The Upstart Little Grad School in the Desert

GLOBAL GRADS

Arizona's magnet school of international management spells success in any language Only the warm, tireless winds of April could breathe so much life into the huge flag rollicking high above the home of the Thunderbirds in Glendale, Arizona. On this particular spring day, the flag of Bangladesh was on display. It could just as easily have been the flag of Japan, Mexico, Germany, Cameroon, the United States, Sweden, Algeria, Australia, or Thailand. The list seems endless. But as desert zephyrs are airborne symbols of this state, so the variety of colorful banners are emblems for unity at Thunderbird, formally known as the (PRECEDING PANEL, PAGES 28 AND 29) Gregory Cooper of Carlsbad, California, is following in the footsteps of his grandfather, a member of the first Thunderbird graduating class. (ABOVE) Born and raised in Kenya, Sanjiv Pandya is a British citizen and has traveled in more than two-dozen countries. He is standing in front of a European Community flag commemorating the creation of a single European economic market scheduled to begin next year.

American Graduate School of International Management. Often described as a "miniUnited Nations," 30 percent of the school's 1,500 students are foreign nationals from 58 countries, at last count.

Ninety percent of the remaining students have lived abroad as children of missionaries, businessmen, military employees, and the like. They assert that a global outlook and love of foreign languages have claimed their hearts and minds.

Native or foreign, all have come to learn from one another and share in a year of intensive business and language studies considered maverick - but outstanding - among international business and banking institutions.

During a recent semester, administrators counted 80 students from Japan (which regularly accounts for the highest foreign enrollment); with Germany coming in second with 42 students; and Norway, third with 28. "And these students are willing, happy to learn from the one person enrolled from Yugoslavia, the one from Poland, or the one from Zimbabwe," according to Roy A. Herberger, who became president of the school in July, 1989.

"People who come here want to work and are willing to study hard," Herberger says. He has instituted a new master of international health management degree in conjunction with the University of Arizona, and has plans for additional programs.

"Insurance continues to be an important area for us," he says. "It's a clean industry and one that is absolutely vital as you internationalize." The school's already healthy Insurance Institute will be expanded, he adds. Other areas of special interest include advertising and marketing, and agribusiness. "Our graduates will be able to offer themselves on a global level in areas that will result in improved nutrition," Herberger predicts.

He says he is proud of the school's strong, established focus on computers and languages, emphasized by his predecessor, William Voris, president for 18 years. Indeed, students may study Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Japanese, or English as a second language.

At 44 years of age, Thunderbird is a neophyte among U.S. business schools; perhaps all the better for it to leave the "norm" to predecessors. These "T'birds" embrace a practical, hands-on languageand-culture-intensive approach to business, intermingled with such necessities as accounting, marketing, and international finance.

Most faculty members have rich and varied overseas experience in business and languages, as well as advanced degrees. "They have an international outlook, a global perspective that helps the students," Herberger says.

Graduates are considered exceptional candidates for employment in the complex worlds of multinational corporations and small businesses on the verge of joining the global marketplace. Indeed, the top 10 major employers of Thunderbird grads are Citicorp, BankAmerica, Chase Manhattan, General Motors, American Express, Sears, Manufacturers Hanover, Merrill Lynch, International Business Machines, and the U.S. State Department.

GLOBAL GRADS

Currently, there are more than 22,000 Thunderbird graduates employed in every state and 115 countries, including Japan, Germany, France, and Belgium.

"We operate and compete worldwide, and the international focus of Thunderbird graduates makes them attractive candidates for various G.M. jobs overseas and in the U.S.," explains James Sturtz, assistant director of college relations for General Motors.

The attitude holds fast, he says, even though employment is down at General Motors, and fewer students are being recruited from graduate schools.

About 200 employers a year interview Thunderbird graduates, who earn a master of international management (MIM) degree in three or four semesters. One study indicates that at least 70 percent of the graduates are placed in their positions of choice within six months of graduation, says Kathryn Vegso, director of career services.

With its focus on international commerce, economic issues, and languages, Thunderbird has been called "a trailblazer in management education" by Forbes magazine; and the Journal of International Business Studies has ranked Thunderbird's international management program the best in the country. In addition, Madison Avenue Magazine has written that the InterAd program, in which students develop a complete ad campaign for a corporation, has resulted in strong recognition of Thunderbird among advertising executives here and abroad.

Walking the grounds of this unpretentious 60-acre campus, one would hardly suspect the school's standing worldwide. There are no five-story buildings with ivycovered granite facades, although a $10 million construction program is under way to expand the library and build three new buildings: an international studies facility, a combination administration/world business building, and a dormitory. The land, including 100 undeveloped acres, is a former airfield. Today, a one-time air-control tower is a vice president's office. Commencement exercises take place in a remodeled hangar.

Celebrities such as Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, and Henry Fonda used to visit Arizona frequently and, so, paid for construction of an airfield that later became our country's second major Army Air Corps training facility. Well-known artist Millard Sheets designed the field in the shape of a large Thunderbird, the mythical creature that is said to cause thunder and lightning.

Pilots trained at the airfield during World War II, and, when the war ended, Lt. Gen.

Barton Kyle Yount, commander of the U.S. Army Air Training Command, saw the site as a bonanza, a place to train veterans for careers overseas. It was said to be an effort to regain respect for Americans, who were seen by many Europeans as insensitive to international nuances, and to encourage sagging business ties overseas.

