will be held every hour throughout the day.

Dubai Office Relaunch

THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

Globinars T-birds from 2010s

Globinars T-birds from 2000s

New Founders Spotlight

Convocation

April Istanbul Opening

Globinars T-birds from 1990s

Globinars T-birds from 1980s

May

June

July

LATAM/ Bogotá Opening

Amsterdam Opening

London Opening w/ Mayo Clinic

Shanghai Opening

pping Forward:

by Paetra Yates

n n i v e r s a r y T h r o u g h o u t t h e Ye a r their favorite Thunderbird memories. Alumni messages as well as recordings from the Founders’ Day sessions will be available on T-bird Connect, Thunderbird's digital community platform.

Following the Founders’ Day kickoff celebration, monthly globinars will offer a retrospective look at the School’s impact over the decades through the lens of our alumni. Each month leading up to the Grand Opening of Thunderbird Global Headquarters in downtown Phoenix and our 75th Anniversary Global Reunion, we will convene a panel of alumni to discuss

their experiences and the importance of a Thunderbird education in relation to world events at that time. Join T-birds from around the world as we kick off our Alumni by the Decades globinar series on the first Tuesday of each month. Event details and registration are available on T-bird Connect at: https://t-birdconnect.com Join us on Founders’ Day and throughout the year as we honor our progress, celebrate our present, and create the vision for our future.

Move into new GHQ

Globinars T-birds from 1970s

Globinars T-birds from 1960s

Globinars T-birds from 1950s

Grand Opening/ Global Reunion

1st Convocation in GHQ

August

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

L.A. Campus Opens

Thunderbird at Hiroshima Launches

Mumbai Opening

Taipei Opening

Manila Opening

WEF Singapore/ Alumni Events

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The Next Round at the

WATCH VIDEO

PUB

By Griffin Gosnell ’18

T

hunderbird is a mindset, but where does that mindset come to life? Some say it’s in the classrooms, some say the dorms. And many believe that place is the Pub.

What defines a place? What gives a place that special feeling of comfort, meaning, or joy? What is a place without the people and the memories made, the lessons learned, the inside jokes, the friendships forged, and the love blossomed?

Architects and designers build and envision spaces, but it is the people who use the space who give it meaning. When asked about the Pub by people who aren’t familiar with the School’s rich history, it’s a hard place to explain. “A bar on campus?” Yes, that. But so much more...

The Pub is an emblem, a symbol, and an icon. A global meeting place. A dance studio. An international jukebox. A beers-and-brats post-rugby celebration.

A language lesson. A recruiting lounge. A FORAD (Multinational Corporate Finance) competition. A billiards game. An executive program mixer. A study hall. A concert. A regional night afterparty. A matchmaker’s dream. A beer lover’s delight. A business think tank. And a place for all T-birds to call home.

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

T-birds have been making places around the world their own for 75 years now. Whether it’s a chance encounter at the airport because you saw the Thunderbird logo on a luggage tag, a First Tuesday at a bar in Lima, a reunion on the beach in Goa, a Zoom room, a T-bird’s own start-up, or a Thunderbird Emerging Markets or Global Challenge Lab team finding their niche within the client’s organization.

T-birds have always “T-birdized” places, including our Pubs— the original Pub in the Hangar, the Tower Pub, and now the impressive rooftop Pub at the new Thunderbird Global Headquarters.

This new incarnation of the beloved Pub will honor the vibrant Thunderbird history we all cherish while embracing the modernity of its new home. Alumni

will be delighted to see historic images showcased throughout the space, those familiar alumni license plates adorning the bar, chalkboards for strategizing or keeping score, and yes, even Mary the Marlin.

Donna Vallone, Niki Saulino, and Shane Mehrer of Vallone Studio, the designers behind the Pub, with nearly a century’s worth of experience between them, were honored by the opportunity to be involved in the Pub’s design. Not too proud to age herself with good humor, Donna revealed that she used to frequent the original hangar Pub back in the 1970s. She thought highly of T-birds and of the prestige of the Thunderbird degree, so she was excited to be involved personally in this unique and compelling opportunity. “The vision was always to keep the history and respect what it represents while incorporating the past into something more modern and contemporary,” Vallone said of their mandate.

When describing the Pub’s layout, Mehrer spoke of the way the bar would lend itself to varying experiences within one space. The bar serves as a central hub surrounded by several gathering places, ranging from high-top tables for a quick snack between classes, to booths for teams to compete in trivia, and standard tables for T-birds planning their next business adventure. The designers also knew that T-birds jump at the chance to shake, rattle and roll (and salsa!) on the dance floor, so don’t worry, the floor is easily cleared for those impromptu dance parties.

Saulino added to the vision by highlighting the design elements the team is incorporating – nodding to the aviation beginnings at Thunderbird, the storied history of the School, the memorabilia, the license plates, and opportunities for alumni donors to leave their mark on the space.

After all, T-birds have been making positive impacts and leaving our mark around the world for 75 years— on the School, on gathering places globally, on enterprises, on the planet itself, and on each other’s hearts. From the first Pub at the Hangar to the Pub at the Tower, and everything in between, the Pub is the central place for T-birds past, present, and future.

The Pub at the Thunderbird Global Headquarters will be a place for you and me, and importantly a place

where future T-birds can make memories as we did. I hope you will join me in making your mark on the Pub and inscribing your name in Thunderbird history for generations to come with a gift to support this effort.

And most importantly, please join me for a drink at the Grand Opening and 75th Anniversary Global Reunion, taking place November 4-7, 2021, when we officially make this place our own.

Please join me by donating at: https://thunderbird.asu.edu/tbirdpub

MEMORIES OF THE PUB FROM T-BIRDS THROUGH THE AGES: Saturday afternoons after rugby matches, rehydrating and singing ridiculous songs.

Anonymous Rugby Old-Boy ’85 Bringing everyone together to celebrate the camaraderie of a global vision.

Ian Mark Jensen ’12 Discussing politics and economics while sharing ideas with cohorts from all over the world.

John Weinshank ’05 Free beers for rejection letters.

Jon Dietz ’78 I was a single mother while at Thunderbird. Going to the Pub every other week was my refuge.

Laura Libman ’05 My girlfriend, Jeri Bidle, was Assistant Manager at the Pub. She has now been my wife for 30+ years.

Lloyd Collins ’83 The night of my first trivia night, during Foundations week-singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody with everyone in the pool room, that was the first time it sank in for me that I was among kindred spirits!

S. Daisy J. Rue ’18 Gathering with fellow faculty members and students as well as playing drums for a jazz band at the Pub. Shin Kyozawa ’82 There are too many to count... I probably learned as much at the Pub as I did in class, because the student body itself is a critical part of the learning process! It was so stimulating - and so incredibly much fun - to be amongst such great people.

Stacey Abella ’05

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Cheers

75ars !

to

Help us on our journey to reimagine the Pub

Ye

A gift of any size ensures that this Thunderbird tradition continues, and donations of certain levels will recognize your name, class, or chapter too.

Leave your mark on our new rooftop pub - donate today!

Thunderbird.asu.edu/tbirdpub #atoasttotbird

O

THE MOST T E C H N O L O G I C A L LY A D VA N C E D EDUCATION HEADQUARTERS

ON THE PLANET

ON THE PLANET

THE TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES IN THE PHOENIX GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS WILL ENABLE THUNDERBIRD TO CREATE THE FUTURE AND TRANSFORM THE NEXT 75 YEARS. THUNDERBIRD.ASU.EDU/MAGAZINE

19

I

n 2019, we broke ground on our new global headquarters in downtown Phoenix. After two years of hard work and collaboration with our dedicated team of architects, construction engineers, consultants, and technology experts, we are excited to be opening this August.

Our first global headquarters in Phoenix will be Thunderbird’s digital and physical hub and the embodiment of our “global is digital and digital is global” philosophy. The building has been purposefully designed and built with flexible spaces and stateof-the-art technologies that will enable global connection, communication, and collaboration in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Every aspect of this project is so forward-thinking,” said architect Buzz Yudell, Partner at Moore Ruble Yudell.

“We designed the building with the goal of making it extremely flexible for pedagogy, for gathering, for professional interaction, and for research. The building was designed to be able to deal equally well with inperson teaching and collaboration as well as to really be at the forefront of virtual teaching and collaboration.”

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

DIGITAL IS GLOBAL AND GLOBAL IS DIGITAL The building is equipped with the most advanced technologies on the market that will enable people across borders, cultures, time zones, and languages to gather, learn, and collaborate – in person in Phoenix and virtually from each of the regional centers of excellence.

For instance, the global forum is equipped with a data immersive digital globe and ring of custom-made displays, seamlessly built into the presentation space, that will allow us to host thought leadership events, meetings, classes, and more on a global scale. On any given day, students will have opportunities such as attending a speech or panel discussion featuring a CEO, a head of state, and an academic researcher, hosted in this spacious, elegant venue joined by dozens of virtual attendees who will appear arena-style on the ring of large video screens. As another example, the VR/AR/ XR technology-enhanced language lab will integrate interactive digital tools to open up new dimensions in teaching, learning, and practicing languages – a core component of a Thunderbird education. In the innovation

Imagining commencement ceremonies in our global forum.

lab, high-tech resources will enable students to collaborate with anyone in the world on global solutions to global problems, crisis management and so much more.

“The very fabric of this building will be highly visual and interactive and will help accelerate Thunderbird toward their mission,” said Peter Lawrence ’91, who is Director of Custom Design Team at Planar, the world’s premier display provider and our partner for all the digital displays in the building. “Every aspect of this building was designed with careful thought and purpose. Yes, it will allow people to do really cool things, but more importantly, it will help Thunderbird connect people and solve global challenges. It’s the capstone of my career.”

TECHNOLOGY WITH PURPOSE Technology in and of itself does not enable productive engagement; that fact was made abundantly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology – and the modes by which we leverage it – have to be purposefully designed and taught. “The new building is part of our bigger effort to engage globally and digitally,” said Thunderbird

Director General and Dean Sanjeev Khagram. “It’s not just technology for the sake of technology. Its thoughtful integration will support and advance the education that Thunderbird provides. We can’t advance equitable and sustainable prosperity around the world without it.”

“

From the global forum to the classrooms, the technology in the building is designed to enhance and facilitate learning and connection. “We made a conscious decision not

“THE TECHNOLOGY IN THIS BUILDING IS UNPRECEDENTED. IT ALLOWS PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD TO

CONNECT IN REAL TIME TO THE PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL ANCHOR

THAT IS THUNDERBIRD’S GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS.” - JONES STUDIO

ARCHITECT, BRIAN FARLING

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Rendering of immersive classrom experience.

to design the classrooms traditionally,” explained Yudell. “Teaching and learning at Thunderbird is dynamic, collaborative, and active, and we wanted the classrooms to support that.”

Even prior to the pandemic, the classrooms were designed to be globally accessible and highly flexible – making it easy to meet the demands of in-person and online students simultaneously. Many of the classrooms feature Planar’s interactive tabletop touch displays and wall displays to digitally enhance students’ learning experiences.

Furthermore, the technological capabilities will help prepare students to lead and manage in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “Students will be doing business in a digital world. We can’t teach them to be leaders of this world if we’re not doing it practically with them,” said Dean Khagram. “We’re creating an integrated, experiential environment. One in which students engage with technology every day in every way because that’s the world they have to lead and manage in.”

Indeed, in order to reimagine the architecture of our future and fulfill our mission, we must continue to evolve. Adoption of the latest technology is key. “The

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

implementation of innovative technology in the building is about so much more than the technology,” said Patrick Lynch, Clinical Assistant Professor of Analytics and Leadership. “It’s a commitment to evolution and to sustained innovation and adoption of new ways of thinking and making decisions.”

In addition, Lynch said, “It’s appropriate, it’s timely and it’s savvy that Thunderbird is embracing technology and the future in a way that will ensure our faculty, students, and alumni stay relevant for tomorrow. And because of our global mindset, we will utilize these technologies in collaborative, boundary-busting ways that no other school will even conceive.”

That’s why our vision was to design and build the most technologically advanced global professional school building on the planet – not just for the sake of technology, but for the sake of global connection and collaboration. For the sake of preparing T-birds to lead, innovate, and transform the next 75 years.

Stay tuned for more updates on the grand opening, and in the meantime, check out the construction progress via our live feed on T-bird Connect (https:// t-birdconnect.com).

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Join the exclusive digital platform for our Thunderbird Community.

Download the mobile app to easily stay connected and informed.

Follow reunion news and registration Find a T-bird anywhere in the world Leverage the T-bird network Find T-bird events near you Join your alumni chapter or class group

PHILANTHROPY at Thunderbird AT A $16,000,000 $14,000,000 $12,000,000 $10,000,000 $8,000,000 $6,000,000

New Gifts and Commitments FY15-FY20 (includes in-kind contributions) *Thunderbird’s fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30.

$4,000,000 $2,000,000 0

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

FY20

By the numbers

86

% $

of funds raised were donated by alumni

608 % 54 average gift

24

of all gifts are $100 or less THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

Did you know?

GLANCE

70k % 96 21k

(USD) Full tuition costs for MGM degree

Of students receive financial aid

(USD) Average scholarship award

Where our

Donors Invest • Thunderbird Global Headquarters • SHARE Fellowship • Alumni-funded scholarships • Center for Global Entrepreneurship and Family Business • Thunderbird for Good

Our Donors

Hear from

Kathryn Lindquist ’84 Donor, SHARE Fellowship and Thunderbird Global Headquarters Thunderbird Legacy Society Member funding the Terry Newendorp and Kathryn Lindquist ’84 Scholarship “Thunderbird changed everything for me. I worked in France, Washington, D.C., was employed in the first international division of the state of Maryland, and then started my own company. I started donating to the School as soon as I had some money after I graduated because it meant so much to me. Because of my path after Thunderbird, I had the great fortune to meet and marry my husband…and he became just as much of a T-bird as I am; we hired T-birds as employees and as interns, our staff mentored the students, and he spoke on campus and at conferences. We became involved in the SHARE Fellowship as donors when it started in 2008 and I joined the Executive Committee. It’s incredible to see how the collective support from alumni has now produced 75 SHARE Fellows. Now that I’m retired, how I view my last chapter is in giving back. It’s humbling to look at this cycle. It all started for me as a student on campus, then an alumna starting to give back, to the incredible impact I’ve seen through SHARE, and now, donating for Thunderbird Global Headquarters, which will leave an impression on a very large number of people. And ultimately, making a commitment to establish a scholarship through my estate in my husband’s and my name, which will change the lives of students for years to come. It fills my heart.”

Nana Oureya ’17

Nazar Massouh ’96

Donor, SHARE Fellowship

Donor, Thunderbird Pub

“Where I come from, members of your family help each other, but when someone who doesn’t know you at all is willing to invest in your future—it’s something I’ve never experienced before. As a SHARE Fellow, I give back to the program because it is really dear to me and gave me opportunities. I want to give the same opportunity to students coming from emerging countries.”

