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Thunderbird School of Global Management

Coordinates: 33°37′20″N 112°10′56″W / 33.62222°N 112.18222°W / 33.62222; -112.18222
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Thunderbird School of Global Management
File:New-tbird-seal.png
TypePrivate business school
Established1946
Endowment$18.8 million[1]
PresidentLarry Edward Penley
Academic staff
47
Students1,015 in all degree programs (fall 2013)
Location,
Websitewww.thunderbird.edu

Thunderbird School of Global Management is a private not-for-profit graduate business school whose main campus is located in Glendale, Arizona. It was founded in 1946 by retired U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant General Barton Kyle Yount (1884–1949).

The school received regional accreditation in 1969 from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). In 1994, it was accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

In 2013, Thunderbird announced plans to partner with Laureate Education, Inc., a for-profit entity. Under terms of the strategic alliance, Thunderbird will remain an independent, nonprofit institution.

Name changes

Since its founding, the school has consistently been known as Thunderbird, a nickname for "Thunderbird Field 1"—the official name given to the Army Air Corps base on which the school's campus was built. However, the school's official name has changed six times, as shown below:

1946–1968: The American Institute for Foreign Trade (AIFT)
1968–1973: Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management (TGSIM)
1973–1997: The American Graduate School of International Management (AGSIM)
1997–2004: Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management
2004–2007: Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management
2007–current: Thunderbird School of Global Management

Programs

Thunderbird originally granted the Bachelor of Foreign Trade (BFT) degree, conceived as a first professional degree after the baccalaureate (similar to a Bachelor of Laws, LLB), though students with at least two years of undergraduate education were admitted. In 1964 the BFT was replaced by the Bachelor of International Management (BIM), and a Master of Arts in International Management (MAIM) was added. The BIM was phased out by 1970, and Thunderbird has not offered undergraduate degrees since (though this is expected to change as a result of the planned Laureate alliance). Meanwhile, the MAIM was renamed the Master of International Management (MIM), and this remained Thunderbird's exclusive degree until 2001, when it was reconceived as an MBA.

As of 2013, Thunderbird's main degree is the MBA in Global Management, which evolved from the earlier MIM degree. Students may select concentrations in global finance, marketing, management, and/or development. In addition, Thunderbird offers other full-time graduate programs:

  • Master of Science in Global Management, designed for recent liberal arts undergraduates or early career professionals interested in global management careers.[2]
  • Master of Science in Global Marketing, designed for recent liberal arts undergraduates or early career professionals interested in global marketing careers.[3]
  • Master of Science in Global Finance, designed for recent liberal arts undergraduates or early career professionals interested in global finance careers.[4]
  • Master of Arts in Global Affairs and Management, oriented toward the management of public, international and social organizations.[5]
  • Master of Global Management, a post-MBA degree also granted to dual-degree students.[6]

Before Thunderbird switched to the MBA, it entered into several dual-degree agreements whereby students could earn an MBA from another institution, and the MIM from Thunderbird. After the switch, it continued to award the MIM to dual-degree students on the basis of these agreements, but has now phased out the MIM in favor of the non-MBA options listed above.

Thunderbird also offers the following degrees for working professionals:

  • Executive MBA in Global Management, a modular EMBA program in Arizona with multiple residence weeks abroad.[8]

Executive Certificates are offered via Thunderbird Online in the following subjects: Foundations for Global Business, Global Oil & Gas Management, Global Business Essentials, Global Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Finance, Global Leadership, Global Marketing, Global Management, Global Negotiations, and International Credit & Trade Finance. Thunderbird Executive Education offers other open enrollment and custom programs in Arizona and various global locations.[9]

History

2006 USGS Aerial Photograph

Baccalaureate era (1946-1970)

After World War II, U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant General Barton Kyle Yount acquired a former military airbase, Thunderbird Field No. 1, whose property was valued at US$407,000, for a token amount on the condition that it be used as a school for at least 10 years. (Postwar policy allowed government property to be purchased at great discounts if intended for educational use.) A 1946 congressional investigation into the land sale exonerated Yount of any wrongdoing.

With Yount as its first president, the school was chartered on April 8, 1946 as the American Institute for Foreign Trade, a nonprofit corporation. Classes began on October 1, 1946, and the first class of 234 students graduated on June 14, 1947. The school offered only one degree, a Bachelor of Foreign Trade (BFT), in a curriculum which originally emphasized the Spanish and Portuguese languages and Latin American business culture. (Observing the difficulties faced by Americans doing business overseas, Yount sought to offer a course of studies that would correct their shortcomings.) Although the BFT was billed as a four-year degree, the actual course of studies required two years. Students were expected to bring in transfer credits amounting to the first two years.

