Brand AMerica

OrangeRevolutionAt the center ofa reborn Ukraine

Setting anew directionDr. Cabrera outlines Thunderbird’s future

Spring 2005

BrandAmerica How to restore itstarnished imagein an angry world

Spring 2005

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4 AgendaAlpine Retreat T-birds gather in Geneva for a reunion.Tsunami Aid Alumni help in relief and rebuilding.Global Citizens Afghan women learn to become entrepreneurs. Private Equity Thunderbird moves into a growing field.Global Campus Russia celebrates 10 years of success.

18 Is Brand America Broken?Signs are that U.S. policies have adverselyaffected sales by American companies abroad.What can be done to reverse that?

26 On the Road to TransformationDr. Angel Cabrera was chosen president of Thunderbird due, in part, to his proven abilityto introduce change. After just six months on the job, it’s clear the selection committeepicked the right man.

32 A Nation Born in OrangeThunderbird Global Council member Michael Bleyzer witnessed the beginningof Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in November and the birth of a true democracy.

38 Playing the FieldSal Galatioto has been behind some of the biggest deals in U.S. sports history. How didthis Brooklyn-born sports fan become the go-to guy for super rich team owners?

44 Faculty FocusCultural advantage Foreign language and cultural savvy provide a distinct edge.Brazilian samba Dell’s multistep dance brings a manufacturing plant to Brazil.

51 Chapter NewsVintage Thunderbirds The 40+ Initiative gains momentum as more alumni startattending events and more and more chapters introduce the concept.Pole position Among all Thunderbird chapters, Detroit sets the fundraising pace in2004 by increasing the number of donors by nearly 40 percent.

54 ClassnotesGolden life Rebecca Golden walked away from the good life she thought she wanted tofind the better life she needed: working for Doctors Without Borders.It’s all in the cards Against long odds, Matthew Hilger has used his MBA skills tobecome one of the best Texas Hold’em players in the world.The sky isn’t the limit Keith Powers helped propel the first privately funded rocketship into space... and there’s much more to come. Buckle your seatbelt.Alumna scores points As the highest ranking woman at the NFL, Kimberly Williamsquarterbacks the league’s finances all the way into the end zone.

64 ForumPut Russia back on the map It’s time students take notice of Russia, says presidentof CBSD Russia. There is a lot more freedom and opportunity than most people think.

On the CoverAs the United Statesfollows an activistforeign policy in theworld, it oftenencounters a negativekickback from manycultures and manycountries. Now it issearching to find how to turn the tide of global publicopinion back in itsfavor. Illustration byartist Robert Case.

thunderbird : spring : 2005

2 spring 2005

Proud ofour Thun-derbird

IREAD THE re-port [in The WallStreet Journal

recognizing Thun-derbird as the No. 1school for academicexcellence in Inter-national Business]with excitement andpride. It’s alwaysnice to see my past decisions affirmed. I didn’t expect mytime at Thunderbirdto be as valuable as ithas been over time,like a fine wine.

Ed Miller ’82

There is muchmore we need to doto spread our mes-sage. I have workedwith many Fortune50 companies andmost people I meetstill have not heardof Thunderbird. As alumni, we aretrying to spread themessage of howgreat T-bird is andhow highly we areranked. Nonethe-less, we need to domore marketing toget mainstreambusiness to knowhow great we are!

Nicole Larson ’98

The InnovationChallenge gets better every year. As a T-bird alum-nus, I can’t tell youhow proud I am ofthe students of theTHINC Club. Notonly did they bondtogether to execute

last year’s Innova-tion Challenge but they also havecontributed to the elevation of Thun-derbird’s brandamong thousands of students at 81 uni-versities in 17 coun-tries who took partin the competition.

Anil Rathi ’02

With the Garvinendowment andfresh leadership,Thunderbird has redefined itself as a leader of interna-tional business edu-cation. My sense isthat we have a win-ning team in placeand it is building asuccessful strategy,but it’s a huge job.All of us need togive the School thesupport it needs.

Marshall Parke ’77

Our unique insti-tution brings specialskill sets and globalapproaches to thecommunities wherewe work and live,and it is gratifying toknow that recruiterscontinue to under-stand the value thatour students con-tribute to theirworkplaces.