“The reason my wife and I decided to give to the Pub was that Thunderbird was a life experience and formed a lifetime of friendships and business connections. I feel like a main part of the T-bird culture was the Pub; it embodied what the School represented.

When you gave us an opportunity to continue that for others and to connect with the culture and community, it was a no-brainer for us to support in some sort of way. Our gift is an excellent opportunity to forever be a part of the legacy and to contribute to something that I’ll be able to take my kids to and everything.

The Thunderbird team pushed us over the edge, way above our normal level of giving comfort. We thought, if we do it here, we have an outsized impact on the campaign and have a memory that stays with us forever.”

Ken Wasylik ’83 Donor, Thunderbird Global Headquarters

Our Students

Hear from

“When I traveled to Arizona for the Tribute Weekend, I was duly impressed with the leadership at Thunderbird, duly impressed with the president of ASU, and duly impressed with their vision. I could actually visualize what they saw and why the School moved downtown. I understood that what students want today is much different than what my wants were 35 years ago. Thunderbird is evolving into the premier international school globally. It’s really up to us alumni to get behind this, and not to just say it’s for somebody else. Let’s face it—you have to get behind it. So, I contacted the Office of Alumni Engagement and asked, ‘how can I do my part?’ Fortunately, I’m in a financial position to actually do that. If you’re in that financial position to do it, and you really support the effort and the leadership, then we, the alumni, should really show that support.”

“The world has become a global village in the recent past due to this incredible digital revolution and I don’t want to be left out on this journey.

With economic hardships in South Sudan due to civil wars, funding my graduate education was a challenge but made possible thanks to the contributions of Thunderbird alumni.”

“When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, my loan by a private institution was canceled. I started to wonder how I would be able to manage my expenses for my first year of studies.

Thankfully, I was awarded the Thunderbird Alumni Scholarship. It is incredible how big an impact the support of the Alumni can make. Latin America is a region that lacks good leadership, therefore upon graduation, I am planning to apply to the Parliament in my country, Peru. I strongly believe that being part of the government in developing countries can drive change in the world. We need wellprepared people in powerful positions, but most importantly, we need people with a good heart to lead with empathy.”

Athuai Rehan ’22 (South Sudan)

“I want to thank the Thunderbird Annual Fund for helping me make my dream a reality. I have met many T-birds over the past years and identified with their values and views of the world. I have participated in some First Tuesday events and have always been impressed by the bonds the alumni have created. One of the reasons I chose this school is the uniquely connected and supportive network of alumni.”

Diana Salas Díaz ’22 (Peru)

Antonio Brunel ’22 (México) THUNDERBIRD.ASU.EDU/MAGAZINE

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A Gift that Pays You Back

Through a charitable remainder unitrust, Dave Fisher ‘67 received secure, regular payments for the duration of his life and an immediate income tax deduction for his contribution to the trust. The remainder of the trust’s assets funded an endowed scholarship at Thunderbird in his name. Dave has created – and benefitted from – scholarship opportunities for Thunderbird students.

We don’t always see our generous donors, but you’re always in the picture.

Call or email us to learn more about this mutually beneficial gift that helps you meet your financial and philanthropic goals.

giving@thunderbird.asu.edu | 602-496-7127 | tbird.giftlegacy.com

Renewing Thunderbird’s Commitment to Creating Equitable and Sustainable Prosperity W O R L D W I D E

By Co-facilitators of Thunderbird’s Global JEDIS Task Force: Bronwyn Beabeau, Chief Operating Officer; Tomás Bilbao, Executive Director of Branding and Communications; Prof. Landry Signé, Director of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Globalization 4.0 Center and co-director of the Washington, DC Regional Center of Excellence

I

n June of last year, Thunderbird Director General and Dean, Dr. Sanjeev Khagram, issued a letter to Thunderbird’s global community in light of the calls for social justice in the United States over the summer of 2020, renewing the School’s commitment to building inclusive, diverse, and sustainable globalism in the 21st century.

In that message, Dean Khagram committed the School to accelerating and expanding its curriculum, dedicating more resources to our ongoing efforts at forging transformative collaborations across sectors around the world, exploring and inventing new mechanisms to ensure that all students, faculty, and staff are fully supported and empowered; and to further leverage the experience of Thunderbird for Good and Thunderbird’s new Masrin Center for Entrepreneurship and Family Business in support of inclusive entrepreneurship and innovation in underserved communities. He also emphasized how vital it is that we all make this a globally focused effort, recognizing that issues of justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability are pervasive around the globe and that Thunderbird is uniquely positioned to help address these challenges.

Shortly after making this commitment, Dean Khagram directed the creation of Thunderbird School of Global Management’s Task Force on Global Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Sustainability (Global JEDIS) composed of representatives from across our global community. The task force was based on the following principles:

n

We will prioritize direct empowerment through equity and inclusion at the global and the local level.

n

We will seek to make a profound and lasting impact that is systematic and transformative, doing so with all deliberate speed.

n

We will partner with organizations, globally and locally, that can help expand our knowledge and understanding as well as our impact around the world.

n

We will pay special attention to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, aimed at leaving no one behind.

Since its creation, the Global JEDIS Task Force has been hard at work harnessing the knowledge and passion of our global community to develop recommendations for actions that advance the principles outlined by Dean Khagram. We were honored to be asked to serve as cofacilitators of this effort, which includes more than 25 members of our global community representing faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

Over the course of the last five months, we have worked across three agile teams: A) Thought Leadership and Academics, B) Student and Staff Success, and C) Partnerships and Initiatives. We have strived to make this an inclusive process that draws on the talent and passion of our community. This work will result in concrete and actionable recommendations that will help the School continue to play a role in solving some of the world’s greatest challenges by bringing together leaders from across the globe who are committed to advancing equitable and sustainable prosperity worldwide.

As a Thunderbird and a global citizen, I promise: I will strive to act with honesty and integrity, I will respect the rights and dignity of all people, I will strive to create sustainable prosperity worldwide, I will oppose all forms of corruption and exploitation, and I will take responsibility for my actions.

As I hold true to these principles, it is my hope that I may enjoy an honorable reputation and peace of conscience.

This pledge I make freely and upon my honor.

- THUNDERBIRD OATH OF HONOR

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HOW

Thunderbird INNOVATED

WATCH VIDEO

DURING COVID-19

A

t Thunderbird, we know that while we can be sensors of change, we cannot predict the details of the future. Instead, we have to foster the mindsets and skills that enable us to prepare for any challenges and opportunities that arise.

Last year, COVID-19 shook the world and introduced a complex set of challenges that we have never before faced as an institution. It necessitated adaptability, creativity, and innovation to not only survive but also to thrive. It called upon our faculty, our students, staff, and our alumni to rise to the occasion and define the School’s future. It required us to redesign our curriculum and our traditions. It demanded that we accelerate our growth and continue to diversify in order to make a difference in this time of disruption and uncertainty.

We were more than up MAGAZINE to the challenge.

THUNDERBIRD SPRING 2021

28

QUICK AND SEAMLESS ADAPTATION The first step in adapting through the global pandemic was the transformation of our classrooms to a virtual (and later hybrid) platform. This required, first and foremost, the technological capabilities to hold all of our classes on a secure and reliable platform. “Our amazing IT/AV staff helped make a seamless transition from in-person to remote learning almost overnight,” said Tomás Bilbao, Executive Director of Branding and Communications. “It was just another example of Thunderbird being nimble and adaptive in the face of disruption.”

In making this pivotal transition, we also needed to ensure that the quality of instruction and real-time engagement, which are so deeply important to our curriculum, remained as high as ever. "Even prior to the pandemic, engaging with students around the world

“

“THUNDERBIRD HAS DONE A REALLY EXCEPTIONAL JOB PIVOTING AND

ADAPTING DURING THIS TIME.”

- ADAM HENRY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT

AND STUDENT SUCCESS

was one of our real drivers," said Mary Teagarden, Associate Dean of Faculty and Administration and Professor of Global Management. “That drive for engagement fueled our staff to make this transition as seamless as possible. It was a level of collaboration that I’ve never seen in 40 years in academia.”

Pre-pandemic, our student recruitment efforts centered on in-person events. Of course, that had to change. “We started doing virtual information sessions once a month and then once a week,” Henry said. “They were so successful that we decided to hold a virtual Premier Day. Premier Weekend is normally held on campus and hosts about 70 students. This recruitment year we were able to host 247 prospective students.”

Being able to meet people where they are has helped us reach more prospective students, more efficiently and sustainably than ever before.

The pandemic has been incredibly disruptive in every aspect of our lives on a global scale. Our goal was to provide our students and our faculty a steady and safe environment and to continue to advance and innovate even as many schools and organizations were retrenching.

“

Our faculty harvested resources to help each other adapt and keep delivering our high-quality education to all students. Though it was challenging, we quickly realized that being online actually opened up new and different opportunities for us. For example: “Many of our professors brought in virtual guest speakers from around the world,” said Roy Nelson, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Associate Professor. “We also held a pilot Collaborative Online Immersive Learning (COIL) class where students from Hiroshima, Japan, and students from the Thunderbird undergraduate program in Phoenix joined together in a virtual learning environment. The experience was invaluable. It was something we might not have done had it not been for the pandemic.”

We also expanded knowledge sharing outside the classroom. “Thunderbird adapted really quickly by transforming the classroom and integrating the new ways that business leaders are learning,” said Adam Henry, Executive Director of Enrollment and Student Success. Thunderbird Globinars – a series of global webinars – were tailored for continuing education, professional development, and thought leadership. The Globinars featured faculty, alumni, and thought leaders and sparked conversations across continents on topics such as the pandemic, globalization, sustainability, and climate change, entrepreneurship, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and more. We also utilized these webinars to help with student recruitment.

For stories about how our alumni are working to innovate through the pandemic, check out page 34.

“WE ARE PIONEERING INNOVATION WHEN OTHERS RETREAT - WITH

AGILITY, INGENUITY, COMPASSION AND RESILIENCE” - SANJEEV KHAGRAM,

DIRECTOR GENERAL AND DEAN

AVATAR ROBOT GRADUATIONS

Because we could not hold traditional in-person graduation ceremonies in 2020, we had to innovate a new, safe-yet-powerful way to celebrate our graduates.

Having seen videos of avatar robots being leveraged in other situations, Thunderbird Director General and Dean, Sanjeev Khagram, had the idea for the first-ever avatar robot graduation. “After we discussed it in our executive meeting, within two days we had it priced out,” said Teagarden. “By the end of the week, we were ready to go. It’s a great example of our bias toward innovation.”

Utilizing avatar robots and other technologies such as chroma key and holographic projection for commencement speakers, our May and December graduations were great successes. December’s

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29

ceremony was held online in an immersive virtual reality rendering of our new global headquarters, with Dean Khagram appearing to confer degrees in the building’s global forum while the actual structure was still under construction. The commencement speakers appeared as video holograms within the virtual building and our most outstanding graduates had a special aerial delivery of their award certificates, courtesy of the Dean’s drone.

But the 2020 graduations were not just about leveraging cool technologies; they were about honoring our graduates and giving them and their families a welldeserved celebration of their accomplishments. “We really pushed the frontier in order to celebrate our graduates and their families,” said Khagram. “We teach our students how to maximize the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by embracing global ingenuity and innovation, so leveraging transformative technologies like mobile telepresence robots for an unprecedented commencement was a fitting final lesson for the Class of 2020.”

ACCELERATION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF OUR DIGITAL EXECUTIVE EDUCATION PORTFOLIO When organizations closed offices and employees began working remotely, Thunderbird very quickly moved a range of executive education programs online, which required our faculty to get creative and make many adjustments. “Sometimes it meant starting classes at five in the morning so we could reach participants in India and on the east coast of the United States,” said Teagarden.

“It also required us to find and utilize new technologies to help with collaboration and project management.

We really had to accelerate what we do in executive education and transform our methods in order to reach the workplace and the needs of people in the workplace.”

This transition culminated in Thunderbird hosting the UNICON 2020 Team Development Conference – the largest, most global, digitally inclusive conference on executive education – entirely online. The conference brought together the world’s leading universities and thought leaders to shape executive education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It was a huge success. According to UNICON, “It was well-paced,

30

THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

Fall 2020 graduates receive their degrees via avatar robots.

Fall 2020 B.K.Y. Award recipient acceptance speech via hologram.

flowed smoothly and met content expectations for the conference theme, Shaping Executive Education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) through Inclusion, Intelligence, Innovation, and Impact.”

The benefits of these and other adaptations in executive education will extend beyond the pandemic, truly propelling us into a world that is both global and digital.

FIRST-EVER MANDARIN IMMERSIVE ONLINE MASTER OF APPLIED LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT (MALM)

As part of our larger vision in China, we created a Mandarin version of our Master of Applied Leadership and Management (MALM). It is the first degree program of its kind for Thunderbird and is also the first Mandarin immersive degree program to come from a leadership, management, or business school outside of China. “We knew that by conducting this program in Mandarin we’d be able to reach more people around the world – people who otherwise would not be able to attend our program because of language barriers,” said Lena Booth, Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Finance Professor.

“

For the past 25 years, we have expanded our global footprint with regional centers of excellence all over the world. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, and also because of it, we have continued to expand, grow and diversify this network of hubs. We have plans to launch regional centers in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Bogotá, Shanghai, and Hiroshima.

“THUNDERBIRD IS REALLY GOOD AT ADAPTING, IN MY OPINION.

THERE HAVE BEEN SOME KINKS, EVERYBODY WAS CAUGHT BY

SURPRISE BY THIS PANDEMIC, AND WE NEVER EXPECTED IT TO BE THIS BIG. BUT THUNDERBIRD HAS DONE

A GREAT JOB AT TRANSITIONING

THEIR STUDENTS OVER TO ONLINE LEARNING.”

- ANTHONY CLIMACO ’21

Each location is an extension of our mission and further advances our goal of connecting the world.

“Dean Khagram recognizes how the different centers are integral to Thunderbird’s mission,” said Anna Kirin, President at CBSD Thunderbird in Moscow.

“Each center has unique offerings and expertise that contribute to the Thunderbird global network and help advance Thunderbird as the most digital and global school in the world.”

“

We launched the program in October 2020 and students have completed several courses asynchronously and synchronously. Along with prerecorded videos, our Mandarin-fluent faculty members hold live sessions that enable students to ask questions and discuss concepts in real time, enhancing their learning experience.

“Our aim with the program was to help Mandarinfluent students take their careers to the next level and globalize their leadership skills in a flexible online format,” said Professor Doug Guthrie, Executive Director of Thunderbird Global and Director of China Initiatives.

“The new Mandarin MALM also supports Thunderbird’s commitment to expanding our presence in China and bringing China and the United States together.”

GROWTH AND EXPANSION OF OUR GLOBAL NETWORK OF REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

Innovating in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and through the pandemic requires us to combine the digital and physical, technology and connection. That’s why Thunderbird’s regional centers of excellence are so essential. Having a physical presence around the world enables us to build a network of sensors connected globally and locally. Our satellite operations allow students, faculty, and alumni in Phoenix to collaborate with fellow T-birds from Shanghai to Dubai. They can share notes on workarounds for the pandemic or come up with solutions to climate change.

