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