Melissa Trimble ’01

ExecutiveMBA

THE EMBAstudentsshould be

included and valuedas strong and viablecomponents of the

Thunderbird pro-gram. Many of theinitiatives at Thun-derbird are targetedsolely to the MBAstudents, overlook-ing the value of theEMBA experience. I would embrace theknowledge, experi-ence and commit-ment of the EMBAstudents as viableand potential am-bassadors of Thun-derbird. We are already in a positionto spread the wordand send the mes-sage of Thunder-bird’s program of excellence.

C. O’Connor ’06

Hail tothe chief

AS SOMEONEwho benefit-ed enormous-

ly from his Thun-derbird experience, Ithink it is importantthat the School con-tinue to communi-cate its value to theinternational busi-ness community,and I can’t think ofany better salespeo-ple than its alumni.As the new leader ofThunderbird, AngelCabrera has an ex-cellent opportunityto start fresh and engage one of ourbiggest assets—ourglobal alumni base.

C. Vaughan ’97

I am absolutelydelighted thatThunderbird select-ed Angel Cabrera as

the next leader. Hehas the right creden-tials, background,and ability to leadthe School well intothe future. Giventhe recent financialgift, his selection aspresident, the recentrankings, I’m look-ing forward to an exciting future forthe students and theentire Thunderbirdfamily worldwide.

Gary Brukardt ’72

I was excited toread about our newpresident, AngelCabrera, in the lastThunderbird maga-zine, especially thesection on the De-ontological Oath forMBAs. Wouldn’t itbe a better world ifnot only MBAs, butall managers andleaders, could signsuch a commitment.

David Landry ’88

The rightprofessor

ATTRACTINGand retainingprofessors

based on PhD statusshould not be such a high priority. Students can learnmore valuable les-sons from a manag-er who has beenworking in the realworld and has closedreal deals with realclients than a profes-sor who has moreeducation creden-tials or has pub-lished more.

Tim Bergin ’98

letters

ThunderbirdMagazineVolume 57, No. 2, Spring 2005

EditorD.J. Burrough

Art DirectorPat Kenny

Photo Editor Kristen Jarchow

Web DesignerAdam Kline

Web ProductionBelinda Gleason

Editorial AssistantHeidi Neeley

Publisher & V.P., MarketingKen Lambert

Executive Director,Thunderbird Global NetworkMeredith Peabody

Editorial DirectorRoger Toll

All editorial, sales andproduction correspondenceshould be addressed to:Thunderbird Magazine, 15249N. 59th Avenue, Glendale,AZ, 85306-6000. Editorialsubmissions and letters to theeditor can also be emailed to:[email protected] inquires shouldbe addressed to:[email protected] of address and other subscription inquires can be emailed to:[email protected].

Thunderbird Magazine is apublication of the Marketingand CommunicationDepartment of Thunderbird,The Garvin School ofInternational Management.

TRULY GLOBAL

thunderbird magazine 3

THE NINE MONTHS since I arrived at Thunderbird has beenan amazing period of discovery for me. I’ve found a unique com-munity that for all its incredible

diversity shares some common traits: a passion for international business manage-ment, for building cultural bridges and forcreating global prosperity through businessor philanthropic endeavors.

While I’ve spent a good deal of time getting to know the faculty, staff, boards andalumni, I’ve also been immersed in strategicplanning, team building and decision mak-ing. We have shaped and articulated thestrategic plan elaborated under the leader-ship of my predecessor, Dr. Roy Herberger.

Having been the leading school of Inter-national Management for more than 50years is no guarantee of our future success.That can only happen if we build on ourlegacy and strengths while making daringdecisions to maintain our edge and spreadour reach. We need to continue to expandthe number of degrees we offer so we can be sure the people who most desire a Thunderbird learning experience aren’tturned away. We need to embrace the latesttechnology so we can enrich the learning experience of our participants and bettercater to their personal and professional demands. We need to continue to brandThunderbird not as the first school of inter-national management or even the best so far, but as an institution that’s a sure bet toalways be on the leading edge. We need tocontinue to build our truly global learningnetwork by strengthening our presence inGeneva, Prague, Moscow, Latin Americaand China, and by exploring ways to estab-lish a solid foothold in new locations.

To do all this, we need the support of the

from the president

Daring decisionsrequire support

In his nine months aspresident of Thunder-bird, Dr. Angel Cabrerahas discovered a diversealumni community thatshares similar passions.

Thunderbird’s continued success can only happen if the School builds on its strengths and embraces change

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entire Thunderbird community. During myfirst nine months, the question alumni havemost often asked me is, “What can I do tohelp Thunderbird.”