“BECAUSE OUR CLASSES WERE ONLINE, IT OPENED THE DOOR TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES. WE HAD THREE

OR FOUR GUEST SPEAKERS COME IN

VIRTUALLY FROM PERU, ARGENTINA,

AND MEXICO.” - ANA PAULA CHAVARRY PIZZORNO ’22

Our goal is to have 25 regional centers of excellence, on every continent and in many major markets around the world, by 2025 – to become the first truly global and multinational school on the planet.

At the heart of this global web is our first global headquarters in Phoenix, which will open in August.

The building will be the most technologically advanced higher education building in the world and will enable us to connect digitally and globally to all of the regional centers of excellence along with alumni networks, partners, prospective students, and client organizations.

Learn more about our current and upcoming regional centers of excellence on page 46.

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THUNDERBIRD'S D.C.

Program Graduates

LEAVING THE WORLD BETTER THAN THEY FOUND IT Today’s world needs future-ready global leaders and managers more than ever and our Executive Master of Arts in Global Affairs and Management (EMAGAM) was designed with that in mind. The EMAGAM provides students a digital global mindset and a unique combination of 21st-century hard and soft skills that will prepare them for the complexities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. During the year-long program, students build expertise in leading systems and new enterprises, managing complexity, disruptive innovation, digital transformation, and collaborative problem-solving.

Bringing the EMAGAM program to Washington, D.C. at the beginning of 2020 was an exciting milestone for us. Since our founding, many people have come to Thunderbird from the Washington, D.C. area to advance their career or transition to a career in a new sector.

“Our goal with the EMAGAM was to design a truly unique, 21st-century degree program at the intersection of global affairs, policy and business – and make it accessible for working professionals in the D.C. area,” said Thunderbird Director General and Dean, Sanjeev Khagram.

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

FIRST CLASS Then COVID-19 hit. But rather than slowing things down, the pandemic highlighted how necessary the program is. “We designed the EMAGAM to empower students to master and manage the complexities of the 21st century,” said Thunderbird Clinical Professor and EMAGAM Co-director Ann Florini. “Little did we suspect how urgently this revamped curriculum would be needed, as the pandemic exploded just weeks after the program launched.”

“This period has been incredibly disruptive as the world is facing some of the biggest crises of modern times. It adds an unexpected new level of relevance and practical application to the curriculum,” echoed Landry Signé, Thunderbird Professor and EMAGAM Co-director.

STEPPING UP TO THE CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC Despite the major disruption, students and faculty adjusted and adapted quite seamlessly. They pivoted with resilience and agile use of the technological resources within Thunderbird’s D.C. hub, which allowed students and faculty to stay safe and

maintain the communication and connection that is central to the EMAGAM program. Another key factor was the Thunderbird spirit, which students and faculty said not only underpinned adaptability but motivated them to step up to the challenges of the pandemic.

“The EMAGAM students were all so eager to learn and make a contribution to the world,” said Jennifer Betancur, EMAGAM Program Manager. “Though they all have diverse backgrounds, experiences and goals, they share the idea that they can leave the world better than they found it.”

Signé said, “It was amazing to see the students making a difference in the world while still enrolled in the program.”

For instance, Julia Goldstein ʹ20, Events and Marketing Manager at Aldrin Family Foundation, worked with Khagram and Signé “to propose options on how to use the emerging and evolving technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to fight COVID-19 around the world,” as Signé described. “These options were presented during the United Nations General Assembly week at the UN Global Compact event, and welcomed by leaders involved in the COVID-19 fight.”

Mamadou Diallo ʹ20, Economic Counselor at the Embassy of Guinea in the United States, “drew on the EMAGAM’s global affairs, complexity and networks courses to help design Guinea-Conakry’s COVID response, with great success,” explained Florini.

Diallo’s predictive model even earned him praise from the Office of the President of Guinea. “The EMAGAM gave me the tools to analyze complex problems and provide appropriate solutions,” he said.

Another student, Tarek Ben Youssef ʹ20, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. African Union Mission in the United States, temporarily took the place of the African Union Ambassador (representing 55 countries) while completing the program. “The knowledge and tools that I acquired have already enabled me to contribute to building a more capable, responsive, accountable and agile institution,” Youssef said. “One that would meet the expectations of its citizens for a more inclusive system of governance and a tangible impact on their wellbeing.”

“

“IT WAS AMAZING TO SEE THE STUDENTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN

THE WORLD WHILE STILL ENROLLED IN THE PROGRAM.- LANDRY SIGNÉ,

CO-DIRECTOR OF EMAGAM AND

THUNDERBIRD PROFESSOR

“I was awestruck watching the final capstone presentations, in which the cohort drew together all of the EMAGAM’s varied frameworks and tools to describe, concretely and compellingly, how to make meaningful progress on some of the world’s great challenges,” Florini said. “It’s hard to imagine a better time to do exactly that.”

MORE NEW PROGRAMS ON TAP IN 2021

The Mandarin Immersive Online Master of Applied Learning and Management (MALM) is the first program of its kind not only at Thunderbird but at any other business school in the United States. You can read more about it in How Thunderbird Innovated Through COVID-19 on page 28.

The Master of Global Affairs and Management in the Creative Industries (MGCI) program will be held in Los Angeles at the newly acquired and fully renovated Herald Examiner building. You can read more about the MGCI, and the new Thunderbird L.A. Center of Excellence, in Expanding Thunderbird’s Global Presence on page 46.

Washington, D.C. Center of Excellence

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ALUMNI IMPACT DURING COVID-19 Juliette Toure ’15 United States Senior Policy Advisor, Food and Drug Administration Juliette was called to serve as the Chief Pharmacist Officer at CCHQ Command Center, to provide expertise and leadership coordination for matters concerning the pharmacy. Many of the logistical challenges she faced due to infection prevention measures require her to redesign workflows, supply chain management, and adapt to the culture changes – topics that Juliette learned at Thunderbird and has applied throughout her career in the USPHS.

Stacy Holberg ’15 United States Director of International Clinical Program Operations at UC San Diego Health Stacy alongside her team of doctors, nurses and specialists decided to cross the border into Mexico to be part of the battle against the coronavirus through a volunteer program.

Around 35 doctors, nurses, and specialists, mostly from UC San Diego Health, were part of the volunteer team that reinforced the health personnel at the General Hospitals of Mexicali and Tijuana by using telemedicine to support the hospitals.

Maria Teresa Morazan ’12 Honduras Co-Founder, Impact Hub Tegucigalpa and Entrepreneurship Technical Assistance Specialist, EuroSAN R5 Maria Teresa developed an initiative with six other organizations that support innovation and entrepreneurship to host a Latin-American Digital Hackathon event, an intensive session to develop and accelerate technologies and innovative projects to mitigate COVID-19 in the region. With the support of the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, Maria Teresa also led the course “Innovation and problem solving in uncertainty” and the 5-star pitch event. She also implemented the project “Rapid response to COVID-19” with funds granted by the U.S. Embassy to support the small business recovery during the pandemic.

Michell United K Area Vic Jempsy Fils- Aimé ’15 Haiti Consultant, InterConsultants Jempsy led the marketing campaign of a network of SME to help low-income people prevent COVID-19 in their communities. He attributes these activities to the education he received at Thunderbird.

Antonio Solis ’11 Mexico General Manager, E3 in Motion After being diagnosed with COVID-19, Antonio and his business partner converted their cardboard plant that manufactures cardboard displays for CPG brands in Mexico and the United States to create cardboard hospital beds distributed to hospitals within Mexico.

Carlos Murillo ’20 Brazil Regional President for Latin America, Pfizer Carlos has led Pfizer’s operations in Brazil since 2017 and last year became responsible for all of Latin America, spearheading COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine rollouts throughout the region.

Citrix ur shire Ho could re effects o moved q from ho essentia up and r keep the

le Senecal de Fonseca ’87 Kingdom ce President at Citrix

rgently responded to the needs of Gloucesterospitals NHS Trust in the UK, so they, in turn, espond and operate swiftly to focus on the of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. The Trust quickly to enable 2,000 employees to work ome without disrupting the provision of their al services. With the help of Citrix, they were running in less than two days, so they could eir focus on serving the community.

Susanto Samsudin ’97 Indonesia President, Habitat for Humanity Indonesia Thunderbird alumni in Indonesia did incredible work to support their community. Working together with Habitat for Humanity, our Indonesian T-birds helped raise money and build temporary shelters for medical workers working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ravi Agrawal ’99 India Chairman, Gencrest Pvt. Ltd. When the lockdown was announced in Maharashtra, Ravi’s family foundation-Samta Foundation-moved all of its resources to serve society. They have focused on supplying essentials like masks, sanitizers and gloves to frontline warriors like rural healthcare workers, police, and prison staff.

Mamadou Diallo ’20 Guinea Economic Counselor, Embassy of Guinea in Washington, DC The COVID-19 tracking model that Mamadou and his team developed enabled Guinea to substantially mitigate the spread of the virus.

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THUNDERBIRD THE

NEXT

By Dr. Sanjeev Khagram

75

CHERISHING (AND LEARNING FROM) OUR HISTORY

I

n the last decade, our world has faced tremendous changes and challenges. Globalism is under attack, the climate is in peril, and technologies are shifting and reshaping every aspect of our lives. Then, last year we were all hit by the COVID-19 pandemic – perhaps the defining moment of the 21st century.

The pandemic tested us on every level – business, economy, governance, health, environment, social fabric, culture, and certainly education. Many people, countries, and enterprises were unprepared for the challenges. But as in any defining moment, along with the great challenges and complexities of the pandemic, there have also been tremendous opportunities to rebuild and rejuvenate.

YEARS WATCH VIDEO

Once again, Thunderbird is being called to duty to transform the world, just as we did after World War II. On the heels of the Second World War, our beloved institution was founded on a set of timeless goals and fundamental values: connecting people, enterprises, governments, and cultures around the world and training future global leaders and managers for careers in international trade and global relations. It is not accidental that Thunderbird was founded the same year as the United Nations.

Since then, the world has evolved dramatically through eras – decolonization and the emergence of new nation states (when Thunderbird was founded, most of the peoples of the world were under colonial rule, including my own family), the Cold War, the New International Economic Order, the end of the Cold War and globalization 3.0 in the 1990s, 9-11-2001, the Global Financial Crisis – and now COVID-19.

This year, we are proud to be celebrating our 75th anniversary. We’ve completed the most significant turnaround in higher education history, we have overcome many significant obstacles and we are now positioned to shape our next 75 years. Because of the foundation laid by our founders and our constant dedication to our vision and mission, especially the love and dedication of Thunderbird alumni, students, staff, faculty, and leadership, we have survived and thrived.

See a visual representation of Thunderbird’s evolution on page 10.

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Imagining Thunderbird in

2 96

Digital Gl obal Min logy dset • L Techno S pace eading The 7t h Indu strial Rev HQ

HQ Sk i Be lls y De ond gre es

HQ

HQ

Beyond Sustainability

Advancing Inclusive and Sustainable Prosperity in the Universe

lo Bio al

gic ch

H

Thunderbird volut Academy ion • Go of Intergalactic al-O Leadership r i ente h Te Hig ch dE Value duc atio ig h u no To fS olu tion s• Lif elo ng Le arn ing HQ Thunderbird Mystique

WE ARE CREATING THE FUTURE As we move forward, we are advancing our transformation with grit, agility, focus, determination, passion, and compassion. We are ready, rolling up our sleeves, actively creating the next 75 years. We are building the most global and digital professional school in the world in order to achieve our vision of inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide.

Our digital global mindsets, our engagement across cultures and sectors, and our openness and passion about diversity in all its forms – these quintessential Thunderbird qualities build synergy with each other and combine to set us apart from any other institution in the world.

We have created an incredible community and we continue to expand and diversify. Thunderbird is a worldwide network of sensors, seekers, and servantleaders. We have more than 46,000 alumni around the world and we have elevated the careers of over one and a half million professionals through executive education, Thunderbird for Good, and our regional

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

“

“SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, THUNDERBIRD WILL CONTINUE TO EDUCATE LEADERS PREPARED TO

TACKLE THE WORLD’S GREATEST CHALLENGES. ROOTED IN THE

OATH OF HONOR AND GUIDED

BY A GLOBAL MINDSET, T-BIRDS

ACROSS THE WORLD WILL HELP DELIVER A MORE EQUITABLE AND

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR ALL.”

- GRIFFIN GOSNELL ’18, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

centers of excellence such as the CBSD in Moscow.

All of these are part of the Thunderbird worldwide network and make up a real-time, dynamic database of knowledge, wisdom, and insights that enable us to sense the pulse of change and progression.

Our soon-to-be 20+ regional centers of excellence are a revolutionary part of this network. They’re our hubs for sensing change. For example, our early insights about the pandemic from our Shanghai and Seoul centers helped us to prepare, adapt and lead, enabling a seamless transition through the pandemic. These regional centers have and will continue to expand our global footprint and global impact.

The heartbeat of this worldwide network is our new global headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. It will set the stage for the rest of the hubs and enable collaboration, connectivity, language learning, innovation and so much more. It is the embodiment of the digital global mindset. And we couldn’t imagine a better place to house this global hub than in Phoenix, which in and of itself is an embodiment of the digital global mindset and evolution.

Phoenix, like Thunderbird, has overcome many challenges, emerging stronger and more resilient.

From the ‘Wild West’ to the fastest-growing city in the country in less than a century, Phoenix now welcomes a growing global population. Phoenix Global Rising, a program we launched in collaboration with the city, aims to take that globalization and diversification even further – to foster international trade and development, achieve

“

the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and strengthen the global entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As we continue to advance our transformation and work to create the future every day, we’ll be propelled forward by our global web of alumni and T-bird Connect, our regional centers, our digital global headquarters, and the principles on which Thunderbird was founded and is again thriving with. We are once again the vanguard of the vanguard – the most global and digital leadership, management, and business school in the world.

THUNDERBIRD 2096: THUNDERBIRD ACADEMY OF INTERGALACTIC LEADERSHIP ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE PROSPERITY IN THE UNIVERSE Over the last several months, we have engaged with many of our stakeholders – including students, alumni, professors, and others – to imagine, indeed invent, Thunderbird for the next 75 years. We have been inspired and energized by the provocative ideas that have come from these sessions (see an artist's illustration of these ideas on page 38).

Perhaps the most crystallized vision of Thunderbird in 2096 so far came from our Thunderbird Global Alumni Council Co-Chair and CEO of ARUHI Corporation in Japan, Hiroshi Hamada ’91:

“SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, WE WILL BE THE THUNDERBIRD ACADEMY OF INTERGALACTIC LEADERSHIP. WE WILL HAVE 75 CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

AROUND THE WORLD AND IN SPACE. OUR CLASSES WILL BE RUN BY XR WITHOUT XR GLASSES AND STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO ATTEND CLASSES ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE TAUGHT VIA AVATARS OR HOLOGRAMS. ALL OF OUR STUDENTS

WILL PARTICIPATE IN GLOBAL, DYNAMIC, CUSTOMIZED, AND HANDS-ON LEARNING.” HIROSHI HAMADA ’91, CEO OF ARUHI CORPORATION AND

CO-CHAIR OF THUNDERBIRD GLOBAL ALUMNI NETWORK (TGAN)

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“Seventy-five years from now, we will be the Thunderbird Academy of Intergalactic Leadership.

