Thunderbird School of Global Management
History
On April 8, 1946, Thunderbird School of Global Management (originally known as the American Institute for Foreign Trade [AIFT]) was chartered on the Glendale, Arizona World War II air base, Thunderbird Field, where pilots from around the world came for training during wartime. General Barton Kyle Yount obtained the airfield with the express purpose of developing a school focused exclusively on international trade and global relations. General Yount was named Thunderbird’s first president, and established a vision for the school that remains today—built on the phrase coined by original faculty member Dr. William Lytle Schurz, “Borders frequented by trade seldom need soldiers.” With that, Thunderbird’s mission to “educate global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide” was born.
As AIFT, Thunderbird became the first-ever higher-education institution to focus exclusively on international management by concentrating curriculum on cross-cultural communication, regional business studies and hands-on, real-world training in global business nuances. Thunderbird continues to deliver global management education in this same fashion today, with world-renowned faculty who have extensive practitioner and consultant experience in all facets of international business.
In 2015, Thunderbird became an independent unit of the Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise, combining Thunderbird’s multi-decade heritage of developing global business leaders with ASU’s expansive resources, and in 2018 relocated to ASU’s vibrant Downtown Phoenix campus. The move brought the world’s #1-ranked master’s in management under the umbrella of the nation’s #1-ranked school for innovation.
Location
Thunderbird is located on Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix Campus. This places Thunderbird students and executive partners in the heart of Phoenix’s entrepreneurial, cultural and professional hub. Thunderbird’s outstanding undergraduate programs are delivered on ASU’s West campus. Thunderbird also offers a global affairs master’s degree at its new Washington D.C. location.
Thunderbird’s global footprint has expanded over the years as well, with operations now in Geneva, Switzerland, Moscow, Russia, Dubai, UAE, Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, Korea. The School has plans to expand to twenty global hubs by 2025.
Facilities
As part of the merger with Arizona State University, Thunderbird transformed its MBA program into an innovative Master of Global Management (MGM), which was ranked #1 by the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education for 2019. Students now choose from 15 concentration opportunities and benefit from the combination of Thunderbird’s rich history of training global leaders in skills like cross-cultural management, cross-language communication, and cross-border negotiation and ASU’s rich history of innovation in disciplines from bio design to journalism, space science to humanities.
Faculty
The Thunderbird School of Management consists of more than 30 full-time faculty and nearly 50 adjunct faculty who teach the same courses in-person and online, meaning you’ll receive the same high-quality education no matter where you are in the world. Our faculty members have strong leadership experience within the academic and professional worlds. Many of our adjunct faculty work full-time in prestigious leadership positions in the public, private and nonprofit arenas.
MBA Degree Offerings
Accelerated 4+1 Master of Global Management, Master of Global Management, Executive Master of Global Management, Executive Master of Arts in Global Affairs & Management, Executive Master of Global Leadership & Strategy, Master of Applied Leadership & Management (online).
