
Fall 2024
December 17, 2024 | 4 p.m.
Phoenix Convention Center - South Ballroom
Phoenix, Arizona
Fall 2024
December 17, 2024 | 4 p.m.
Phoenix Convention Center - South Ballroom
Phoenix, Arizona
Established 1946
Charla Griffy-Brown, PhD
Director General, Dean and Professor of Global Digital Transformation
Lawrence Abeln, PhD
Deputy Dean, Thunderbird Executive Education and Clinical Professor of Global Management
Lena Booth, PhD
Deputy Dean, Thunderbird Academic Enterprise and Professor of Finance
Roy Nelson, PhD
Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Associate Professor
Parade of International Flags ......
National Anthem of the United States of America ...
Dean’s Welcome ................................
Charla Griffy-Brown, PhD ...........................................................Director General, Dean and Professor of Global Digital Transformation .......................................................Thunderbird School of Global Management
Introductions of Platform Party ...... Charla Griffy-Brown, PhD
Oath of Honor .....................................
Peyton Ament, Nora Khaled, Jackleen Umland Thunderbird Student Government Representatives
Military Service Recognition
William Youngdahl
Associate Professor and William D. Hacker Faculty Fellow
........................................................Thunderbird School of Global Management
Student/Faculty Awards .................
Charla Griffy-Brown, PhD
Keynote Address
Kimberly Wiehl, ‘80
Non-Executive Director, UK Export Finance Executive Committee Member, Thunderbird SHARE Fellowship
.............................................................Former Member, Thunderbird Global Alumni Network
Dean’s Address
Presentation of Candidates
Charla Griffy-Brown, PhD
Charla Griffy-Brown, PhD
Roy Nelson, PhD
Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Associate Professor ........................................................Thunderbird School of Global Management
Lena Booth, PhD
...........................................................
Deputy Dean, Thunderbird Academic Enterprise and Professor of Finance
........................................................Thunderbird School of Global Management
Closing Remarks and Recessional
One of Thunderbird’s most time-honored traditions is the Parade of International Flags, started by students in 1977, and carried by graduates.
Name Country/Region Program
Saliha Salihi Afghanistan BGM
Brett Zawadiuk Canada MLM
Tong Qin China MGM
Juan Quintana Colombia MGM
Martin Meinshausen Germany EMGM
Jovita Dela Cruz Guam MGM
Sahana Suresh Mohan Kumar India MGM
Juned Prajanta Indonesia MGM
Michio Kuroda Japan MGM
Mbugua Wainaina Kenya MGM
Hasimbelo Andrianometiana Madagascar EMAGAM
Olga Leslie Teran Mexico EMGM
Grace Odigie Nigeria MGM
Hajra Malik Pakistan EMAGAM
Stefano Bassi Peru EMAGAM
Vanessa O’Neal Philippines MGM
Jeannette Umutoni Rwanda MGM
Aaditya Ugale Thailand MGM
Jenna Colvin United States of America BSIT
Mashike Lumbama Zambia MGM
Lazarus Gawazah Zimbabwe MGM
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave. O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
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 an equitable and 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.
Convocation Speaker
Kimberly Wiehl, ‘80
Non-Executive Director, UK Export Finance Executive Committee Member, Thunderbird SHARE Fellowship Former Member, Thunderbird Global Alumni Network
Kimberly Wiehl, a 1980 graduate of Thunderbird School of Global Management and esteemed expert in the field of international export credit,was chosen to deliver the keynote address at the school’s fall 2024 convocation. With a career of enduring impact across many countries and continents, Wiehl exemplifies a dedication to increasing access to opportunity for many and advocating for positive change. Currently, Wiehl is a non-executive director at UK Export Finance, the national agency of Great Britain, where she develops and drives climate change initiatives and the company’s global impact strategy — one of her great passions.