We will have 75 centers of excellence around the world and in space. Our classes will be run by XR without XR glasses and students will be able to attend classes anywhere and everywhere taught via avatars or holograms. All of our students and learners will participate in high-tech, hightouch, dynamic, customized, and experiential transformative learning.”

be thriving, providing indispensable value for global – and indeed, intergalactic – leaders, future-ready for the 21st century.

Here are some additional incredibly provocative ideas:

n

Our digital global and even interplanetary mindsets and skill sets will be ubiquitous

n We’ll be a leader of the Seventh Industrial Revolution

n

75 regional centers of excellence will bring the Thunderbird network to every corner of the world, every major market – and space

n Undreamed of technologies will allow students and learners to take classes anywhere, anytime, anyplace with equal access for all throughout our entire lifetimes

n

Our faculty will be prominent thought leaders across the private, public, civic and non-human intelligence sectors worldwide and into outer space

Construction progress on Thunderbird Global Headquarters in February 2021.

n The United Nations will be in version 7.0, having achieved the Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Futures Goals, and now into the Interplanetary Goals

Building the future will take our entire Thunderbird global family, a global village. During the global headquarters grand opening, global reunion, and 75th anniversary celebration later this year, we will hold a special session to present and discuss the ideas curated.

While I would never rule out the possibility, because we can’t predict the precise details of where technology will take us, I and most of us likely won’t be around in 2096. But I have full confidence that Thunderbird will

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THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE SPRING 2021

Project Artemis graduate, Rangina Hamidi, paying her employee in Kandahar. Ragina has since been named Minister of Education in Afghanistan.

Thunderbird stakeholders’ ideas on the future “I’m excited about the new Thunderbird campus, however, within the next 75 years, how we are taught and physical campuses will be totally different. Exciting and scary at the same time.”

- Susan Stevens ’74

“In 75 years, in a complex world where the frontiers between space, time, technology, nature, humanity, and digital realities are blurred, Thunderbird, with its leadership in human-centered innovation and global management will provide over 10 billion global citizens with their finest leaders. The world will be a safer, happier, more inclusive and prosperous place with T-birds spanning the globe.”

– Landry Signé, Professor

“Race issues will be nonexistent because the ideology of borders and countries will cease to exist and one planet, one earth, one people will mean that we treat each other with equality and respect and value each other across all races!”

– Monica Kerretts-Makau, Professor

“It’s 2096, and scientists at ASU, the #1 ranked school in the U.S. for innovation for 81 years in a row, succeeded in inventing XN89-B7Z machine, publicly known as the Time Machine. The 151st session of the UN General Assembly, hosted by Thunderbird School of Global Management, the #1-ranked school in global management for the last 78 years, voted unanimously that the best use for this machine is to recruit MGM recent graduates, who were prepared by Thunderbird to be exceptional leaders, and take them back in time to reverse disasters resulting from lack of leadership in the past. The list of events includes WWII, Chernobyl and Fukushima incidents, climate change, the killing of George Floyd, COVID-19 breakout, the Capitol attack and many others.”

– Mohamed Suhimi ’18, Director of Marketing

“In 75 years, we will hopefully live much longer, which may redefine consciousness and the role of humans on earth. Higher education will no longer be a four-year plan to find and define our identities; instead, education will be a lifelong journey of continuous learning, reinventing oneself, and developing newfound multiple identities that coexist in a person’s lifetime. Thunderbird’s role will continue growing as a lifelong partner that will help us regularly retool and find new permutations of ourselves.”

– Rebecca Hwang, Professor of Practice

“Thunderbird will remain the premier institute to educate leaders in creating sustainable prosperity. The biggest change is that the effects will be felt on earth and in orbit.”

– Zaheer Ali ’19, Senior Manager, NASA Academic Missions Services Task Lead at USRA

“In 75 years, we will live in a more just, diverse, and equitable world and Thunderbird will be at the forefront of achieving those goals.”

– Olivia Mulerwa ’18, Assistant Director of Africa and International Partnerships

Now is the Time!

There has never been a better time to get involved! We have reclaimed our #1 ranking, opened regional centers of excellence around the world, are about to open our new Thunderbird Global Headquarters, and we’re constantly building on our incredible growth with new programs and events.

Don’t miss out!

Refer students

Take action today!

Become a mentor

Hire a T-bird

Connect with your local chapter

Donate to the Annual Fund

For more information on how to get involved, contact your Alumni Engagement team.

TbirdAlumni@thunderbird.asu.edu

T-birdConnect.com

thunderbird.asu.edu/alumni

602-496-7125

16

It Adds Up Thunderbird for Good by the Numbers

In 2005, the Thunderbird for Good initiative was created to leverage Thunderbird’s expertise in international business education by teaching people in emerging and underserved markets how to start and grow small businesses. Since its founding, the initiative has trained over 184,599 people across 110 countries.

Thunderbird for Good began by providing learning opportunities for women in Afghanistan, and today these programs include women and men around the globe who are generating outcomes that create sustainable prosperity worldwide.

Thunderbird for Good has worked with leading companies and organizations, such as Freeport-McMoRan, Goldman Sachs, the U.S. Department of State, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United Nations Global Compact. The programs are delivered by Thunderbird faculty and are often supported by Thunderbird alumni who live and work in the places served.

The results of this good work add up to a big impact when you look at the numbers!

Number of years Thunderbird for Good has operated

184,599 Number of people who have been educated by Thunderbird for Good programs

110

Number of countries with learners

657,167

Hours of training provided through the online DreamBuilder program

35.5%

Percentage of DreamBuilder graduates worldwide serving in a leadership role within their communities

18,775

Number of people participating in Thunderbird for Good online webinars in 2020

53

Number of U.S. Embassies using Thunderbird’s DreamBuilder program in their Academy for Women Entrepreneurs program

EXPANDING

THUNDERBIRD’S

Global Presence

O

ver the last 75 years, we have been the vanguard of global management and business education.

Working together as a global village of learning, the Thunderbird family of faculty, staff, and alumni has trained and empowered global leaders who are prepared to tackle the challenges of our evolving world and propel humanity into the Fourth Industrial Revolution and beyond.

every major region in the world.

In 2020, even in the midst of the pandemic, we made huge strides toward this goal and we’re pleased to be making even more progress this year.

In the next 75 years, we will continue to be pioneers of innovation. By developing a digital global mindset, engaging across cultures and sectors, and embracing diversity, we’ve created a network of sensors enabling us to detect global changes. Our regional centers of excellence are integral cogs in this network – helping us to understand what’s happening in different markets around the world and better prepare for the opportunities and challenges that will arise.

Thunderbird’s regional center of excellence in Moscow – the Center for Business Skills Development (CBSD) Thunderbird – was founded more than 25 years ago, making it our longest-standing regional center. Well known and well respected in the region, the Moscow center has expanded our reach and capabilities with a focus on executive education and business skills development.

“We’ve always taught how to navigate and lead in regional business environments,” said Thunderbird Director General and Dean, Dr. Sanjeev Khagram. “And now we’re not only teaching it, but we’re practicing it in spades. Our regional centers layered with the alumni chapters around the world create a global web that enables us to have a really broad and also very robust global presence.”

Our goal is to have 25 regional centers of excellence by 2025 delivering degree programs, executive education, alumni relations, and student engagement while fostering partnerships in

REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE Moscow: Flourishing and diversifying after 25 years

Thriving over two and a half decades, this center is no stranger to evolution, and in 2019 began working on a plan to expand services to an online learning model. Then the pandemic hit, hard.

“The early months of the pandemic were very challenging,” said Igor Korganov, Head of Strategy and Talent Development at CBSD. “We knew we needed to adapt quickly if we were going to survive and thrive.”

The fact that the Moscow center team had begun developing a plan for their online model prepandemic was very helpful. “I can’t say we were ready for what happened, because no one was,” Anna Kirin, President of CBSD Thunderbird in Russia said. “But we

Nairobi Center of Excellence

didn’t drown. We already knew that we needed to transform and were working on a plan to do so. That made it easier for us to adapt quickly.”

Kirin and Korganov attribute much of the Moscow center’s success to their team. “We had to redesign our services, reskill people, and rethink our competitive advantages,” Korganov said. “It was a total reengineering of what we do, and it required our team to stretch their comfort zones, collaborate, and work hard.” The folks who stayed on did so because they believed in the center’s ability to rise to the challenges. “The team did everything in their power to reimagine and transform to meet the moment,” Kirin said. “I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

In another move also spurred by the pandemic, the Moscow center relocated to a new office space. “The new office is a beautiful illustration of how challenges can help us transform to be a better self,” Kirin said. “It’s not only five times less expensive, but also more conducive to collaboration, innovation, and creativity.” In these ways and more, our regional center of excellence in Moscow is the embodiment of the

spirit of Thunderbird – we stand up to challenges, we rise to the occasion and we do our best to make our community and our world a better place.

Nairobi: Reshaping mindsets in and about Africa Established in February 2019, the Nairobi Regional Center of Excellence quickly launched Thunderbird as a thought leader and partner of choice in Africa. “The Nairobi center has enabled us to build transformative partnerships with African leaders and institutions,” Khagram said. “We have partnered with some incredible organizations including the World Economic Forum in Africa, the African Union, and the African Free Trade Institution.” Working in close collaboration with these and other partners, we have and will continue to tackle 4IR opportunities and challenges in Africa.

An important contribution of the Nairobi center is advancing the public dialogue on a transcontinental scale and contributing new ideas. “Our thought leadership is reshaping mindsets on Africa and allowing

African leaders to share their knowledge with the world,” said Monica Kerretts-Makau, Academic Director for Africa and Professor of Practice. “We create and participate in many important thought leadership events that spark global dialogues and help serve the African continent.” In 2020, the center reached more than 700 participants with webinars on topics such as leadership, the pandemic, and international politics.

The Nairobi center is also an educational bridge, offering access to training, degree programs, and executive education opportunities.

The center serves the student population through mentoring, coaching, and career development, helping students find internships and employment. In these ways and more, our Nairobi Regional Center of Excellence has built pathways of opportunity in Africa, and with this infrastructure already yielding results, we know it will continue to open the way for Thunderbird in making a difference in the region.

Tokyo: Launching a new campus at Hiroshima University Seeking to expand Thunderbird’s global footprint, Hiroshi Hamada ’91, Co-chair of Thunderbird Global Alumni Network (TGAN) and CEO of the ARUHI Corporation, pitched the idea of the first-ever regional center with development fully funded by alumni. Thunderbird’s executive team accepted his proposal and Hamada got straight to work on the Tokyo center. Within six months he had raised $200,000.

He then hired Ai Konishi as General

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purpose of growth, education, and connection.” It’s a purpose the Tokyo Regional Center of Excellence will continue to serve, through the initiative with Hiroshima University and beyond.

Dubai: Enabling partnerships, student recruitment and executive education

Hiroshima University

Manager to help run the center, with a focus on marketing to Japanese corporations and recruiting future students, especially at the executive level.

The Tokyo Regional Center of Excellence acts as a bridge between Japan and Thunderbird, focusing on student recruitment, alumni engagement, and executive programs. In August, the center will expand through a new global initiative at Hiroshima University, where we’ll offer our first undergraduate degree programs in Japan – the Bachelor of Global Management (BGM) and the Bachelor of Science in International Trade (BSIT).

“This will be the first collaboration in higher education history between a Japanese national university and an American state university,” Konishi said. “It’s a very exciting endeavor for both the universities and countries.”

These undergraduates will spend their first two years at the Hiroshima campus and their last two years at Thunderbird Global Headquarters in Phoenix. The students who earn a STEM-designated BSIT will be eligible for three years of Optional Practice Training (OPT) – allowing them to live and work in the U.S. for up to 36 months after graduation. “Normally students only get one year of OPT,” Konishi said. “It’s a big deal that Thunderbird was able to achieve this arrangement with the government.”

“The alliance between Hiroshima University and Thunderbird at Arizona State University is a very important symbol in our chaotic world right now,” Hamada said. “Beyond the difficult history, these two are allied, working together toward a common

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Thunderbird’s Dubai Regional Center of Excellence puts us in an ideal location for global business. In the last decade, Dubai has emerged as a leading regional commercial hub by combining a businessfriendly environment with world-class infrastructure.

Dubai’s increasingly robust trade, travel, finance, and investment sectors link it to much of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia regions.

One of the key focal points for the Dubai center is student recruitment. The center’s central location, time zone, and connectivity to a majority of the world’s population make it easier to recruit students, build partnerships, and to secure global opportunities for our students and alumni.

It shows: “68 percent more students from the Middle East and North Africa region applied to Thunderbird in 2020 than in 2019,” said Mohamed Elsuhimi, Director of Marketing. “And we had more applications in January 2021 than we did in almost all of 2020. I think it shows how eager people are to make a positive change in these turbulent times.”

In addition, the Dubai center has made significant strides with its executive education programs. “We have created programs with impressive organizations like SABIC, the Ministry of Civil Services, and Bahri,” Elsuhimi said. “We were also selected to form a consortium with five other elite schools to build the Leadership Academy of Saudi Arabia.”

The Dubai center positions Thunderbird to support leaders in Dubai and beyond as they look to transition their economies. “Dubai’s government is shifting its focus from services to innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Elsuhimi. “We rank number one for innovation and management. The School will be influential in this area and help develop and foster these skills among leaders in the region.”

Jakarta: Building academic and industry partnerships Since it opened in 2019, the Jakarta Regional Center of Excellence has been critical in delivering new programs and building academic and industry partnerships. “Currently, we are delivering our executive education programs to Freeport Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, and PT Pegadaian,” said Yully Purwono ´19, Client Relationship Director. “We also have a partnership with Rajawali Corpora for our online program, and with the School of Business & Management ITB for our dual degree programs.”

Dubai Center of Excellence at Dubai International Financial Center

In addition, the Jakarta center is developing new partnerships with other universities and corporations, with plans to launch two new degree programs in the fall. The Jakarta center is an essential component of Thunderbird’s commitment to increasing our presence in Southeast Asia.

The incredibly engaged alumni network in Jakarta has been instrumental to the growth of the center, especially its student recruitment and partnership successes. “The alumni in Indonesia are deeply connected with Thunderbird,” said Purwono. “Alumni provide so much support to the center and bring mentorship and applied learning opportunities to current students.”

That statement is as true elsewhere as it is in Jakarta.

Alumni are critical to the success of every regional center of excellence, whether it just launched or we're reinventing it after decades.

REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN FORMATION Shanghai: Facilitating conversations in China and around the world Set to open in late 2021, Thunderbird's Shanghai Center of Excellence will integrate the School's professional development services, executive education, research, and thought leadership. It will be our anchor in China as we continue to grow throughout the region.

“Economic development and business comprise the centerpiece of the interactions that create harmonious relationships between countries,” said Doug Guthrie,

Los Angeles Center of Excellence at ASU California Center Credit: Arizona State University, Gensler and k18

Professor of Global Leadership and Executive Director of Thunderbird Global. “We are committed to the idea that Thunderbird is playing an essential role in bringing China and the United States together through education, research, and thought leadership.”

In support of this commitment, we launched the first Mandarin immersive online Master of Applied Leadership and Management (MALM) for students in China. “It’s the only degree program of its kind coming out of the U.S. It will enable us to reach even more people in Asia,” said Guthrie. And it is just one example of the role the new Shanghai center will play in China and beyond.

Los Angeles: Hosting a new degree in the creative capital of the world In fall 2021, in partnership with the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at ASU, Thunderbird will launch a new degree program – the Master of Global Affairs and Management in the Creative Industries (MGCI). The program, and the new Los Angeles Regional Center of Excellence itself, will be based out of the newly renovated Herald Examiner building in downtown LA.

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Thunderbird announces new Masrin Center for Global Entrepreneurship and Family Business

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he Thunderbird family is expanding with a new addition: the Masrin Center for Global Entrepreneurship and Family Business, named after distinguished Thunderbird alumnus, Jimmy Masrin ’87. Masrin is the President, Director, and CEO of PT Caturkarsa Megatunggal based in Jakarta, Indonesia. The company is a family business that has diversified across several industries including chemicals, mining, fuel distribution, and supply chain and logistics businesses.

70 to 90 percent of annual global GDP, and create 50 to 80 percent of jobs in the majority of countries worldwide. “A well-run family business can be the most powerful form of business. Thunderbird’s intersection of family business and entrepreneurship is an incredibly effective way to add value in the world, and do so in a sustainable and socially conscious manner,” said Andy Unanue ’04.

“In times of accelerated change, family business owners and leaders have an important role in promoting innovative and entrepreneurial solutions to the many challenges we are currently facing,” Masrin said. “I wanted to invest in family business and entrepreneurship at Thunderbird to build much-needed bridges between the communities of entrepreneurs and business leaders, helping us all better prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

During Thunderbird’s Alumni Reunion in Japan in 2019, the first group of families gathered to learn about global disruptive innovation and to discuss best practices for succession and family governance. The meeting was held both in Tokyo and Kyoto and featured prominent guest speakers Edward Jung and Glenn Edens, two icons of the technology world, as well as cultural visits and peer-to-peer sharing.

The shared vision for the center is to create a diverse and inclusive community of family businesses, offices, and enterprises that are globally focused and impact-oriented while embracing technology. With a world undergoing rapid change and disruption, family businesses have the opportunity to play a protagonist role in driving innovation and economic resilience, given that family-owned firms account for two-thirds of all businesses around the world, generate around

"As a second-generation member of a family office, I’ve had opportunities to attend many events and programs focused on family businesses,” said Andy Ogawa ’98.

“What’s distinctive about the community created by Thunderbird's new center is the immediate bond generated by a shared global mindset and curiosity for the role of startups and new technologies in improving the world, and the diversity of perspectives represented in the programs," Ogawa said.

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SOFT LAUNCH IN JAPAN

OFFERINGS FOR STUDENTS AND ALUMNI The Masrin Center will offer families who are interested in embracing innovation strategies a variety of tools to prepare for the new market and societal conditions established by globally disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and climate change. The center's goals are to bring family enterprises together to learn from each other, help them succeed with generational succession, increase cross-business collaboration and investing, and leverage their value systems to improve their chances of thriving during change, and to positively impact the world.

The Masrin Center distinguishes itself from other universities’ entrepreneurship programs through a unique focus on two core principles: inclusion, and global mindset. Family businesses and offices represent a frequently overlooked community in global entrepreneurship ecosystems. Despite their power and influence in local economies worldwide, the average family enterprise currently allocates a relatively small proportion of its net worth, resources, and network to supporting investments in startups, venture capital funds, and training entrepreneurs and future founders. There is an opportunity for this situation to rapidly change with new generations increasingly prioritizing new tech trends, more inclusive value systems, and entrepreneurial creativity. The vision of the Masrin Center is to engage Thunderbird’s vibrant worldwide alumni network with the technology and startup leaders of tomorrow.

Programs for intergenerational collaboration and gender diversity will launch and take center stage throughout 2021. Women in families will have a platform to intimately and frankly discuss some of the challenges they face, which will also serve as a networking forum for sharing resources and training opportunities in new skills that will help amplify their contributions to their family’s business activities.

The Thunderbird Global Youth Hackathon is an example of one initiative that will channel the energy and creativity of today's youth into innovative solutions for improving people’s lives as they transition into a new post-pandemic normal. Young members of

Thunderbird’s community will join forces to envision solutions for today’s most pressing challenges, reinforcing a sentiment of unity, leadership, and agency, while generating opportunities for selfemployment in extremely challenging market conditions.

“Before joining Thunderbird, I worked closely with a prominent family office in Indonesia for many years,” said student Joseph Daud ’21. “One of the most important lessons I learned during my master’s program is the importance of entrepreneurship in helping family businesses build up their ability to thrive during times of disruptive change and acting with startups' perspectives in improving and innovating products or services. I am delighted that at Thunderbird we can find a dedicated center that bridges these two worlds,” said Daud.

Eva Vazquez serves as the center’s Director, bringing extensive experience in operations and entrepreneurial ecosystem development, having contributed to the design and implementation of the startup cluster in Puerto Rico. Vasquez has a master’s in Research Methodology in Management Science from IE Business School in Madrid and she offers insights from her doctoral research on entrepreneurship and mentorship.

The Masrin Center is led by Rebeca Hwang, who serves as its Senior Director in addition to her capacity as Professor of Practice at Thunderbird. Educated at MIT and Stanford, Ms. Hwang brings more than a decade of experience as an educator of technology entrepreneurship and design and as a contributor to the creation of startup communities in dozens of countries all over the globe. Rebeca is also a venture investor, tech entrepreneur, and public speaker. Her career includes working extensively with family businesses and family offices that are interested in capitalizing on opportunities brought by change.

“Bridging the world of family businesses and the ecosystem of entrepreneurs has the potential to unleash a torrent of solutions for society's most pressing challenges,” said Hwang. “And the Masrin Center is committed to bringing these communities synergistic opportunities with diversity and inclusion as guiding principles.”

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GOING FARTHER

TOGETHER:

How Thunderbird’s Partnerships Help Us Advance Our Mission and Make a Direct Impact on the World

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb

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he global Thunderbird community includes our wonderful students, our devoted alumni, our talented and dedicated faculty and staff – and our essential partners. These partnerships are integral in achieving our mission of educating global leaders and managers who will maximize the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Our partnerships help us to make a direct impact in the world,” said Thunderbird Director General and Dean Sanjeev Khagram. “On the student side, our partners help us recruit great students and provide existing students with internships and applied learning opportunities. Our partnerships are vital to our executive education and non-degree programs as well. And they advance our thought leadership in the world, enabling Thunderbird to be more global, to educate more robustly and to provide our students, faculty and alumni with valuable resources.”

International Coaching Federation – “They are our resource for connecting our students with professional coaches to help them accelerate or start their careers,” said Khagram.

Foundation for Climate Restoration – Through our partnership with the Foundation for Climate Restoration, we have launched a task force that will become a global initiative on carbon removal.

PHOENIX GLOBAL RISING Phoenix Global Rising (PGR) is a transformative multistakeholder initiative committed to making the city of Phoenix a cosmopolitan innovation and inclusion vanguard for the 21st century. It will support the inspirational leadership of Mayor Kate Gallego and

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focus on five major collaborative action projects with leading global organizations based across the private, public and nonprofit sectors: Strengthening the Global Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Fostering International Trade and Investment, Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Promoting the Full Inclusion of Immigrants and Refugees, and Advancing Urban Innovation and a Smart Community with Sister Cities Worldwide.

Various public, private and nonprofit groups will be involved, including: Global Chamber Phoenix, Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations, and Phoenix Sister Cities. A community suite will be located on the first floor of Thunderbird Global Headquarters providing meeting space for Phoenix area groups that are active globally.

“What people, our city, our state, our country, our world, and our planet needs these days is good news. Thank you, Phoenix Global Rising, for being that good news!” - Mayor Kate Gallego “Amongst all our collaborators, Thunderbird is specially and uniquely focused on global business, and so it's a perfect match for our exporting, importing and investing members. Let’s keep collaborating and growing business and trade!” Doug Bruhnke, founder/CEO at Global Chamber® “As part of our partnership with Phoenix Global Rising, all of the global organizations within Phoenix will be co-located in our new building. It’s going to be the heartbeat of Global Phoenix.”

- Dean Sanjeev Khagram

UN GLOBAL COMPACT We are the institutional partner for Global Compact Network USA, the US network of the United Nations Global Compact. We were selected for this role through a competitive process against other schools in late 2018. In this role, Thunderbird supports Global Compact Network USA through running programming for them, assisting in events, communications/branding, supporting some Board activities, leveraging the Thunderbird network to bring connections and knowledge to Network USA. We were selected due to Thunderbird’s knowledge, resources, and strong commitment to what the UN Global Compact stands for. As well, the additional strength of our relationship with ASU was a huge plus. The board of Network USA was particularly moved by Sanjeev’s personal origin story and his commitment and past involvement with the UN. “Global Compact Network USA is very pleased to be partnered with Thunderbird to further the UN’s corporate sustainability efforts. This successful relationship has allowed the network to leverage Thunderbird’s leading faculty, administration, and program expertise in support of the sustainability ambitions of US companies.”

- Adam Roy Gordon, Engagement Director, UN Global Compact Network USA

FREEPORT-MCMORAN Thunderbird was approached by FreeportMcMoRan in 2010 to help them develop a signature women’s entrepreneurship program as part of their social impact initiatives. Thunderbird’s strong reputation in designing and implementing women’s entrepreneurship programs through the Thunderbird for Good office was a key reason why the School was initially approached. We have worked closely with Freeport for a decade in creating the “DreamBuilder” and “DreamCatcher” programs, reaching over 80,000 women across 110 countries. We’ve helped showcase their work in the State Department, with the Small Business Administration, the Equal Futures partnership, the UNGC and the Clinton Global Initiative. Freeport began the relationship due to Thunderbird's

reputation and the partnership continues because of the impact we’ve been able to make through the programs we’ve developed for them.

“The longstanding partnership with FreeportMcMoRan is critical to Thunderbird for Good and research and thought leadership. The partnership leads to new ideas, new insights and lessons that our faculty can assemble and share.” - Dean Khagram

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM Thunderbird partners with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and other world-class organizations that are firmly committed to collaborating on innovative solutions to key planetary and global challenges such as climate change and extreme poverty. Shortly after taking the reins of the institution, Thunderbird CEO, Dean and Director General Sanjeev Khagram leveraged his long-standing relationships with WEF in several arenas, including participation in WEF programs, research, and thought leadership. From a white paper on global technology governance to a prestigious fellowship in biotechnology and precision medicine with WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Thunderbird’s partnership with the Forum has produced tangible results that provide benefits to members of the School’s global community as well as high-value visibility around the world. Our collaborations with WEF advance a shared vision of a future defined by inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide, and we are just getting started.

Participants from Project DreamCatcher meet after a session led by Dean Khagram

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T-birds REVATHI ADVAITHI ’05

was named one of the “17 Most Important Indian-Origin Tech Executives in the World.”

was named “Most Admired CEO” by the Houston Business Journal.

FRANCES ALDRICH SEVILLA-SACASA ’78

LEAH BURDICK ’13

was elected as the Independent Director of the Board of Directors at New Senior Investment Group Inc.

joined PRIDE Industries as their Chief Growth Officer.

MURAD AL-KATIB ’05

TEH-HAN CHOW ’07

GOVIND ARORA ’08

GBEMI DISU ’06

was awarded the “2020 CEO Innovator of the Year” by the Globe and Mail.

was appointed Sr. Vice President at Genlith Inc.

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was appointed as the first CEO for Greater China at Fonterra.

was named Executive Director of Carnegie Mellon University in Africa.

ON THE

Rise

KATIE HAYDON PERRY ’08 was named “Top 20 Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate” by Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine.

PETRO (HEATHER) SHIMONISHI ’96 was recognized for Remarkable Service and Innovation at the Annual Legacy Awards Networking Reception.

MICHELLE JENG ’07 was appointed as Chief Financial Officer of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority.

DAVID TURNER ’94 was appointed President of Kincannon & Reed.

JAVAD RA’ED ’81 was named Vice President of Strategic Accounts at Mindbody.

ELIZABETH K. USHER ’ 94 was named new Executive Director/Chief Executive Director of the American Academy of Dermatology and American Academy of Dermatology Association.

BHARATHRAM SESHA ’97 was named Chief Executive Officer at Solara Active Pharma Sciences.

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Class Notes

Jack Rokahr ’47 - Jack recently reconnected with Thunderbird and noted that as T-birds, we are citizens of the world. It is exciting to go out into the world and meet someone and see what the two of you can do together.

His mind has always been abroad and fascinated with world travel. He joined the U.S. Army after attending the University of Nebraska. He was called to active duty in WWII. He spoke French, so he was selected to be on the first Jeep on a regimental convoy. Jack got special assignments that took him behind the lines. When he returned home in June, his aunt and uncle knew bankers who were putting up money to buy Thunderbird in Glendale. He didn’t realize until afterward that it was perfect for antsy GIs like himself.

Howard Crooks ’54 - Mr. Crooks graduated from Thunderbird in 1954. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Nancy Ellen Crooks Foundation, which empowers Kenya’s children with educational and play opportunities. He started the foundation to honor his wife, Nancy Ellen. The foundation provides solar lights to rural schools, installs playgrounds to promote safe play (including at Kenya’s women’s prisons), and implements gardening programs to improve accessibility to food/nutrition.

Dr. Belmont Haydel ’57 - Dr. Haydel was appointed

by President Kennedy in 1963 and President Johnson in 1964 as a US Foreign Service Officer (Diplomat) in economics, commerce, and protocol in Brazil and Argentina. Later, he returned home to New Orleans to work as an accountant in the family business, Haydel’s Flower Shoppe. Later, he served as a Peace Corps adviser and economic consultant in Paraguay. He was awarded two Fulbright Awards in economics at National Universities in Amman, Jordan, and Uruguay. A native English speaker, he’s fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, with familiarity with Arabic, French and Latin. He was also a professor and recruiter for Thunderbird.

William W. Morgan ’58 - William states, “At my age, I'm trying to stay away from the virus. My Vietnamese wife recently acquired citizenship, and her mother and sister are now green card holders.”

George Ramirez ’59 - George is the Director of Armed Forces Service Center, Inc. at Miami International Airport.

