Expanding Thunderbird's Global Presence

Over 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.

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.

“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 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.

REGIONAL CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

Moscow: Flourishing and diversifying after 25 years

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.

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 pre-pandemic 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 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.

Nairobi Center of Excellence

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 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.”

Hiroshima University

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 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

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.”

Dubai Center of Excellent at Dubai International Financial Center

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.”

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,

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.

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