Throughout her professional life, Wiehl has maintained a deep connection with the Thunderbird community, joining chapter events worldwide, serving as a Trustee from 2005 to 2014 and as a member of the Thunderbird Global Alumni Network (TGAN) advisory council, from 2015 to 2022. Wiehl is most active within the school as an executive committee member of the SHARE Fellowship at Thunderbird. For nearly 13 years, she has helped offer scholarship and mentoring opportunities to students from emerging markets and developing countries enrolled in Thunderbird’s Master of Global Management program.
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Recently, Wiehl was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her impact and services to export credit finance and international trade. This OBE award is part of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, a British order of chivalry established in 1917 by King George V, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service. She is also an experienced board member and uses these roles to champion positive change. As chair of the board of directors for the American Arbitration Association, Wiehl focuses heavily on the ways they can embed cybersecurity, ESG, diversity and inclusion initiatives throughout the company. Previously she was the Secretary-General of Berne Union and Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase, working in New York and London serving clients in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Wiehl is a dual US/UK citizen.
As representatives of the student body, Thunderbird Student Government (TSG) seeks to promote the welfare of each individual by enhancing the student experience, along with ensuring the satisfaction of the institution as a whole. As citizens of the world, TSG strives to promote values of diversity and inclusion to create a sustainable environment that allows the student members to excel as professionals during and after their studies.
• President: Nora Khaled
• Vice President of Operations: Jackleen Umland
• Vice President of Finance: Peyton Ament
Campus Ambassadors
Thunderbird School of Global Management’s Campus Ambassadors (CAs) conduct historic and technological tours of our campus, host on-campus speakers, networking events, and spearhead other initiatives aimed at recruiting the next generation of Thunderbirds. Their commitment to academic excellence, coupled with their unmatched leadership capacity, distinguishes them as the top of their class and affirms their reputation amongst faculty and peers. They endeavor to serve prospective and current students, local and global businesses, community organizations, and the greater Thunderbird alumni network.
Leadership Team: 2023-2024
• President: Gulnaza Saburhojayeva
• Vice President: Raul Gilberto Ramos Barreda
• Director of Marketing: Arunima Chetan Gupta
• Director of Student Engagement: Matthew Derminio
Thunderbird Outstanding Graduating Campus Ambassadors
• Matthew Derminio
• Albertina Masawi
• Vanessa O’Neal
• Juan Quintana
Barton Kyle Yount Awards
Faculty presents this award to two members of each full-time undergraduate and graduate classes who most adheres to the principles of scholarship, accomplishment and character, based on the ideals of Lieutenant General Barton Kyle Yount (USA, Ret.), the first president and founder of the school.
• Juan Camilo Quintana Aguirre (Graduate)
• Vanessa Padilla O’Neal (Graduate)
• Saliha Salihi (Undergraduate)
• Mansoora Sharifi (Undergraduate)
The Dean’s Circle Award is presented to graduating students who have shown exceptional leadership, have improved the quality of the experience for their fellow students and have made a lasting contribution to the school. Students in all programs are eligible to receive this recognition.
• Abdulaziz Alakeel
• Lee Starkweather Anderson
• Hasimbelo Hajantsalama Andrianometiana
• Joumana Atieh
• Momodou Lamin Bah
• Didmus Botha Banda
• Kelsey Bell
• Anita Marie Carbajal
• Jerry Maynard Clayton II
• Elizabeth Anne DeFreest
• Pearl Chang Esau
• Mame Asta Walo Mbacke Fall
• Danielle Valentina Gattorno
• Trevor Eric Godfrey
• Riken Ashwinkumar Jariwala
• Cassandra Marie Kahla
• Caden Mack
• Dominick Gerard Margiotta
• Mariah N Maury
• Colleen McLeod
• Brett Matthew Mecum
• Gilbert Raymond Mora III
• Jason Anthony Nicoluzakis
• Vanessa Padilla O’Neal
• Vicente Esparza Ortiz
• David Hoantee Peng
• Juan Camilo Quintana Aguirre
• Brittany Robles
• Saliha Salihi
• Mansoora Sharifi
• Lang Eric Sundby
• John Francis Walsh III
• Aya Warde
• Elizabeth Shin-li Wu
The Founders Award is presented to two students in each of the degree programs offered by the school who through his or her high achievement best represents the values, standards and international dexterity envisioned by the founders of Thunderbird in 1946.