Jerome K. Pascoe ’65 - Jerome is long retired!

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Alan McDonald ’66 - Alan spent most of his business career working in the cable television industry on the operating side in Denver, CO. After 25 years, he switched to the dark side (program provider) and worked for a short time as the president of Turner International Japan in Tokyo and NBC Sports. He is presently splitting his time between Tequesta, FL, and Lake Toxaway, NC. J. Clark Hallmann ’67 - J. Clark retired in July 2008 after working almost 40 years internationally. He moved with his wife, Ulla, to the high country in northern Arizona. His last position was as an Executive Committee Member of Union Bancaire Privee, a family-owned Swiss private bank in Zurich, Switzerland. He published his autobiography in an eBook format in January 2020 on Amazon.com, entitled “Sailing Against the Wind.”

Previously, he had written a guide for his European and US relatives to assist them in their business lives and give something back. And this manuscript morphed into his autobiography, which his European and US friends urged him to publish for a global audience.

John Farrington ’68 - John is retired.

Manfred Lo Locher ’69 - Manfred was a Management Trainee at American Can Corp., makers of DIXIE Cups; followed by Bendix Corp., in the USA, Germany, and France in 1972. At Bendix, he reported to Michael Blumenthal, later the US Secretary of the Treasury during the Carter Administration. In 1978, he joined MBB (Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm, now Airbus Corp.) in Munich, where he held management positions at EuroCopter EC sales departments in France, Belgium, Germany, Iraq, Dubai and Kuwait. In 1990, during the Gulf War between Iraq and Kuwait, he was taken hostage and deported to Iraq but released November 1990, right before the allied Desert Storm military intervention. In 1991, from April to December, as a lieutenant colonel in the German Air Force reserves, he supported the German Embassy Attaché staff in Kuwait.

In February 1991, Manfred returned to work with MBB in Munich, where he retired in 1996. Manfred founded and organized Cavitator System GmbH and Hydrodynam Jetmix GmbH with partners based on his own patents.

He sold all shares in 2014 and retired definitively.

Manfred was married for 30 years until his wife died in 2007. Since 2015, he has lived with his partner Annette Kahn in Munderkingen, Germany and New Jersey, USA. He will be 82, and even after some serious health

problems, Manfred thinks and hopes they will have more good years ahead.

Austin Seay ’70 - Austin retired from a 32-year international business career in April 2002. In short, during his career and after graduating from Thunderbird in 1970, he resided in ten countries on six continents.

He enrolled at Thunderbird after six years on active duty service in the US Navy and with a 1963 BS degree from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He was a combat veteran from the Vietnam war when he entered Thunderbird. He was recently honored by The Chattanooga Times Free Press (CTFP) newspaper, which solicited nominations for deserving vets from Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Austin saw combat action in 1965 offshore in South Vietnam. In 1993, he returned from Singapore to Hanoi, Vietnam, and after President Clinton removed the USA’s trade embargo in 1994, he started a business operation with the government of North Vietnam. As one can see, there has been no lack of adventure and intrigue in Austin’s international business career (with 25 years overseas), and Thunderbird gets a lot of credit for that.

Clayton Stone ’70 - Clayton is retired from ASI Government after consulting at Defense Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, FEMA, and the U.S.Coast Guard.

Dan Mapes ’71 - Dan is the Founder/President of VERSES LABS and The Spatial Web Foundation.

Robert Rawlins Crigler ’72 - Robert is retired and living in Los Angeles.

Jim Echle ’72 - After graduation in 1972, Jim moved to Japan and spent 44 years in Asia and the Pacific.

Living in Japan (3 times), Singapore (3 times), Australia, Hong Kong and Vietnam. Jim married a Japanese lady that he met at a Thunderbird party 45 years ago, so his life changed for the good. He retired in Tokyo six years ago and now lives in paradise (Hawaii). He says Asia is in his blood and has been back many times, mostly on cruises. Jim golfs twice a week, which helps him as a caregiver for his wife. He says every day is still exciting.

He will be back in Tokyo soon, where his son and family live, enjoying all the time he can spend there. Some day, Jim will get back to Thunderbird after the new building is complete. He attended a party at the old campus a few years ago and enjoyed seeing some lifelong friends.

Charles Georgedes ’72 - Charles has a career in Technology Consulting and is now retired at the Jersey Shore.

Gary Lumsden ’73 - Gary is building his client base at Area Marketing Associates (www.areamktg.com) and preparing for his eleven-year-old son to pursue a successful business career.

Anthony Acampora ’74 - After leaving Russell Investments in 2010, where Anthony was General Manager for Switzerland and Senior International Advisor, reporting to the Chairman, formed a new investment company based in Geneva, in concert with several of his ex-Russell colleagues. Anthony is CEO of Altaira Wealth Management SA (Altaira), a Swiss FINMA licensed and regulated Independent Asset Management company with headquarters in Geneva and an affiliated entity in London. They are a private family office focusing on delivering value-added generational wealth management services to their discretionary clients.

Altaira focuses on following global best practices in the family office sector, working with trusted third-party custodians, advisors and external asset managers.

Avinder Bindra ’74 - Avi Bindra had a successful career in investment banking. A well-known figure in the Asian Capital Markets, Avi is a former Chairman of the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association. He has been recognized as one of the top 30 bankers globally by the International Financing Review and one of the top 25 bankers in the Asia region by Euroweek Magazine.

Raymond Burrus ’74 - A native Oklahoman, he graduated from OK State and then spent four years active duty as an officer in the Army Transportation Corps. After the military, he traveled in Europe and Africa for a year and a half. Susan and Raymond married in 1973 before attending Thunderbird. Caterpillar hired him in 1975 and, after a year and a half in Peoria, sent him to Hong Kong. In 1977, with the backing of a Hong Kong British company, Raymond started selling and distributing heavy equipment from several manufacturers. His daughters were born in Hong Kong. After ten years in Hong Kong, he spent two years in Indonesia before moving back to the US. He spent the rest of his career selling heavy and industrial equipment here and around the world. Raymond retired in 2012 and has spent the last eight years splitting his time between Dallas, TX and Bellingham, WA. He has six grandkids and loves spending time with them.

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Class Notes

Dwight Winkler ’74 - After a short time with FCIA as a Credit Analyst, Dwight has spent the remainder of his time in Broadcast Transmission and Cellular along with Harris Corp and Motorola, focusing on vendor financing, sales, and business operations. This has included global responsibility with long-term residencies in Nigeria, Singapore, and Indonesia. Since 2008 he has resided in Kuwait as Contract Manager and Budget Control for Kuwait Telecom. Dwight recently relocated to Phoenix, where his daughter is an undergraduate at Thunderbird.

Michael England ’75 - Michael is retired.

Alwin Miller ’75 - Alwin is still working on the dark side, keeping hackers at bay. He describes his life as “Polar Bear every year since 2007, grampa with four daughters and eight grandkids (4&4). Pool, hot tub, RV, and a 6 to 2 workday as the lead cyber-trainer for one of the spook shops...win.”

Satjiv Chahill ’76 - Satjiv Chahil is a Silicon Valley pioneer and thought leader who specializes in the digital transformation of global businesses, enabling startups to scale and aligning business goals with a social purpose.

Edward Newill ’76 - Edward has two businesses— one is a medical device consultancy and the other is a specialized ophthalmic device distribution and assembly company. He is married and living in Philadelphia.

Steven Clarke ’77 - Steven is a retired T-bird. He says that Thunderbird opened doors for him that would have probably never been open. After four years in the Navy, then college, and later, three years with the Panama Canal Company, Thunderbird paved the way for travel to over 80 countries, eventually leading to his owning a very successful equipment distributorship in Florida. Over the years, he has hired a couple of T-birds, including one who has been a successful business owner and is still involved with Thunderbird. Now retired in the far western mountains of Panama (Boquete), he has nothing but fond memories of his time in Glendale.

Ronald Cook ’77 - Ronald has been retired since 2007 and lives in California’s Wine Country. He teaches an adult literacy class once a week and otherwise tries to move slowly through his days. He mentions he doesn’t have to hurry anymore. Travel has been the most enjoyable part of his retirement, and it is what he has missed most during these extraordinary times.

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Luis Moreno ’77 - The Colombian businessman and former diplomat was his country’s Ambassador to the United States under President Andrés Pastrana Arango.

Moreno was also president of the Instituto de Fomento Industrial and served as president of the Inter-American Development Bank from 2005 to 2020.

Curt Bloom ’78 - Curt started his own practice last year, ForesightOne, which helps technology companies deploy in the US. Gail Goggin ’78 - Gail is retired and enjoying life in Merida, Yucatan and Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, Jalisco, Mexico.

Roland McLean ’78 - Roland is retired now. After Thunderbird, he worked in 54 different countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Middle East, Asia, and Africa. He is still active in a hydroelectric project in remote Mbeya, Tanzania.

Cramer Owen ’78 - Cramer sends greetings from Newtown, CT. Cramer transitioned from full-time work in 2015. He started a consulting firm, volunteers for the town’s economic development commission and provides some small business consulting pro-bono through SCORE. Cramer states that he is “enjoying more time for travel, family and staying healthy in mind, body and soul. Cheers!”

Wesley Bigler ’79 - Wesley is the CEO of LongView Wealth Management.

David Russick ’79 - David founded and currently serves as Managing Director of an angel investor network.

Theodorus van der Loo ’79 - Theodorus is retired from a large multinational and is currently doing consultancy.

James Halderman ’81 - James currently works with Internet domain names.

Mathis Shinnick ’81 - Mathis is currently the CEO of OptiPulse, Inc., a start-up bringing the Photonics Revolution to 5G Communication.

Steven Nicley ’82 - Steven is the Director of Vertical Bridge Reit, LLC. Frances Arsht Tiger ’82 - Frances is a mother of 2, wife, Art Educator/Integrator, and journalist.

David Wee ’82 - David retired in 1997 after a 20-

year career in private banking. He was VP with Merrill Lynch in Singapore. David lived in Singapore and Melbourne, Australia.

Brian Kelly ’83- Brian is pursuing commercial real estate (multi-family development, industrial) in the New York/New Jersey area. He is also looking for textile contract manufacturing operations in the western hemisphere (the Caribbean? Latin America?).

He asks to be contacted if someone knows that industry.

William Murray ’84 - William is the president of the National Coffee Association, USA, a trade association representing the US coffee industry and stakeholders who play a role in that industry.

Gerhard Peyfuss ’84 - Gerhard is the COO of PCEN Media, Inc., an integrated Broadcast Entertainment, Media & Marketing company delivered through major OTT streaming mediums (Roku, Amazon Fire, Google Chromecast, Apple TV) as well as traditional “over the air” broadcast, cable, satellite, as well as branded websites and their own Mobile App. Jeremy Umland ’84 - Jeremy founded in 1999 Ozumo Concepts International. He created the culinary concept Contemporary Japanese Cuisine and currently operates the Ozumo brand restaurants in San Francisco and San Jose.

Daniel Michener ’85 - Daniel is working on telecommunications projects in Myanmar.

Kathleen Hallberg (Reed) ’85 - Kathleen is retired from Hallmark Cards after 30 years. She joined Government Employees Health Association (GEHA) as a Business Process Consultant in May 2019.

Brenda Gant ’86 - In February 2020, Brenda appeared as a contestant on Jeopardy! (show #8155).

After passing the initial tests online and in-person at the beginning of 2018, she was finally called to tape in November 2019. Although she did not win her match, she is proud to say she got a Daily Double, which she answered correctly, and narrowly missed the Final Jeopardy! Brenda had a wonderful experience meeting the other contestants and was so honored to play under venerable host, Alex Trebek.

Additionally, Brenda walked in the Rose Parade

with the entry celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. She was one of 100 women dressed in all-white period costumes who accompanied a float that carried descendants of notable persons who fought for women’s suffrage. Brenda lives in Glendale, CA and is an office manager and bookkeeper for several local companies after spending 20 years in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Marypat Parker ’86 - Marypat lives near Minneapolis, where she works as a speech-language pathologist with adult acute care patients in hospitals. She attained her MA in Speech and Hearing Science at Cleveland State University in 1999. She married an architect who specializes in “green” building, so their house is in a constant state of remodeling and their gardens are filled with MN-only prairie grasses and flowers, which get a lot of mosquitoes in the summertime. Marypat volunteers at a horse rescue farm and takes saddle seat riding lessons. Her family has one adorable cat.

Eva Kavuma ’87 - Eva Kavuma joined ARC in 2017 as the Chief Operating Officer, bringing to ARC over fifteen years of executive experience in stakeholder engagement and organizational optimization, as well as a profound understanding of Africa’s diverse investment environments. Ms. Kavuma ensures that all of ARC Agency’s operational areas – Research and Development, Technical Support, Country Engagement, Contingency Planning, and Policy and Technical Advisory – are harmonized and efficiently working towards improving disaster risk financing in ARC Member States.

Lisa Wiemar Lillelund ’87 - Lisa Lillelund is a sustainability advisor and environmental advocate. She has a passion and respect for organizations and companies doing well by doing good. As a long-time advocate for electric vehicles and for more sustainable forms of energy and transportation throughout the world, Lisa is pleased to be part of Proterra, the leading manufacturer of batteryelectric buses in North America. As part of the Proterra Powered team, Lisa brings Proterra’s advanced battery technology to other Original Equipment Manufacturers such as school buses, coaches, and delivery vans, enabling them to bring to market high-quality buses with zero emissions.

Having started her career years ago in the auto industry in Germany, she’s excited to be fully engaged again in the vehicle industry. She’s proud of her organization’s products that reduce emissions and are better for our environment!

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Class Notes

Ruediger Nowag ’88 - Ruediger has been working in international sales of various chemicals for Dow and Dupont since 2011, now adding on new territories such as Egypt and Russia.

Thomas Murray ’89 - Thomas is a resident of Portugal where he has lived for the past four years. He has now added ‘published author’ to his life experiences.

He has just published “The Eye of the Beholder: International Suspense in the Art World” which can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/gp/ product/1735260606. He has already written his second novel and is just waiting for it to be illustrated. He expects to publish a new book every six months instead of the seven years it took for his first one.

Tomoyuki Nishijo ’89 - Tomoyuki has set up Global 10 LLC and has been teaching academic writing to adults.

Lora Reeve ’89 - Lora delegates to the UN negotiations for the new legally binding instrument for the high seas. She has expertise in international ocean law. MS, JD, ABD in addition to Thunderbird MBA.

Yoshihisa Saita ’89 - Yoshihisa is in Transaction Banking Product Marketing.

Brian Hawkins ’90 - Brian is a serial entrepreneur and investor in the fashion tech, lifestyle and hospitality industry.

Alexander Kramer ’90 - Alexander recently joined The Lundquist Institute in Los Angeles as CFO. Dania Martinez ’90 - Dania is the Retail Center Service Consultant with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida.

Ronald Schulman ’90 - Ronald recently purchased SYNERGY HomeCare.

