Archive for April, 2010

By Samantha Novick, Communications and Outreach

It is a very emotional and exciting day out here in Glendale, as the spring 2010 graduation ceremony just finished a few hours ago. Alumni, please welcome the newest 273 members into your ranks! Today’s class was one of the biggest seen at Thunderbird since 2001.

In T-bird tradition, the flag ceremony started the Commencement off in high style. Flag bearers came from 29 countries, including Iran, Estonia, South Africa and Nepal. Following came a speech from Thunderbird’s President,  Ángel Cabrera, who encouraged the graduates to find opportunities in a formidable international business climate.

“The challenges ahead need not only global citizens, but global entrepreneurs,” Cabrera said. “Only by unleashing the ingenuity and creative energy of thousands of entrepreneurs will we be able to uncover new solutions. Global entrepreneurs see opportunities where others see insurmountable obstacles. The challenges that surround us today must not intimidate you or depress you. They offer the greatest opportunities global leaders like you can dream of.”

President Cabrera also urged the graduates to remain true to the values set forth in the Thunderbird Professional Oath of Honor. The Thunderbird Oath of Honor is believed to be the first of its kind at a business school. It derives from the school’s belief that global managers must contribute to the creation of sustainable economic and social value.

The Commencement address was given by one of your own: Merle A. Hinrichs, class of ‘65. Hinrichs is the Chairman and CEO of Global Sources, Asia’s leading business-to-business media company focused on global trade. Hinrichs has been a Thunderbird Board of Trustees member since 1991, and  spearheaded the creation of the International Business Education Centre, which opened in 1994. He is now leading the effort to restore the Thunderbird Tower.

In his speech before the graduating class, Hinrichs welcomed them into the worldwide network of Thunderbird alumni. “Members of this community are very special,” Hinrichs said.

“They share your interest in international trade. They live and work in literally every corner of the world. You can find them in business, government and many of them are also deeply committed to philanthropic activity… Membership of this community can be of substantial value to you, as it has been to me over the past 40 years.

I would encourage you to network and meet with them no matter where your travels may take you. Plus make your own contribution to this community. As you well know, developing strong contacts is a precursor to any successful business career.”—Merle A. Hinrichs

At the ceremony,  Cabrera awarded Hinrichs an honorary Doctor of International Law degree for exemplifying the ethos of Thunderbird – an abiding respect and understanding of other cultures, high ethical standards, and a belief that business can be a powerful force for creating sustainable prosperity.

Many new alumni signed the Thunderbird Oath board after the event. Have you signed the Oath yet? Sign it here.

Thunderbird graduates belong to one of the most valuable business communities in the world, and they are always making headlines wherever they go. As this blog evolves to include more news and information, we’ll be highlighting the professional promotions and achievements of our alumni community. Once a T-bird, always a T-bird!

Thunderbird Alumni Promotions

James C. Hartenstein, ‘75, has been appointed Vice President, International for Little Caesars Pizza. He has spent his entire career in the International field for major multinational companies, and most recently was the senior vice president of International for the Wendy’s/Arby’s group.

John B. Eichhorn, ‘83, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Tropos Networks, a leading provider of IP broadband mesh network systems. In the span of his career, Eichhorn has led the financial, regulatory compliance, investor relations and strategic planning activities for several notable companies including PayCycle, Business Objects, Adobe Systems, Cisco, and Hewlett Packard.

William Wade, ’83, has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited. Wade has over 25 years of experience in the satellite and cable television industry and is currently deputy chief executive officer and executive director of AsiaSat. He will start the position August 1, 2010.

Lania Rittenhouse, ’86, has been named Vice President for product development at Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest cruise operator. In the past Rittenhouse has worked with Norwegian Cruise Line, Renaissance Cruises, LMR Global Consulting and as director of tourism for the Cayman Islands.

Randy Buness, ‘92, has been named Chief Financial Officer of Cayenne Medical, Inc., a privately held sports medicine device company. Buness’ financial background includes expertise in venture capital, public stock offerings and mergers and acquisitions, including ten years in public accounting at Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Peter Kendrick, ’93, has been promoted to Vice President, Corporate Development of Oro Gold Resources Ltd., a gold exploration company. Kendrick has more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry and has worked on projects throughout the United States, Africa, Russia and Latin America.

Thomas Schmidt, ’95, has been named Vice President of Lockton Companies’ Chicago employee benefits practice. Prior to joining Lockton, Schmidt was a principal and benefits practice leader at Mercer, a unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., and  Senior Vice President at Winterthur.

Christine Loredo, ‘99, has been appointed Vice President of Product Marketing for Fuze Box,  a leading provider of Internet and mobile based communications solutions. Loredo has a broad background in mobile applications and international product marketing, and has previously worked with Yahoo!,  AOL Mobile and Trillibis Mobile.

Pierce Wu, ’01, has been named Project Manager of SCS Field Services’ Construction Division in the Reston, Virginia office. Wu is a construction industry professional with an 18-year career that includes construction projects in Taiwan, China and the United States.

George W. Gresham, ‘06, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of NetSpend Corp., an Austin-based prepaid debit card seller. Netspend services about 1.2 million customers and recently breached $1 billion loaded onto cards. Gresham is a Certified Public Accountant and previously worked with Global Cash Access Inc. and EFD eFunds Corp.

Do you have alumni news that you’d like to share? Let us know: alumni@thunderbird.edu

by Kelly Hicks, Stewardship Coordinator

Luisa Solarte ’98 was a senior Coca-Cola Manager in Colombia and a graduate of Thunderbird.  She was an exceptional person valued both for her business professionalism and her commitment to her home country of Colombia.  Tragically, she was killed in a terrorist attack that took place on February 7, 2003 in  Bogotá.  She believed passionately in what entrepreneurism and customer service could achieve in an embattled economy and society like Colombia.  She brought to her work all the skills and knowledge she had learned at Thunderbird.