• Abdulaziz Alakeel, MGM
• Kelsey Bell, EMGM
• Elizabeth Anne DeFreest, EMAGAM
• Mame Asta Walo Mbacke Fall, BGM
• Danielle Gattorno, BGM
• Caden Mack, BSIT
• Dominick Gerard Margiotta, EMAGAM
• Colleen McLeod, EMGM
• Gilbert Raymond Mora III, EMGM
• Jason Anthony Nicoluzakis, MALM
• Vicente Ortiz, BGM
• David Hoantee Peng, EMGM
• Aya Warde, MGM
• Elizabeth Shin-li Wu, MLM
The Outstanding University Graduate Student Award is given to a graduate who is recognized for excelling in their academic pursuits and contributing to both the greater Arizona State University and Thunderbird School of Global Management community.
• Pearl Chang Esau, EMGM
Some of the graduation candidates’ names listed in the program are followed by a symbol. The symbol denotes that these students are members of the following:
β Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society (World Business)
π Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society (Political Science)
During the Middle Ages, students and teachers wore gowns at all times. Today, it is customary for faculty and graduates to wear academic vestments at academic convocations. Thunderbird continues to take part in this tradition today. Thunderbird graduate students wear a hood decorated in the blue and gold colors of the school, bordered in velvet. The dark color represents business academic disciplines. The blue and gold honor cords worn by graduating students represent the top 20% of students according to academic standards.
Veterans wear a stole that varies in color and design based on their branch of service. Doctoral hoods, worn by faculty, are larger and longer. Doctoral gowns generally bear three velvet bars on the sleeves, while masters’ gowns are plain, but may have trailing arms with open sleeves.
The rainbow of colors in the hoods of the faculty conveys the range of academic disciplines and universities represented.
Thunderbird School of Global Management permits students to participate in the graduation ceremony of their choice prior to fulfilling graduation requirements. Participation in the graduation ceremony does not indicate that the degree is officially conferred nor that the candidate is graduating in the term in which the individual participates in the ceremony.
Candidates for Bachelor of Global Management
Wenfan Bai
Michael Pavlovich Bobov
Sarah Buckles
Anita Marie Carbajal
Rachel Clem
Raghav Dania
Daniel Victor Demille
Mame Asta Walo Mbacke Fall
Corey Carbonetti Gaskell
Danielle Valentina Gattorno
Caitlin Patricia Hack
Christopher Harrison Hancock
Ashley Marie Jones
Cassandra Marie Kahla
Kevin Alexander King
Dyer Benjamin Mitchell
Bryana Ashly Montgomery
Dylan Jay Nissen
Larsen Olson
Vicente Esparza Ortiz
Charlotte Rose Richardson
Brittany Robles
Leslie Rosario
Jose R. Salem
Saliha Salihi
Crystal Lynn Santiago
Sarah Kathleen Schoening
Mansoora Sharifi
Chialing Wu
Sali Alimam
Jaeyoung An
Daniel Carrillo Gonzalez
Jenna Kay Colvin
Mary Annalisa YongHang Dole
Leonel Gonzalez
Siddharth Gautam Jain
Asher Elijah Jones
Gia Han Lu
Chenghe Luo
Caden Mack
Ariana Nicolle Merlini Vargas
Chanyoung Park
Yutian Song
Guorun Wang
Di Yun
Candidates for Executive Master of Global Management
Kelsey Bell