My answer: Think Thunderbird, TalkThunderbird, and Build Thunderbird.Think Thunderbird first when you are considering your business needs for training,recruiting and advising. Talk Thunderbirdand help us spread the word about what theSchool has to offer. Build Thunderbird, byincluding our School in your philanthropicactivities, not only because investing inThunderbird helps strengthen the value ofyour degree, but because it is simply a greatcause. When you support Thunderbird, youhelp us educate a new generation of uniqueglobal leaders who will help bring aboutprosperity, understanding, wealth and peaceto the world.

4 spring 2005

An alpinereunion

June 2-5 in Geneva

THE 2005 Thunderbird EuropeanAlumni Reunion, the first on thecontinent since 2002, will be heldin Geneva June 2-5. The four-dayevent is expected to draw several

hundred Thunderbirds. The basic reunionpackage includes a welcome cocktail recep-tion, dinner and dancing at Domaine dePenthes in Geneva, a dinner cruise on thelake, and an “au revoir” brunch. The HotelRoyal, in the heart of Geneva, will serve asthe reunion headquarters.

Side trips include a journey in a 1915 “BelleÉpoque” Pullman car from Montreux toGruyères, with tours of cheese and chocolatemakers; a boat ride to Yvoire, a medieval vil-lage; a visit to Mont-Blanc and the Alpinetown of Chamonix; and a guided tour of old

town Geneva. The reunion is

hosted by the Euro-pean Reunion Com-mittee and the Gene-va chapter. The costis €270 for the basicreunion package, andbetween €15 and €65for each side trip. SeeEuropean Reunion adon the back page.

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ageIn the gardens ofEurope’s U.N. head-quarters in Geneva. Alumni at the European reunion can take boat excursions on Lake Geneva.


T-birds join efforts toaid tsunami victims

THE TSUNAMI THAT SWEPTthrough the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26did not claim the lives of any of about

500 Thunderbird alumni living in the affect-ed countries nor any Thunderbirds vaca-tioning there at the time. But alumni did notsit idly by. In the days following the disaster,no less than half a dozen alumni rushedthere to help survivors left homeless and inneed of clean water, food and medical care.A number of other alumni contributed tothe relief effort through their work withnon-governmental agencies.

Randolph Oudemans ’86 traveled to Pematang Siantar, a small coastal village on Sumatra, Indonesia, to see how his non-profit organization, REACT, could help thethousands of children left homeless by thedisaster.

Jason Wares ’99 is managing a project for CHF International to build shelters inSri Lanka for 3,000 families that were lefthomeless by the tsunami.

Bob Kimber ’91 paid his own way to Krabi,a coastal village near Phuket, Thailand, onthe Indian Ocean, to help in the cleanup andrebuilding.

Rachel Granger ’04 traveled to Sri Lanka tooversee relief efforts for AmeriCare, whichbrought in medical supplies and more than 2million water purification treatment kits.

To read the latest journal entries from alumniin the field, go to thunderbird.edu, and click ontsunami relief effort.

Alumnishow gutsand blood

BLOOD ANDmud mixedfreely with

graying hair at the2005 Fruit Bowl, anannual rugby matchthat pitted the cur-rent T-bird teamagainst 45 alumniplayers who wereeviscerated 22-10 in ahard-fought match.

The Rugby Alum-ni Weekend, March3-5, also offered net-working sessions, agolf outing, skeet

28%The percentage dropin graduate schoolapplications bystudents comingfrom outside the USAbetween 2003 and2004, according to asurvey by the Councilof Graduate Schools.The largest decreasein applications wasfrom Chinese stu-dents, down 45%over the prior year,followed by India,down 28%, andKorea, down 14%.

19The number ofcountries that arerepresented by thefull-time MBA classthat began studies atThunderbird in themonth of January.

shooting and infor-mal gatherings. Abanquet followedthe match.

“This programwill grow as morealumni and studentsget involved,” saysChuck Hamilton ’91.“We hope to doublethe number of alum-ni here next year.”

The alumni teamwill take on localclubs in Argentinafor 10 days in Augustto help promote theSchool. More than50 alumni and sup-porters are expectedto make the trip,Hamilton says.

ndaThe ever-hopeful alumni got trounced by the currentstudent squad in a Rugby Alumni Weekend match.

6 spring 2005

William & MavisVoris: inmemory

THUNDER-bird lost twoof its most

ardent supporters in January when Dr. William Voris,Thunderbird Presi-dent Emeritus,passed away Jan. 6 at age 80. His wife of 56 years, MavisVoris, followed 17days later.