This scholarship endowment is dedicated to Luisa’s memory by The Coca-Cola Foundation and to the furtherance of the hope and skills so much a part of her life.  We welcome you to add to this endowed scholarship or one of the many scholarships available to Thunderbird students, listed here.

by Keith C. Kerber, Assistant Director of Annual Giving

Do you ever arrive at your workspace with a necessary task to do and think to yourself, “I really don’t want to do this today.”?  Maybe it’s one of those tasks you just don’t want to do.  Period!  I enjoy working at Thunderbird and I love all that it is doing and all that it stands for however, I have those moments.  In fact, if I’m honest, I have them weekly.

That’s when I look at the number of Yes’s on the wall of my cube and I tell myself, “They all said yes, so Kerber, you can do this.”  Then I get back to work.

This week’s number is 4,499.  In the 09-10 fiscal year 4,499 T-bird alumni have said yes to Thunderbird with a financial contribution.  Wow!  4,499 people gave so this organization can inspire and equip more than 1,200 students with the business and management skills they need to create prosperity all over the world!

It may be a little corny but I imagine the crowd of 4,499 alumni donors out in front of my office building cheering for Thunderbird.  Each of them saying yes to the work I do – no, not the specific tasks assigned to my role – but to the overall work of Thunderbird.

And I wonder, “do those 4,499 alumni know how inspired I am by their gift?”

So if you are one of those 4,499 T-birds, know that you made my day!  Thank you.

Your gift will do far more than just make my day.  Discover how at www.thunderbird.edu/giving

by Kelly Hicks, Stewardship Coordinator

During the Thunderbird Global Council’s annual dinner in March, a number of Thunderbird students from China entertained us by performing a Chinese Fan Dance and a version of the Pass the Flower game.  In this version, the holder of the special flower was given a hand drawn piece of Chinese art done by one of our current students.  No one knew which was the special flower until the end.  After tossing the flower table to table, appropriately, the flower ended up in the hands of Thunderbird Global Council member Ian McCluskey ‘82 who had earlier in the day visited his late wife’s grave on Thunderbird’s campus.

Gayle came to Thunderbird in the Fall of 1981 to embark on a new adventure following more than a year of regular visits to the hospital for chemotherapy.  By the Spring of 1982, Gayle’s problems reappeared and more chemotherapy treatments ensued.  In August of 1982, Ian and Gayle were married.

A personal account by Professor Richard Mahoney says she was “achingly gaunt, but glowing in that was of hers.”  Gayle slipped away peacefully one evening the following August.  Her legacy remains at Thunderbird.  There is a plaque on a large pine tree located on the southside of the A dorms with a quote that was very special to Gayle.  And there is a scholarship, for students who have made significant contributions to the Thunderbird community and have financial need so that others may finish what Gayle had fought so hard to accomplish.  Read Ian McCluskey’s article here.

We welcome you to add to this endowed scholarship or one of the many scholarships available to Thunderbird students, listed here.

Guest post by Mike Diliberto ‘09

Entrepreneurs are everywhere.  Today, an entrepreneur is just as likely to be found in a large, multi-national corporation as they are to be working out of a home office as a one-person company.  This is nothing new, as innovative solutions are often found by those that are closest to the problem.

The difference today is that these entrepreneurs are able to leverage new tools to help bring their solutions to life, and spread the word of their innovation across their company.

The emergence of technology that empowers these entrepreneurs has enabled even a solitary voice among thousands to not only be heard, but to affect change across entire organizations.  In the past, a worker in a large corporation was simply a cog in the machine, and had little opportunity to change the order of things at their own company.  With the rise of low cost web based and open source tools, today’s employee is empowered to push change through the ranks.

Read more »

by Kelly Hicks, Stewardship Coordinator

The many scholarships at Thunderbird have helped countless students over the years.  Mr. Charles H. Mannel Sr. understood this better than most due to his tenure as Vice President of External Affairs from 1976 through 1990.

During his time here, Mr. Mannel and his wife Rose traveled the world to promote the School, raise funds, and attend First Tuesdays.  They also had various students living with them over the years while they completed their degrees.  Charles was the embodiment of the Thunderbird Mystique, and although he officially retired, he was unofficially an Ambassador of Thunderbird for life.  He recruited students and sold the value of the Thunderbird experience until the day he died.  When he passed away in February 2006, his son Charles Jr. (Class of 1982) and daughter Laura Kay Mannel-Harsh (Class of 1983) created an endowed scholarship for continuing students in the full-time MBA program knowing that their parents would appreciate the continuation of their wish to help others reach their goals through their education at Thunderbird.

We welcome you to add to this endowed scholarship or one of the many scholarships available to Thunderbird students, listed here.

by Keith C. Kerber, Assistant Director of Annual Giving

That’s what the alumnus living in South Korea told Barsha, one of our Student Campaign Ambassadors (SCAs) who hails from Nepal. It had been 5 years since he had heard from anyone at Thunderbird. Within a few minutes, Barsha had updated the email and residential address of this long lost alumnus. Soon he will receive the Thunderbird magazine and the monthly alumni newsletter and be back in touch with Thunderbird. 

Last Tuesday night, a dozen of our SCAs gathered for a late night calling session so that we could reach our alumni throughout Asia. It was a great time from 8 pm until midnight. At one point I heard Hindi, English, Japanese and Chinese all being spoken simultaneously! 

It was a win-win-win: Alumni had the opportunity to speak with current students and learn about Thunderbird, students got to learn about Asian alumni and companies, and we raised more than $5,000 for Thunderbird. We look forward to another late night session in coming weeks.