Calvin Eric Cameron
Pearl Chang Esau
Mark R. Eversden
Munirah J. Henderson
Kendra Lee-Ann Kim
Wiley King
Christian Hector Leon
Jose Eduardo Martinez
Joseph Nathan Martinez
William Lawrence Mast
Gilbert Raymond Mora III β
Dominic Andrew Papa
Walter Puffelis III
Carlos Eduardo Rodriguez
Gerardo Baldemar Ruelas Mendoza β
Paul James Schneider
Olga Leslie Teran
Candidates for Executive Master of Global Management
(Space Leadership, Business and Policy)
Lee Starkweather Anderson
Bidushi Bhattacharya
Mark Alan Cothran
Vassiliki Farsadaki β
Lisa Elizabeth Godzich
Sabahat Hussain
Irina S. Litchfield
Colleen McLeod β
Brett Matthew Mecum β
Martin Meinshausen
David Micheal Mossman
Douglas Barton Owens
Oliver Parsons
David Hoantee Peng β
Kara Rock
Lang Eric Sundby
Favian Valencia
Candidates for Executive Master of Arts in Global Affairs and Management
Hasimbelo Hajantsalama
Andrianometiana β
Momodou Lamin Bah
Stefano Bassi
Elizabeth Anne DeFreest
Ruth Eunice Flores
Daniel Knox
Matthew D. Lappat
Hajra Ahmed Malik π
Dominick Gerard Margiotta β π
Mariah N. Maury β π
Khushnood Nabizada β
Ebenezer Nii Martey
Eseroghene Oruma π
Victor Abdulai Sheriff
Courtney Weeks β
Youngju Yoon
Thor Christian Manton Abbasi
Redha Ahmad A. Abu Shaheen
Zeel Mineshkumar Adhwaryu
Anisha Agarwal
Mohammed Ibrahim A. Al Anseef
Sara Al Khalidi
Abdulaziz Alakeel
Ahmed Abdullah M Aldawood
Fareas Abdullah A. Aldossary
Wael Mohammed A. Alfawzan
Abdulelah Fhad Alharbi
Mustafa Yehya H. Alhashim
Sauod Jamal Alhilal
Rakan Ibrahim A. Alnazhah
Yahya Mufarreh Alshehri
Hewan Birhane Asgedom
Patricia Rafaela Baez Jumbo
Yung Chieh Chang
Jingmin Chen β
Sean Sydney Corrie
Guilherme da Costa Gomes β
Aseel Mohammed H. Damdam Sr
Santanu Kumar Dash
David Mateo Dávila Jácome
Jovita A. Dela Cruz β
Matthew John Derminio
Isaac Kristjon Durham
Gaurav Dutta
Cheng-Yu Fang
Grecia Zareth Felix Lopez
Alessandra Dominique Flores
Hugo Gabriel Flores Lopez Negrete
Lazarus Gawazah
Elizabeth Lauren Goldsteen
Abdulmohsen Nayef A. Hussen
Nhan Trong Huynh
Mansiba Vanrajsinh Jadeja
Gagan Jain
Riken Ashwinkumar Jariwala
Angeline Nyasha Kaiyo
Neethi Karakkattu Ramakrishnan
Vaibhav Kulkarni
Ping-Cheng Kung
Michio Kuroda
Vladislav Kuznetsov
Douglas Kwenda
Yixuan Li
Yanhan Lin
Ludwig Lopez
Mashike Elizabeth Lumbama
Truong Khanh Luu
Xinyu Jojo Ma
Albertina Masawi
Daniah Matloob
Vardaan Mehra
Braveman Mpafa
Alexandria Halle Murphy
Vishnu Venkata Sri Muttangi
Austin Ncube
Tang Thi Quynh Nga
Barnabas Ngoga
Phuong Dieu Nguyen
Jiangjiamei Ning
Gurdeep Kaur
Jatin Oberoi
Grace Ese Odigie
Vanessa Padilla O’Neal
Suchitha Peddi
Juned Muda Prajanta β
Tong Qin
Juan Camilo Quintana Aguirre
Yessica Doriana Quintero Lira
Madhura Mahesh Ramojwar
Joshua Salomon Rieber
Annie Louisiana Roan
Arjun Reddy Rondla
Roxana Sanchez Servin De La Mora
Mehar Satsangi
Vidit Sharma
Sahana Suresh Mohan Kumar β
Meet Purvinkumar Thakkar
Shubham Santosh Thorwe β
Devashish Manikrao Thosare
Aaditya Ugale β
Jeannette Umutoni
Florence Vaillancourt β
Varshith Venugopal
Aleyxa Isabel Vergara Herrera
Akanksha Vir
Yoe Azrael Virgo
Mbugua Wainaina β
Chengdian Wang
Zeming Wang
Aya Warde
Michael Francis Whelan
Ziya Yan
Ziheng Ye
Xiaoyang Yuan
Kexin Zhu
Larry Earl Armstrong Jr.