The earliest classes were overwhelmingly men studying under the G.I. Bill. In 1951 there were 10 female students, four of them World War II veterans. About half the students were married men, many of whom brought their families.[10] (Wives were encouraged to enroll in language classes.) In those days the students were all American citizens. The first foreign students enrolled in 1958, and their proportion has steadily increased (with a dip in the wake of the 9-11). Overall, 57 percent of students in all degree programs had citizenship outside the United States in fall 2013.[11]

After Yount's death in 1949, a "Barton Kyle Yount Award" was created to honor the best student in the graduating class. Its first recipient (in 1950) was Robert Frohse, later executive director of the Hearst Corporation.[12]

In 1953, the school logo (which had been affixed to several repurposed aircraft hangars) allegedly inspired the name of the U.S. Air Force demonstration flight team, the Thunderbirds.[13]

In 1965, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded the school the President's "E" Certificate for Export Service (later upgraded to an "E-star" ranking). A small flag signifying this flies in front of the school.[14]

Marketing professor Edwin H. Coleman (formerly of Upjohn; taught 1962–1966) began an "Interad" class, in which students carried out projects on behalf of real companies, and were judged by their executives. Long one of Thunderbird's flagship courses, Interad continued to be taught until 2003.

Master of International Management era (1970-2000)

Under the presidency of Arthur L. Peterson (served 1966-69), Thunderbird received regional accreditation; the size of the student body doubled from an average of 250-300 in the early years, to 503 in 1967; several significant building projects were undertaken, including a library; the name of the school was changed to the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management; and the BFT was phased out in favor of a Master of International Management (MIM) degree. A pilot, Peterson was known for landing his plane on Thunderbird field.[15][16]

William Voris (served 1971–1989) continued many of the same trends. Academically, professorial qualifications improved, and the school adopted a "tripartite" curriculum consisting of business, international studies, and language. An Arabist, Voris established overseas study programs in several foreign countries—including cooperative agreements with the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) and the Beijing Institute of Foreign Trade (1980)[17]—and again changed the name of the school (replacing "Thunderbird" with "American") on the grounds that "Thunderbird" did not always translate well into other languages. He also organized the school's first executive education programs.[18]

Yount's grandson, Barton Kyle "Buzz" Yount III, attended the school in 1970-71.

The Thunderbird Hot Air Balloon Classic was first held in 1975, on the Thunderbird campus itself (which had been designed as an airfield). The event became an annual festival featuring student-run food-booths and the like. It was moved to the Glendale Airport in 1989 and then, in 1991, to Scottsdale's Westworld.[19]

During the early 1990s, the school adopted a more rigorous curriculum in imitation of standard MBA programs, making it more difficult to complete the MIM degree in a single year (formerly an important selling point). In 1994, the AACSB reversed a longstanding policy which made "mixed" programs such as Thunderbird's ineligible for accreditation. Thunderbird's was the first such program to be thus accredited. Around this time, the school began publishing the Thunderbird International Business Review, a bimonthly academic journal.[20]

MBA era (2001-present)

Originally unique, Thunderbird began to encounter competition from other international business programs in the 1980s. In response the school's marketing literature emphasized the "Thunderbird mystique" (referring to the school's tripartite curriculum and formidable alumni network) and a "difference of degree" (the MIM over the traditional MBA). By the 2000s, however, most business schools had acquired a global focus, making the Thunderbird degree less unique. In response Thunderbird converted its flagship degree into an MBA in International (later Global) Management.

The 1990s and 2000s brought financial upheaval as MBA programs in general fell out of favor during the Internet bubble, and non-U.S. enrollment dropped from 67 percent in 2001 to 44 percent in 2005 following the 9-11 terrorist attacks. By fall 2013, the rate of non-U.S. enrollment among incoming full-time MBA students had recovered and climbed to a record 72 percent.[21] Overall, full-time MBA enrollment dropped to 353 in fall 2013, down from an average of 1,500 during the 1990s. Total enrollment in all graduate programs in fall 2013 was 1,015. As a result of declining enrollment and other factors, staff cuts occurred in 2001, 2004, 2012 and 2013.