Daniel Coe ’91 - Daniel moved back to the USA after 18 years of ex-pat life in Singapore, Shanghai and London. He is currently the President and Vice Chairman of Coca-Cola’s Cross Enterprise Procurement Group - The company and bottler joint procurement consortium purchasing over $20 billion annually.

William Rathsburg ’91 - William’s and his wife, Jenny, along with their three children, live in Phoenix.

They now have 23 years in the family business designing, supplying and installing laboratory furniture solutions for higher ed, high tech, and healthcare markets.

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Walid Badawi ’92 - Mr. Walid Badawi was appointed as the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kenya with effect from 4 June 2019. Mr. Badawi has over 26 years’ experience in UNDP. Until his appointment, he served as the United Nations Resident Representative ad interim for UNDP South Africa and prior to that UNDP Country Director, South Africa (2014 – 2019). He began his career in UNDP as Programme Officer, UNDP Jakarta, Indonesia (1993 – 1999); and Coordination Officer in the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator, UN/UNDP Cairo, Egypt (1999 - 2001).”

Thomas Johnson ’92 - Thomas is a Private Money mortgage lender.

Michael A. Krafft ’92 - Michael recently completed his Ph.D. in organizational systems at Saybrook University and his dissertation was published as opensource on ProQuest.

Theodore Manning ’92 - Theodore is the founder of Socially Responsible Ventures L3C, a social enterprise that rehabs--and weatherizes--distressed residential properties in order to rent them out to low-income families. The company employs a workforce comprised mainly of ex-offenders.

Sandy (née Campbell) Menendez-Aponte ’92 Sandy is the founder of Driven By Insights LLC, a brand marketing and innovation consultancy in the beverage, food, health & wellness arena. She resides in the NY/ CT area and is open to travel. She loves talking with T-birds!

Brendan McInerney ’92 - Brendan is working in Model Risk Management at HSBC in London. He is also doing a lot of sailing whenever he gets the chance - the dream is to do a circumnavigation when he retires!

Hassan Rashid ’92 - Hassan is the additional Managing Director of Eastern Bank Ltd. Sasha Ablitt ’93 - Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners & Tailors, an environmentally friendly cleaning business dedicated to protecting the planet as well as its customer’s clothes, is a finalist for the 2020 Global Best Practices Award in retail textile cleaning. Hosted by the Netherlands-based Comité International De L`Entretien du Textile (CINET), an international organization representing the textile industry, the awards program showcases trailblazing professional laundry and dry cleaning operations from

around the world with an emphasis on sustainability.

As a finalist, Ablitt’s will present the company’s achievements on Nov. 4 before association judges and hundreds of participants representing 45 countries from around the world.

Takashi Amano ’93 - Takashi has now become an American citizen. He is working for a high-tech company in San Jose, CA. Matt Laukaitis ’93 - Matt was appointed EVP and Global General Manager, Consumer Industries at SAP where he leads a global team responsible for SAP’s performance, solutions, go to market, and customer success for six industries – Agribusiness, Retail, Consumer Products, Wholesale Distribution, Life Sciences and Healthcare. Matt also serves on the boards of the Fashion Scholarship Fund as well as The Runway of Dreams Foundation.

David Serbin ’93 - David is in Real Estate Development.

Candice Medina (Cramer) ’94 - Candice is an attorney, married and has one daughter, living in Fort Lauderdale.

Amanda (Amy) Zambetti ’94 - In addition to being a T-bird, she is also a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach with a growing business that is expanding into Japan.

She is looking for a couple of T-birds to collaborate with and leverage the Global Opportunity. Alumni may connect with her via email: aozambetti@gmail.com.

Murad Al-Katib ’95 - Murad was recently selected as the 2020 CEO Innovator of the Year by the Globe and Mail in Canada. Murad stated that “...everything we learned and live for as T-birds is global and innovation was a key part of our education.”

Robert Criste ’95 - Robert is the US Southeast Regional Manager for Mueller Water Products working in the Southeast US, Mexico and Caribbean Nations he mitigates non-revenue water using acoustic leak detection, drinking water pressure management, water-quality & conservation initiatives. He is still doing open-mic-nights as often as they want him to.

Lonnie Power ’95 - Lonnie works at Heilind Electronics as the Customer Business Manager.

Philip E. Graham ’96 - Philip is the Senior Vice President of External Relations for American Private Radio, a national non-profit media company that uses

its unique storytelling radio show to unify the American public through positivity and a knowledge of history.

Dean Anderson ’97 - Dean sends his regards to everyone in the following message: “Aloha T-birds!

My family and I have been on Maui since February of 2019. Raising three teenage boys with my tolerant wife. Still in the hospitality industry. Currently, Director of Revenue Strategy at the Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort. COVID has hit us hard. Looking for new opportunities, in or out of hospitality. In our out of Hawaii. Sales, Marketing, Revenue Management, Business Development. Love and safety to all!”

Dean Bennion ’97 - Dean is the Managing Partner of Kimball Creek Partners.

Stephan Kopietzki ’98 - Stephan is the Chief Commercial Officer at FELCO SA.

Abdullah Al Sudairy ’98 - Abdullah Al Sudairy is the CEO of Amlak International for Real Estate Finance Company since January 2014. He joined Amlak International in 2007 as a Director of Risk & Credit and later was elevated/promoted in Deputy CEO & Director of Strategy, Risk & Credit from 2011 – 2013.

Scott Garner ’99 - Scott was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer for Asia Environmental Holdings Group (Asia ENV Group). Scott joined Asia ENV Group in 2018 and is responsible for providing strategic business guidance and leading all business development efforts throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to joining Asia ENV Group, Scott spent eight years as Vice President (Asia-Pacific) at Hi-Vac Corporation, a world leader in providing environmental technologies and products to municipalities and industrial facilities worldwide. Scott also currently serves as Board Member of the Asia Association of Environmental Professionals (AAEP) and Board Member of the Association of Asia Environmental Services Companies (AAESC). In addition, Scott works with some of the world’s leading academic institutions and publishers in promoting academic research and publishing on environmental matters in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, Scott was appointed to the Editorial Board of River Publishers, Denmark’s leading publisher of academic journals. Scott serves on the Editorial Board of the series on Chemical, Environmental, and Energy Engineering. In addition to an MBA from Thunderbird, Scott has an MTax and JD from Georgia State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

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Class Notes

Lois Terry ’99 - Lois works in Global Capital Project Execution and Contract Strategy.

Sean McKee ’99 - Sean relocated to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in January 2020 to accompany his wife, Erin E. McKee, who is the U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands.

They will be there for a three-year assignment.

future in a new city that he will hopefully call home for many years to come. Most importantly, he is looking forward to connecting with T-birds in the Denver area.

Todd Smith ’01 - Todd is in Early Stage/High Growth Consulting, Multifamily Real Estate Investing, Tech Transfer, Writing and Entrepreneurship.

Matthew Romero ’99 - Matthew is in International LNG Business Development.

Kevin Spence ’05 - Kevin is the Strategic Sourcing Manager for Aramark. He works outside of Washington D.C. in Rockville, MD.

Kendra Cartwright ’00 - Kendra is the Global HR Business Partner for Real Estate, Blackstone.

Kristin Dacey ’07 - Kristin is the Chief Investment Officer of Emprenta Impact Investing Fund.

Thomas Humphrey ’00 - Thomas owns his own business- Ferguson SM, Inc.

Viral Jain ’08 - Viral is in theTextile Industry - Cotton Recycling.

Karl Kleemeier ’00 - After nearly 20 years working in the Middle East for Saudi Aramco, Karl took early retirement in September 2020 and relocated to Singapore to start a position with Argus Media as Vice President of Business Development.

Christopher Lee ’08 - Christopher relocated to Des Moines, IA, in January 2020, where he began a new role as VP for Finance and Administration at Grand View University. Since 2014, he has been the VP for Finance and Administration at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. He is engaged to Doug Staudt of Des Moines.

Carolina Pagano ’00 - Carolina is a seasoned and globally minded Human Resources professional with over 20 years of leadership experience specializing in Executive Search at Fortune 500 companies, including Walmart, Sam’s Club and Under Armour. She has an in-depth understanding of strategic staffing, recruiting operations, corporate recruitment and HR business initiatives such as D&I, cultural immersion, international development, employer brand/recruitment marketing, contingent workforce management and university/ rookie programs.

Madji Sock ’00 - Madji is a Partner in Dalberg’s Senegal office. She has more than 20 years of experience implementing and managing projects in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the US. Her recent project portfolio is strongly focused on supporting national governments to take a leadership role in development programs and development partners to build and/or strengthen the mechanisms for the transition to stronger government ownership of sector programs. She is the co-founder of the Women’s Investment Club Senegal (WIC). She is fluent in English and French.

Andrew Goehl ’01 - After three years in Cleveland with EY in a temporary National Office role, Andrew and his family moved back west and now reside in Denver.

He is still with EY and is looking forward to a bright

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Robert McEntiree ’08 - Robert is the Director of Management Consulting Services for the School Services of California.

Umar Ahmed ’09 - Umar has just finished his PhD and is now working as Senior Adviser at the Ministry for Primary Industries in New Zealand.

Clark Colby ’09 - Clark is working for Mazda in the U.S. after working in Mexico and Canada for over 11 years.

Mark Streich ’09 - Mark Co-founded SquareFairy with another Thunderbird alum. They are providing a site/service to help stressed couples move forward in their lives, either through couples therapy or through providing an inexpensive way to file for divorce, and then helping them on their life’s journey. Mark also moved to Alexandria, Virginia for new adventures.

Jeremy Forman ’10 - Jeremy is the Director, Enterprise Architecture at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Christopher Lundh ’10 - Christopher is the Senior Economist for China and the US at The Conference Board, a non-profit thinktank. He has two kids now and is married to a British woman he met during his last year at Thunderbird.

Drew Pool ’10 - Drew is the Co-Founder of Wren House Brewing Company in Phoenix, AZ, as well as being the Global Marketing Manager at Intel for their IoT business!

Stephen Willson ’10 - Stephen is retired after almost 22 years in the US Air Force, working as an interpreter/translator and international specialist. He is currently working in product and project management for Dustless Technologies in Price, Utah.

Bryan Dsouza ’11 is celebrating over seven years at Microsoft. His experience spans product management and product marketing at the company. He is currently a Sr. Product Marketing Manager in Microsoft Azure Data and AI, driving open source strategy in the cloud.

Carl Williams ’11 - Carl is a DoD Contractor and USNR Officer.

Jesse Markham ’12 - Jesse is the Group Product Manager at Welcome Software in NYC, where he is managing product and engineering teams based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Luis Zacarias Sirvas ’12 - Luis is the Retail Manager in Business.

Timothy Lynn Burchfield ’13 - Timothy is a Franchise Owner of Chick-fil-A and Department of State appointed Consul to Guatemala.

Trudy Sharp ’13 - In August 2019, Trudy took up the position of Global Director, Human Resources for Medical Teams International (a humanitarian health organization), based in Portland, Oregon.

Borijan Borozanov ’14 - Borijan is the Plant Manager/Managing Director at Aptiv Services. He is a seasoned investment professional with a successful track record in originating, executing and managing Foreign Direct Investments. Borijan has over ten years in sourcing mandates, due diligence, structuring deals, negotiating term sheets, Government Incentives and Export Promotion. He has managed cross-functional teams across various industries and worked with a diversified portfolio of clients from all continents.

John K Cervenka ’14 - John is Investing in privately owned Tech startups.

J Zakk MacLaren ’14 - J Zakk is the Portfolio Management Officer for Bank of America’s asset-based lending group (#1 League Table ranking).

Kseniia Medvedieva ’14 - Kseniia is a SHARE fellow originally from Ukraine and is currently an Investment Specialist with EBRD. Aram DiGennaro ’16 - Aram’s Thunderbird education was invaluable in starting several ventures in Kenya, where he lived for 11 years. He moved to Virginia in 2019 and continued to invest in entrepreneurship and strategy work. He always enjoys connecting with T-birds around the world.

Martin Holland III ’17 - Martin recently accepted a position as a Real Estate Analyst with a PropTech StartUp Medici Living in Berlin, Germany. He will be working on transactions in the EMEA region.

Bianca Lochner ’17 - Bianca is the Assistant Chief Information Officer for the City of Phoenix (5th largest city in the US) and the Chair for the Cybersecurity Council of Arizona. She has been selected as Arizona’s T-bird Leading in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Jarrod Combs-Harris ’18 - Jarrod is pursuing his PhD in Strategic Leadership and about to enter the dissertation phase.

Rexcel Lagare ’18 - With over seven years of experience in finance, supply chain & operations projects with Fortune 500 clients and BusinessWorld’s Top 1000 Corporations, as well as with growth companies looking to secure their market as they enter the maturity stage, Rexcel Lagare is proficient in translating business strategy into action. He proactively manages strategic initiatives such as driving forecasts and budgets from their development stage up to implementation rollout. Rex is adept in increasing the current efficiency and effectiveness levels of organizations through process simplification, cost base reduction and service improvement, ultimately enhancing value to both internal and external customers.

Aaron Eberhart ’20 - Aaron is currently working in medical devices and will be transitioning into an international managerial role either in business development or sales.

Robert Robertsonn ’20 - Robert is pioneering a new relationship diagnostic process to reduce companies’ risk.

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CHAPTER CONNECTIONS

East Africa Chapter Event - Pre-COVID-19

Dallas Chapter - March ’20 Virtual First Tuesday New Zealand December ’20 First Tuesday

Dinner in Miami with (left to right) Laura Whitcomb ’80, Charles Whitcomb ’54, George Reeves ’59, Fred Brenner ’56 – Pre-COVID-19 THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE

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SPRING 2021

Singapore Virtual First Tuesday

You Can Be the Reason for Their Smiles

It’ll be hard not to smile when you see the impact you’ve made. Join us in bringing opportunities for play and learning to marginalized children and communities across Kenya.

Learn how you can help at theNECF.org

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IN MEMORIAM Donald Herman ’49 - Herman, 93 passed away on November 26, 2020, following complications from a stroke. He was born on February 8, 1927, in Detroit, Michigan. He served in the United States Navy from 1945-46 during WWII. Don worked for the State Department for many years overseas in Germany. He returned to the states living in Encinitas, California, where he worked for the San Onofre Nuclear Plant.

Milton Berrey ’52 - On September 25, 2020, Berrey passed away at the age of 98. Milton served as a US Navy SeaBee during World War II and was involved in campaigns in Bougainville and Guadalcanal. He began his career as Winthrop Manager for Sterling Drug International and his final assignment before moving to the New York Office was as Regional VicePresident for South America. In his last year, he loved driving to the ferry dock outside of Seattle.

Toby R. Madison ’52 Robert Williamson ’52 - Williamson was born on July 22, 1927, in Merrill, Iowa. He passed on to the next life to be with his wife Virginia on March 12, 2020. He enlisted in the Navy in 1945 and served on the USS Wisconsin until 1946. Following his marriage to Virginia in 1954, they moved to Mexico City with General Electric.