Joumana Atieh
Didmus Botha Banda
David Jose Bracamonte
Bianca Bravo
Gordon John Brown β
Jin Chen
Linlin Chen
Charles John Salvatore Cipolla
Jerry Maynard Clayton II β
Noah Anthony Coleman
Ajiana Quiante Dailey
Greg Dela Rosa
Yaqiu Duan
Cole David Eastman
Ramon Blanco Encinas
Roberto Joaquin Reyes Escobar
Trevor Eric Godfrey
Xinyi He
Ka Wing Ho
Yen-Min Hsieh
Matthew Babcock Johnson
Nathan Blake Kendall
Preston Lee Kline
Xinbin Liang
Xu Man
Jason Anthony Nicoluzakis
Paul Weston Oltrogge
Douglas Grant Parsen
Samuel Ted Tyre Reeves
Jesse Taylor Robertson
Pamela Ivonne Sanchez
Liang Wang β
Ni Wang
Achaia Marie Wong
Chuan Yang
Yingxian Yu
Chuan Zheng β
Han Zhou
Edward Yervant Albert III
Mingyu Bai
Davina Renee Basham
Garnold F. Bodenheimer Jr.
Damion Aaron Bunz
Craig Buying β
Elliot Chal
Dalton Philip Choquette
Zoe Blue Colwell-Lipson
Brianna S. Cowan
Amara Madison Gordon
Azeezat Ayomide Ishatayo
Fengpu Jia
Lih-Wei Liang
Lin Lin
Yilan Lu β
Pei-Yi Luo
Amanda Nicole Macaro
Chloe Lee McKendry
John Adam Newton
Joshua Knotts O’Neill
Claire Stephan Peterson
Dylan Queary
Ammar Adib Ratrout β
Tyler James Renshaw
Ruben Rahsaan Rush
Suraj Srikumar
Guang Sun
Anson William Ting
John Francis Walsh III
Dawei Wang
Elizabeth Shin-li Wu
Mingshu Wu
Jamshid Yarzada
Christina Lynn Young
Brett Glen Zawadiuk
Chunji Zheng
Thunderbird School of Global Management is the world’s premier institution for global leadership, management, and business education for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but we are much more than a school. Thunderbird is also a global network of leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs across the private and public sectors who advance the School’s vision of inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide.
Thunderbird has trained global leaders and managers for over 75 years. Originally known as the American Institute for Foreign Trade, Thunderbird was chartered on April 8, 1946, at a World War II airbase in Glendale, Arizona, called Thunderbird Field, where pilots from around the world came for training during wartime. General Barton Kyle Yount (USA, Ret.) obtained the airfield with the express purpose of developing a school for professionals focused exclusively on international trade and global affairs. The guiding principle established at Thunderbird’s founding is best summarized in a phrase coined by original faculty member Dr. William Lytle Schurz, “Borders frequented by trade seldom need soldiers.”
Thunderbird became the world’s first-ever higher education institution to focus exclusively on international leadership by concentrating its curriculum on global management and business skills, international political economy and regional business environments, and languages and cross-cultural communications. The School has often been called a ‘miniUnited Nations’ because of its diverse and inclusive global student body. Thunderbird is now known worldwide for its vast and engaged alumni network of over 45,000 graduates in nearly 150 nations around the globe. Thunderbird has more than 170 alumni chapters that meet regularly in 70 countries.