An unprecedented pledge of $60 million by alumnus Sam Garvin and his wife Rita promised to bolster the school's finances in 2004, and the name of the school was accordingly changed to Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management. The Garvins continue to honor their lifetime pledge, and through October 2013 they had paid nearly $12 million (more than any other donors in the school's history). In 2007 the school removed Garvin from its name, citing strategic reasons.[22]

Starting in 2005, Thunderbird began sponsoring "Project Artemis," a women's empowerment program aimed at developing entrepreneurial skills among Afghan women. Project Artemis eventually became the flagship program of Thunderbird for Good, a collection of education programs for nontraditional students. Thunderbird for Good partners have included Goldman Sachs, the InterAmerican Development Bank, the U.S. Dept. of State, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and the Australian Government. Overall through October 2013, Thunderbird for Good has provided free business training to more than 120,00 nontraditional students from 22 countries.[23]

In August 2004, Ángel Cabrera, former dean of IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, became president of the school, succeeding Roy A. Herberger, Jr. Under Cabrera's leadership the school launched various new programs and adopted a Professional Oath of Honor. Cabrera stepped down in 2012, and was succeeded briefly by former U.S. Ambassador Barbara Barrett, who served as an interim leader. In November 2012 the school announced Larry Edward Penley, former president of Colorado State University and dean of the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, as her replacement.

In fall 2013 Thunderbird launched a new full-time MBA curriculum that cuts the program from 20 months to 12 (as was the norm prior to about 1990). Students seeking internships and MBA specializiations will continue for an extra trimester.[24] Later in 2013, following negotiations with several candidate institutions, Thunderbird announced its decision to enter into a far-ranging partnership with Laureate Education (see next section).

Laureate controversy (2013)

In March 2013 the Thunderbird Board of Trustees announced plans for a joint venture with Laureate Education, Inc. (formerly Sylvan Learning Systems), contingent upon approval by the Higher Learning Commission, an accrediting body. During the negotiation process with Laureate, five out of 28 board members resigned, including four who quit in protest. Other alumni circulated a petition to stop the alliance, which attracted about 1,900 signatures. Later, dissident alumni—including four former Thunderbird trustees—organized the Thunderbird Independent Alumni Association[25] in opposition to the official Thunderbird Alumni Network (TAN). Seven volunteer members of the Thunderbird Alumni Network Board resigned in September 2013 following the school's removal of the TAN Board's president.[26]

Thunderbird believes it will retain its institutional and academic independence, although Laureate will have the right to appoint three representatives to the school's Board of Trustees, will own the main campus, overseas campuses, the online infrastructure, and be the school's biggest lending party. The joint venture will be represented by an independent corporation, distinct from either Thunderbird or Laureate, and will not award degrees. Ownership of the joint venture will be split 50/50 between Thunderbird and Laureate, with a provision allowing Laureate to increase its ownership to 75 percent after 10 years. Laureate will also own a majority share of the Board seats for the JV. Laureate will contribute US$13 million to the joint venture, while Thunderbird will contribute its executive education business unit (valued at roughly US$13 million). The alliance will allow Thunderbird to offer courses at new international Thunderbird campuses, initially planned in Brazil, Chile, France and Spain. In addition, Laureate will purchase the Thunderbird campus for US$48 to $52 million in a lease-buyback agreement, as a means of infusing the school with much-needed cash. (In early 2013 the school owed US$24.5 million against US$26.6 million in cash assets, and an endowment of less than US$20 million.)

The planned alliance has attracted attention from the Wall Street Journal,[27] Bloomberg BusinessWeek,[28][29] the Financial Times,[30] The Economist,[31] and CNN,[32] among others.[33][34] [35]

Rankings

See List of United States graduate business school rankings
US News and World Report = 88 (2013)
Bloomberg BusinessWeek = 45 (2012)
Forbes = 54 (2011)
The Economist = 87 (2011), dropped from top 100 list in 2012
(London) Financial Times = 68 (2011), dropped from top 100 list in 2013
América Economía = 56 (2011)
Business Insider = 41(2013)

With a full-time student body of several hundred (1,500 at its peak in the early 1990s), Thunderbird can either be viewed as a small school, or as a huge graduate department. The fact that it is unaffiliated with a larger university--and thus forgoes the resources and access to undergraduate teaching that such an affiliation would provide--has affected its academic life and reputation. (The 2013 Laureate deal seems likely to change this situation.) The active alumni network is an important plus.

In terms of rankings, the school does well in rankings which specifically evaluate programs in international business, and less well in general rankings. The school promotional material emphasizes its No. 1 rankings in global/international business by US News & World Report (18 years in a row as of the 2014 rankings), [36]Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page). and the London Financial Times, Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page). among other laurels.

