ASU's newest campus comes with a history of excellence. Founded in 1946, the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale has kept its focus on educating leaders from around the world in the intricacies of international management. Today, Thunderbird and Arizona State University are building on that heritage with an alliance that is creating a new path for innovative global leadership.
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Thunderbird started its life as a training base for pilots in World War II. After the war, Lt. Gen. Barton Kyle Yount founded a school to teach businessmen who wanted work overseas. William Schurz, president from 1949 to 1951 and a scholar of Latin America, said: "Borders frequented by trade seldom need soldiers."
Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Mary Teagarden teaches Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation. Besides a rigorous program of business study, Thunderbird's master's programs require proficiency in a second language as well as work abroad.
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Thunderbird began accepting international applicants in 1958 and traditionally has drawn students from around the world. From left, Harsh Kagda, Chandra Mouli Koduri, Tokahiro Ito, Jorge Cespedes Flores and Harsh Naik chat after class at the Thunderbird Commons.
Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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Thunderbird for Good, launched in 2005, is a program that provides business and entrepreneurial training to nontraditional students so they can improve their communities. Here, Cheryl Antone helps Eileen Pike prepare to be photographed as part of Project DreamCatcher, an entrepreneurial "boot camp" for Native American women. Learn more about the project here.
Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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The control tower from the World War II-era Thunderbird Airfield still sits atop the Thunderbird Tower building, which now houses the ThunderShop bookstore, meeting spaces and the Pub. One of the four original hangars still exists, as well as some of the barracks that were built in 1941.
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The "Welcome Wall" says "Welcome" in the 11 different languages taught at Thunderbird over the years.
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The Jacuzzi Fountain, the centerpiece of the Snell Learning Center, was donated by Ken Jacuzzi, a member of the Thunderbird class of 1979. He gave it in memory of his father, Benito Jacuzzi, who invented the Jacuzzi whirlpool as a form of therapy for Ken, who has arthritis.
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There are more than 170 Thunderbird alumni chapters in 147 countries. The school will be celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2016.
Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now
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