They spent 15 years there where all three of their daughters were born. Although he faced many physical challenges following a stroke in 2008, he maintained a positive attitude and a smile on his face.

Roy Barrett ’54 - Barrett passed away at the age of 93 on November 6, 2020. Roy entered World War II as a paratrooper. He met the one and only love of his life, Ruth Redd. They moved to Philadelphia for a job in insurance. He started a number of companies, selling everything from wigs to horses. He developed the Tutor Time Childcare/Learning Centers, which are still in operation in the United States and Asia today. He was famous for his storytelling and followed the motto: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Patrick Powell ’55 - Powell, 90, died on February 26, 2020. He married his wife, Anne Martha Hooker on

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May 2, 1953, the beginning of a 56-year union. After graduating from Pomona, he was drafted by the US Army and stationed in Germany. In 1961, Mr. Powell became a school administrator at La Puente. In 1967 the family moved home to Claremont, where the children grew up and he would live for 53 years.

Harry J. Kratoville Jr. ’56 - Kratoville passed away on January 6, 2020. Harry was born on November 1, 1930, in Greenport NY. Harry proudly served our country in the Korean War from 1953-1955 as a Lieutenant tank commander in the Marine Corps. Harry first worked at Graflex Inc. in Rochester and then at Labelon Corporation in Canandaigua. Harry met the love of his life, Grace Smith, while they were in college and together celebrated 65 years of marriage.

William L. Rodgers ’56 - Rodgers passed away February 20, 2021 at the age of 93 in York, Pennsylvania. Rodgers, a senior agricultural officer, worked for USAID from 1966-1982, heading agricultural programs in Peru and Brazil and later working in Washington, DC, where he was responsible for the agency’s agribusiness and rural development projects. After retiring from USAID, he worked as a consultant and project manager for USAID projects in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Guatemala. Prior to joining USAID, Rodgers was the deputy director of the Peace Corps program in Colombia from 1963 to 1966, during which he helped manage a team of over 700 volunteers. Born in New York City in 1928, Rodgers grew up in California and Connecticut. Upon graduating from high school in 1946, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. After being discharged, he earned a BS in Animal Science at the University of Connecticut. While there, he met and married Maria Arce Fernandez, a young Chilean student studying at Connecticut College in New London. The couple settled in Connecticut while Rodgers worked for Swift and Company but they later moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he attended the Thunderbird School of Global Management. With his business degree, he took a job with the American Foreign Power company in Santiago, Chile, in 1956.

In 1961, Rodgers moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico

IN MEMORIAM where he set up a cattle feeding business. He ran the business until mid-1963, when he joined the Peace Corps. A man of many interests who read voraciously, especially biographies and history books, he enjoyed talking about current events and international affairs.

Peter Roman ’56 - Roman was born on June 26, 1927 in the former Yugoslavia, now Serbia. On August 31, 2020, he died peacefully in Millbrae, California.

He immigrated to the United States, where he joined the army and fought in the Korean War. Peter was a pioneer in his field, driving the establishment of many Levi Strauss factories throughout the world, including its first production plant behind the Iron Curtain. Postretirement, Peter founded Production Consultants International and volunteered for the International Executive Service Corp. He spoke eight languages, collected fine art and unique cultural artifacts throughout his many world travels.

Wilbur “Bill” Davidson ’57 - Davidson passed away on October 13, 2020. Born in Alliance, Ohio, Bill served in the army. As a sales representative, Bill worked for Goodyear for two years in Ethiopia with a wide territory encompassing Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen. Bill later established Bridgestone’s dealerships throughout the southeast U.S. and founded Florida Bandag, a commercial retread tire company.

Donald Emmet Champion ’58 - Passed away on April 8, 2020.

Barton Hartzell ‘59 - Hartzell was born in Yakima, Washington on September 10, 1929, and passed away of natural causes on September 20, 2020. He enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War. He made his way to Medellin, Colombia, in 1960 where he met the love of his life, Luz Elena. The two married in 1961, and they returned to the Puget Sound area where Barton began a 28-year career with Boeing.

Alexander Douglas “Doug” McEachron ’59 McEachron was born on April 16, 1932, in Cambridge, New York, and passed away on December 22, 2018.

Doug served in the Army where he was trained as a Special Agent in Counter-Intelligence and selected to

work at the Pentagon. Doug’s education continued at Thunderbird where he met his life partner Marjorie.

Doug returned to Goodyear Tire, working nearly 28 years in International Operations. He and Marjorie began their family and life adventure together living in Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala.

Thomas Mcginnis ’59 - McGinnis was born on January 22, 1933, and passed away in his home state of Oregon on July 21, 2020. Maggie (his wife) and Tom were "Snow-Birds." They enjoyed escaping the cold Oregon winters and traveling south to their home in Tucson, AZ. A true Irishman at heart, Tom and Maggie were famous for their annual St. Patrick’s Day soirées where you could find Tom, the life of the party, wearing a Kelly-green bow tie and holding an Irish whiskey.

Craig Starkey ’60 – Starkey passed away the last week of January 2020.

Horace Bowman ’61- Bowman concluded his 91year adventure on earth on June 21, 2020. He was commissioned upon graduation in 1950 and served in the Army, including a 1.5-year deployment to the Korean War as an Interrogation Officer. Readjusting to civilian life in the late 1950s was a challenge but eventually led him to Thunderbird, where he harnessed his love for travel to begin a career in international business.

During a flight to Japan, he wooed a flight attendant named Yasuko; she became his life partner in 1969 when they married in Tokyo. His entrepreneurship led him and his family to a peripatetic life living in Japan, California, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Missouri, Greece, and Cyprus, among others, but he always returned to the state he considered home: Virginia.

William Wrobel ’62 - Wrobel was born on February 9, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois. On August 6, 2020, Bill died at 88 years old. In 1953, Bill was stationed in West Germany as part of the post-World War II occupation forces. In 1958, Bill met Edna Wrobel who would become his wife. In 1968, Bill accepted a position with Perkins Engines as Head of Marketing for Latin American, moving him and his family to Sao

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IN MEMORIAM Paulo, Brazil. In 1971, Bill and his family settled in Crystal Lake, where he resided for the next 40 years.

Ultimately, Bill would own and run his company DriRite East Corp., a manufacturing and packaging facility of raw chemicals.

Richard Bell ’64 - Bell passed away on November 13, 2020, just before his 85th birthday following a prolonged illness. He served in the Army during the Korean War. For most of his career, Dick worked for the Agency for International Development at the U.S. Department of State and for the U.S. Department of Commerce as an International Trade Specialist. He retired in Fernandina Beach.

William “Bill” Gleason ’66 - Gleason was born on October 14, 1939, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. In 1962, Bill enlisted in the US Army Counter-Intelligence Corps and was posted in Bangkok, Thailand for three years during the early Vietnam conflict. There he performed intelligence gathering in Laos and Cambodia via parachute, while ostensibly teaching English in Bangkok. Upon completion of his military service, he returned to the US and attended Thunderbird. In 1966, Bill was hired by Crown Zellerbach Corporation and soon transferred to their export division in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This started Bill’s global travels that took him to six of the seven continents. Bill’s love for international travel adventures continued right up to his death, having just visited the Seychelles, his 179th country. Bill died on February 28, 2020.

David G. Fisher ’67 - Fisher passed away in April 2020, at the age of 100 years old. After leaving the Air Force in the 1960s, Fisher attended Thunderbird.

He moved to Japan and became a respected English language teacher. He was one of the oldest, if not the oldest, American military veterans in Japan.

Joseph Segura ’67 – Segura passed away on July 10, 2020. Tony was born May 21, 1942, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Tony had a successful career as V.P. of Daniels Insurance in Santa Fe. He married Susan Williams Segura and they shared 40 wonderful years of marriage. Tony was an avid skier, fly fisherman, former marathon runner, and gym rat.

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Harald Biedermann ’68 - Biedermann passed in July 2020 in a car accident.

Carl Stegall ’70 - Stegall, 79, passed away on July 6, 2020, from metastatic lung cancer. He began his first career working for the U.S. Forest Service in California and Arizona. He used this new knowledge for a second career in finance, working as a broker for Coldwell Banker in San Francisco. Another of Carl’s careers was in the Army National Guard trained as a medic during the Vietnam War. Marilyn Ward (née Muessel) ’70 – Ward, 73, was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on April 4, 1947, and passed away on November 27, 2020, at her home in Lakewood, Colorado. Marilyn loved the mountains and the people who lived there.

Ravi Parameswaran ’73 - Parameswaran, 72, was a Professor of Marketing and International Business at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. As a tenured professor, he dedicated his 44-year career to preparing students for a successful career in marketing and marketing research. His research interests included marketing and sustainability issues related to marketing. His industry experience included positions at Ford Motor Company, Carson Roberts, Focus Advertising, India, and Richardson Hindustan.

He passed away on October 16, 2020.

Jana Siman ’74 - Siman passed away at her home in Twinsburg, Ohio, on November 8, 2019. Born in Germany on September 7, 1950, she moved to Ohio that year. She studied in South Africa as well as the Beirut College for Women in Lebanon. During her life, she had three careers: international marketing executive, mother, and Adult Practice Nurse Practitioner (APRN).

She thrived as a medical professional; especially as a lecturer and preceptor at the Yale School of Nursing.

In addition, she volunteered extensively in Ecuador, Uganda, and India.

Gary Martin ’77 - Martin was born on October 9, 1949, in Houston, Texas. Gary was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in February of 2018. Gary died at home on October 25. He served aboard diesel

IN MEMORIAM submarines in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War as a Chinese Linguist and cryptanalytic intelligence officer. He was awarded decorations including the Navy Expeditionary Medal and National Defense Medal for his service. It was probably his 40 years as a private pilot, however, that gave him the greatest satisfaction. In 1993, he received a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Texas A&M. Traveling the world for business and pleasure, visiting all 50 states and dozens of countries on six continents served as his global classroom.

Marcia Soldatos ’78 - Soldatos passed away at her home in Kiawah Island on March 18th, 2020. Beloved wife to her husband Paul, and devoted mother to her daughter Grace, Marcia was the anchor in the family.

Altruistic by nature, she demonstrated acts of kindness to those who never knew of her infinite generosity.

Thomas Brennan ’79 - Brennan passed on December 2, 2020, in Vienna, Austria, from COVID-19.

Juanita Ruth One ’79 - One died at her home in Ecuador in February. She wanted us all to know how much she loved her T bird /SMU experience and the people she met through both programs.

Jane Rudov ’85 - Rudov, 62, passed on April 13, 2020. She served as Director of Marketing & Business Development at CJL Engineering where she found tremendous support and friendship in the past year.

Anne Dikeman (née Miller) ’86 - Dikeman, 64, passed on August 1, 2020. Annie was born in Hebron, Nebraska on November 6, 1955. Annie was a talented musician and singer. She taught special education in Vancouver, Washington, and coached at the Special Olympics. She later ran her own import business and sold real estate. She later indulged her love of travel by RV camping through the western US with her husband, friends, and dogs. Annie was a cancer survivor and worked tirelessly for cancer patients.

Hiroki Masuda ’86 - Masuda passed away in January 2021.

July 30, 2020, after a courageous 20-year battle with Multiple Sclerosis. She spent the last 16 years with her husband, Bret Johnson, living in Omaha and Phoenix and pursuing her passion for rescuing dogs. Upon graduation, Mary started her political career in Arizona which led to her full-time career as a scheduler for United States Senator Bob Kerry. She moved back to Omaha to pursue a Ph.D. She loved the beach and always looked forward to vacations at her favorite destination, Grand Cayman with Bret.

Robert Lerma ’92 - Lerma, 60, passed away September 14, 2020. Steve was born July 29, 1960, in Fort Worth, Texas. His adventurous spirit took him overseas where he met his wife, Marie. Steve loved politics, running for office, and supporting candidates.

His entrepreneurial spirit and education led him to work and travel abroad until his illness curtailed his adventures.

Christ Galeotos ’93 -. Galeotos, 56, of Cheyenne, Wyoming passed away March 30, 2020. Chris specialized in finance and international business at Thunderbird. He lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia before returning to Cheyenne where he battled multiple sclerosis for over 20 years.

To submit class notes or update your contact information, visit https://thunderbird.asu.edu/ alumni-update or contact the Alumni Engagement team tbirdalumni@thunderbird.asu.edu

Mary Sherman ’89 - Sherman passed away on

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THE FUTURE IS

A

now

s we enter our 75th year as an institution and reflect on the history of the “tiny school in Arizona where thousands of people came together from many nations and went out and literally changed the world,” we are really celebrating our community’s collective journey, all that has been achieved by those who have shared this experience.

Perhaps this 75th Anniversary is that bit sweeter given the last decade of the journey. For a time, reaching the 75th year was not assured, and for a brief moment, it looked unlikely. As the saying goes: “we are stronger in the broken places.” That has certainly become true for our community and our beloved school, as what was once uncertain has become assured and what we once thought would only be remembered has steadily risen again to a place of pride and global prominence that even the most steadfast alumnus might have questioned just a few years ago. In so many ways, for Thunderbird, the future is now.

We see the future in our incredible new home in downtown Phoenix as we prepare to inaugurate this new global headquarters. We literally walk into the future as we enter “the most technologically advanced business or management school on the planet.”

We see the future every time Dean Khagram joins our alumni in opening a regional center of excellence in yet another global city, adding to the ribbon of connections across our network, from Jakarta to Sāo Paulo, from Amsterdam to Nairobi, and London to Tokyo.

We certainly glimpse the future every day at Thunderbird as we work with our students, each one preparing to take up the mantle of global leadership for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And, we see the future in each and every member of this diverse and accomplished global alumni family through the impact you have in the lives of others every day.

For decades now, we have used the phrase, “the world needs Thunderbird, now more than ever.” It is a powerful statement, but after saying it for over 20 years, what does it even mean? I would suggest that it has been true all along and that while we have passed through a period in time where we were not fully able to meet that challenge as a school, the future is now, and the promise of Thunderbird, sustainable and equitable prosperity, is very much within reach.

As T-birds, once again proud alumni of this storied institution, the world needs us, and we need you! One of the things that the last decade has taught us is that we are one community – the School, the faculty, the students, and the alumni, we are Thunderbird. And if we are going to make the impact that we need to make in this increasingly complex and demanding world, we need everyone, we need you. However alumni engage with the School, whatever path they choose, our goal is that they feel they get more out of that experience than they put into it. Our students need mentors and guide points – they need and want to hear your stories and to learn the lessons you have learned, guided by faculty who have themselves been both in the classroom and in the boardroom.

The last year has demonstrated for us all quite dramatically what an increasingly complex and interconnected place our world is. Leadership makes demands today that could not be imagined just a few years ago, and Thunderbird – all of us together – is prepared to answer those challenges and manage that complexity in a way that no other institution can or will.

So, T-birds, Happy 75th Anniversary! It is thanks to each and every one of you – your belief, your support, your pride, and your spirit – that we have collectively reached this milestone. The future is truly now. Let’s walk into it together.

Patrick McDermott Chief Engagement Officer

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