List of Thunderbird presidents

  • Barton Kyle Yount (1947–49)
  • William Lytle Schurz (1949-52[?])
  • Ed Juliber (1952–53)
  • Carl Sauer (1953–66)
  • Arthur L. Peterson (1966–69)
  • Robert F. Delaney (1970–71)
  • William Voris (1971–89)
  • Roy A. Herberger (1989–2004)
  • Ángel Cabrera (2004–2012)
  • Barbara Barrett, (Apr - Nov 2012)
  • Larry E. Penley (current)

Notable alumni

Thunderbird has more than 40,000 alumni and 150 alumni chapters in 141 countries throughout the world.[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ As of March 19, 2012. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2011 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2010 to FY 2011" (PDF). 2010 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  2. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/graduate-degrees/ms-global-management
  3. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/graduate-degrees/programs/ms-global-marketing
  4. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/graduate-degrees/programs/ms-global-finance
  5. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/graduate-degrees/programs/ma-global-affairs-management
  6. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/graduate-degrees/full-time-post-mba
  7. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/graduate-degrees/global-mba-online
  8. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/graduate-degrees/executive-mba-united-states
  9. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/global-solutions-delivered-anywhere-world
  10. ^ Arizona Memory Project : Item Viewer
  11. ^ http://media.thunderbird.edu/article/thunderbird%E2%80%99s-incoming-mba-class-sets-record-international-enrollment-rate
  12. ^ "Arizona Memory Project : Browse". Azmemory.lib.az.us. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  13. ^ Arizona Memory Project : Item Viewer
  14. ^ Arizona Memory Project : Item Viewer
  15. ^ Former president discusses ‘doing good while doing well’ | Thunderbird for Good
  16. ^ Arizona Memory Project : Item Viewer
  17. ^ Arizona Memory Project : Item Viewer
  18. ^ Arizona Memory Project : Item Viewer
  19. ^ Arizona Memory Project : Item Viewer
  20. ^ Thunderbird International Business Review - Thunderbird School of Global Management
  21. ^ http://media.thunderbird.edu/article/thunderbird%E2%80%99s-incoming-mba-class-sets-record-international-enrollment-rate
  22. ^ http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/cdae4f8a-b5f8-11db-9eea-0000779e2340.html#axzz2PNM8P3D8
  23. ^ http://www.thunderbird.edu/wwwfiles/pubs/thunder_news/2013/august/images/Impact%20Report%2013.pdf
  24. ^ B.R., "Thunderbird shorts the Market" (Economist, 18 March 2013), http://www.economist.com/whichmba/thunderbird-shorts-market
  25. ^ http://www.t-birds.org/
  26. ^ http://t-birds.org/tan-board-members-resign-over-lack-of-due-process/#more-876
  27. ^ Melissa Korn, "Struggling Thunderbird Business School Finds a For-Profit Lifeline; School Takes Drastic Step to Stay Afloat" (Wall Street Journal, 19 July 2013, p. B1), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324867904578594063496621812.html )
  28. ^ Louis Lavelle, "In Wake of Laureate Deal, Thunderbird Board Exodus Continues" (Business Week, 30 July 2013), http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-30/in-wake-of-laureate-deal-thunderbird-board-exodus-continues
  29. ^ Matt Symonds, "Thunderbird: A Case Study for B-School Managers" (Business Week, 15 July 2013), http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-15/thunderbird-a-case-study-for-b-school-managers
  30. ^ Della Bradshaw, "Thunderbird to teach MBA in Paris and Madrid with Laureate" (Financial Times, 10 July 2013), http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/744777f8-e938-11e2-9f11-00144feabdc0.html
  31. ^ B.R., "Thunderbirds have gone" ('The Economist, 8 July 2013), http://www.economist.com/whichmba/thunderbirds-have-gone
  32. ^ Taylor Ellis, "Inside Thunderbird B-school's chronic decline" (11 July 2013), http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/07/11/thunderbird-mba/
  33. ^ http://www.dreducation.com/2013/07/laureate-thunderbird-anderson-bschools.html
  34. ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog/business/2013/07/thunderbird-school-facing-criticism.html?page=all
  35. ^ http://qz.com/101866/the-business-risks-of-business-school-your-blue-chip-mba-program-could-sell-itself/
  36. ^ http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/thunderbird-school-of-global-management-01273
  37. ^ Fact Sheet - Thunderbird
  38. ^ a b Korn, Melissa (July 9, 2013). "Fallout of M.B.A. Crisis". The Wall Street Journal. p. B1.
  39. ^ Fillion, Rubina Madan (2013-03-08). "The Best Tweets for Your Money". Barron's. Retrieved 2013-05-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

33°37′20″N 112°10′56″W / 33.62222°N 112.18222°W / 33.62222; -112.18222