A military group bought the land, and, with the help of local businessmen, began the American Institute of Foreign Trade, a year-long graduate school. Almost 300 students from 45 states became the first graduating class in 1947. Later, it became the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management, as it is still known around the world. However, in yet another name change in 1973, Thunderbird became the American Graduate School of International Management.

That key expression, "around the world," is heard often at Thunderbird. "We're better known in Brussels or London than in Arizona," Herberger says. He has begun to remedy that by developing (BELOW) Kenyan Oscar Mundai earned a degree from the University of Nairobi, worked in government, and owned a business before coming to Thunderbird. He has traveled widely in Europe and Africa.

Stronger ties to the Arizona business community. “We have a lot to offer each other and we're right here,” he says.The president acknowledges, however, that its international ties are part of the Thunderbird “mystique” a word that graduates toss about frequently. A nearly metaphysical bond exists among the 20,000-plus alumni scattered worldwide. “They can count on each other, sight unseen, with a simple introduction as a Thunderbird,” according to Herberger.

The mystique travels the opposite direction, too, with incoming students. “What other school has the diversity, heterogeneity of this student body?” Vegso asks. She says 70 percent of the students receive undergraduate degrees from institutions more than 1,000 miles from Phoenix, and they represent more than 100 areas of study. Some students are sent by employers involved in the worldwide marketplace perhaps accounting for the average age of students: 27.

Tuition is more than $15,000 for a full calendar year, which involves three terms.

Franck Kiser, a citizen of the United States and France, was attracted to Thunderbird because of its international dimension, he says. “So many of us have traveled, lived somewhere outside the United States, and it's opened our eyes. We see things in dif-ferent ways than a lot of people. It's the tie that binds us together. There's a broad per-spective.”Kiser, 28, was raised in Paris until the age of 8 when his family moved to Alexandria, Virginia. He earned a bachelor of science degree in languages and linguis-tics at Georgetown University in Wash-ington, D.C.

Like many of his Thunderbird classmates, Kiser is multilingual, speaking English and French fluently and enjoying a working knowledge of Italian and Russian. Bright and energetic, he seems a natural for a job in France following graduation from Thunderbird, where he majors in international marketing and operations management.

However, Kiser has other plans: “I didn't come here to study French; I came to learn Japanese. I need an Asian language to be truly international.” Jim Mills, 43, a Ph.D. in international finance who has taught at Thunderbird for 14 years, believes Kiser's enthusiasm is typical of Thunderbird students. “They have so much experience in the world, and it seems to make a difference. The students come with such diverse backgrounds and cultures that there is rarely a subject you could talk about internationally where somebody hasn't done it,” he says. Mills points to an experience in an international finance class: “The subject of black-market currencies came up. I made a few general comments about how it works, and a student raised his hand and offered a fantastic explanation. He had observed black-market operations for five years in Africa.” When discussing investment projects overseas, Mills made up a scenario involving a copper mine in Zaire. “It so happened that a student had been involved in an investment project, in a copper mine, and in Zaire . . .

“These are the types of things we experience all the time,” Mills adds.

That's how things are on this out-of-the-way campus in the desert: a basketful of languages, religions, traditions, and cultures thriving in an open market of experience, tolerance, and understanding, spiced with curiosity and fascination.

COMING YOUR WAY SKELETON CAVE MASSACRE

In the rocks high above Canyon Lake is Skeleton Cave where a band of renegade Yavapai Indians met death at the hands of the U.S. Cavalry. Arizona Highways will recount that massacre through the eyes of an eight-year-old Indian boy who watched as his family was wiped out. We also pay a visit to Prescott on our way north and take time out for a close-up view of the action in the town's triathlon, which includes swimming, running, and bicycling. Next stop is the western corner of the Arizona Strip Country along the Utah border. Pipe Spring National Monument is an old fort cum museum complete with docents and dedicated to the past. And then we'll dazzle you with a spectacular portfolio of natural arches carved in stone by wind and water. In May.

WHITE-WATER RAFTING

This month we'll take you on an incredible raft trip through the treacherous high-water rapids of the upper Salt River. It's a ride you'll remember for a long time. And we'll visit a cool summer adventureland - Flagstaff in northern Arizona, and the nearby monuments and parks, such as Sunset Crater and the ancient ruins at Wupatki and Walnut Canyon. Then we'll watch birds and animals visiting wastewater marshes in the desert. We'll also take a look at some exotic tunneling bees. To close, we'll go to Tucson and meet an environmentalist whose desert books are hailed as some of the most insightful treatises dealing with arid lands. In June.

ARIZONA'S GREAT LAKES

One of Arizona's great lakes, Lake Mead, is our travel destination for midsummer. We tell you as only Arizona Highways can all you'll need to know to enjoy this water wonderland. Our other great lake, of course, is Lake Powell along the Utah border. We tag along on a kayak trip to many of the places few have ever seen. From here we'll take you to Monument Valley with the Friends of Arizona Highways and report on what it's like to be on one of their popular photo tours. And we'll introduce you to a most unusual fellow - the spadefoot toad. You won't believe his life-style. Then we're off to hike cool Prescott's Thumb Butte. In July.

This Mother's Day and Father's DaySHARE THE BEST OF ARIZONA

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Each month, Arizona Highways explores the state's stunning natural treasures and adventures through the lenses of the world's greatest nature photographers. Send your parents on a mule trek down the Grand Canyon. Show them the splendors of Lake Powell and the red rocks of Sedona. Share the fascinating beauty of Arizona.

A one-year subscription is just $16, and each additional subscription (new or renewal) only $14 a year. (Foreign subscriptions are $19.25 per year.) You'll also receive scenic cards to announce your gifts.

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