In 2015, Thunderbird became a unit of the Arizona State University public enterprise, combining Thunderbird’s multi-decade heritage of developing global leaders with ASU’s expansive resources. Ushering in the Thunderbird 4.0 era, the School relocated to ASU’s vibrant Downtown Phoenix campus in 2018. The move brought the world’s No. 1 ranked Master’s in Management (WSJ/THE) under the umbrella of the nation’s No. 1 ranked school for innovation (U.S. News & World Report), Arizona State University.
In fall 2021, the state-of-the-art F. Francis & Dionne Najafi Thunderbird Global Headquarters building opened its doors, spanning 110,000 square feet over five floors on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus. Thunderbird students hone their leadership skills within the classrooms of the technologically advanced Thunderbird Global Headquarters, utilizing cutting-edge technology and multidimensional learning spaces, including a virtual reality language lab, tabletop computers, green-screen studio, full extended reality production and development studio, and a volumetric capture lab that creates full, threedimensional renderings for faculty and student initiatives. This technology facilitates connections key to immersing students in their disciplines while allowing them to collaborate on a global scale.
In the first-ever rankings of their kind, Thunderbird was named No. 1 in the world in international trade by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the premier global higher education analyst organization. Ranking ahead of 199 other institutions and scoring 100 out of 100 points, this top ranking in 2023 placed Thunderbird ahead of Harvard, MIT and Stanford, domestically, and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, internationally. This honor was repeated with Thunderbird earning the No. 1 ranking again in 2024, coming in ahead of Harvard, Penn (Wharton) and IMD.
Thunderbird was also recognized by the Financial Times Executive Education rankings for 2023 and 2024 for its exceptional delivery of custom and open enrollment programs. The prestigious global ranking places Thunderbird Executive Education custom programs at No. 17 worldwide — ahead of Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), Warwick (United Kingdom) and Mannheim (Germany), and at No. 2 in the United States, ahead of Miami, Rutgers and Emory, among the top 90 programs globally.
In fall 2023, Arizona State University was ranked No. 20 in the United States for shaping future leaders in TIME and Statista’s inaugural Best Colleges for Future Leaders list, placing ASU ahead of University of Southern California, the University of California-Los Angeles, and Johns Hopkins University.
Throughout its rich history, Thunderbird has expanded its global presence, establishing itself as the world’s first truly ‘multinational business school.’ Committed to developing the next generation of global and digital leaders, Thunderbird stands apart with a regional network that spans the globe—from Los Angeles to Tokyo, Amsterdam to Nairobi. This extensive footprint enables us to deliver academic and executive education programs in major commercial hubs, foster connections within our vast worldwide alumni network, and drive international recruiting efforts. Thunderbird’s unique combination of physical and virtual regional centers embodies our mission of advancing global leadership. With over 15 dedicated regional representatives, we are well-positioned to serve our diverse global community. Our physical locations include Phoenix, AZ, USA (Global Headquarters), Geneva, Switzerland; Dubai, UAE; Nairobi, Kenya; Seoul, Korea; and Jakarta, Indonesia; and virtual centers include Tokyo, Japan; Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; Amsterdam, Netherlands; London, United Kingdom; Mexico City, Mexico; Taipei, Taiwan; and Cairo, Egypt. Additionally, Thunderbird’s presence in partnership with Arizona State University extends to the ASU California Center in Los Angeles and the Barrett & O’Connor Washington Center in Washington, D.C., reinforcing our commitment to shaping the future of global business leadership.
Learn more at: thunderbird.asu.edu.
Mission | Thunderbird educates, empowers and influences global leaders and managers who maximize the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for business, government, society and the environment.
Vision | Thunderbird School of Global Management advances inclusive, sustainable prosperity, and peace worldwide.