During his 18-yeartenure at Thunder-bird, Dr. Voris, whoretired in 1989, in-

creased enrollmentby 35 percent and en-larged the campuswith several new

buildings. He start-ed the Winterimprogram, launchedstudy programs in

news & notes

important professions of our time.” Although hefeels strongly about the issue, he says studentsneed to lead the debate, not the administration.

Jim Samuel ’05, chairman of the Thunder-bird Honor Council, says he is forming a team to study the advisability of taking such an oath.“It’s only a matter of time before an oath comesinto force for MBA graduates, as a profession,”Samuel says. “We believe the corporate worldneeds this, and the top schools are talkingabout it. We don’t want to miss out on it.”

The oath Cabrera drafted with the WorldEconomic Forum (See Thunderbird magazine,fall 2004, p. 21) may be too idealistic for mostcorporations, Samuel says. The student teamplans on surveying business executives togauge their reaction to graduates who havesigned an ethics oath. Samuel says it will takeseveral semesters to get enough feedback forstudents to vote on the matter.

Thomas Stauffer, executive director ofThunderbird’s Lincoln Center for InternationalManagement Ethics, says he is encouraged by the student interest on the subject. “I takethat as a sign of hope for the future of thisprofession,” he says. “Students have a biggerinterest in ethics than anyone else here.”

Few have contributed as much to Thunderbird asWilliam and Mavis Voris, who passed away in January.

President Cabrerastirs ethics debate

PRESIDENT DR. ANGEL Cabrera ischallenging Thunderbird students tointroduce ethics into business training

and to take an ethics oath at graduation. “Let’slead the way,” Cabrera says. “Let’s take a stepforward with this idea, write up our code andtalk about how we are going to act in businessafter we leave here.”

In 2003, Cabrera sparked internationaldebate over the question of ethics training inMBA schools when he wrote an articleadvocating the practice for Germany’s leadingfinancial newspaper, Handelsblatt. He has sincebeen quoted in articles on the subject in TheWall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

Business graduates, Cabrera says, have thesame potential to do good or ill in their profes-sion as attorneys or physicians do in theirs.Both attorneys and physicians sign or recite anethics oath upon graduation.

“The kind of wealth you can create, the kindof harm you can do, is second to no profession,”he says. “We are involved with one of the most

Mexico and Chinaand established theWorld Business Advisory Council.

Mavis Voris initi-ated the Thunder-bird InvitationalBalloon Race andSilent Auction, theFriends of Thunder-bird program, theSchool’s first en-dowment fund andthe student emer-gency loan fund.She was known asthe “Betsy Ross” ofThunderbird afterhand-sewing morethan 20 flags for thefirst flag ceremonyheld on campus inthe early 1970s.

Each trimester,

the Vorises hosted awelcome receptionin their home for allincoming students.

The Vorises werelast on campus forthe annual holidayparty for faculty andstaff in December,and a special lunchwith Dr. AngelCabrera and 30 peo-ple who served onVoris’ staff duringhis administration.

Dr. Voris passedaway after a brief illness. A memorialheld on campus Jan.19 brought togethermore than 200friends and familyto honor his serviceto the School.

President Angel Cabrera

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Out of theshadowsProjectArtemis offerskey businessskills, andhope, toAfghanwomen

KATRIN Fakirimay soon behelping her

fellow Afghanis tofind jobs via the Internet, WahidaMohammed Zaimay be running aschool for women,and Hamida Amanmay be recordingand broadcasting the songs of musi-cians who have beensilent for years.

This optimistic future for Afghani-stan is closer to reali-ty as a result of Pro-ject Artemis, namedfor the Greek god-dess and protector of women and chil-dren, which brought

a select group of 15Afghani women toThunderbird forbusiness training. InJanuary, the fellowsspent two weeks onthe Glendale cam-pus networking withstudents and busi-ness owners, visitingsuccessful businessesand taking coursesfrom Thunderbirdprofessors. The costsof the groundbreak-ing program wereborne by Thunder-bird and its partners.

“This was an extraordinary oppor-tunity,” says Fakiri,who hopes to set up her country’s ver-sion of Monster.comfor the nation’s 12million workers.“Knowing the faithThunderbird has in us inspires us tomake our dreams areality.” Each fellowcreated a plan for thebusiness she wantsto launch to obtainfinancing.

“The fellows left

with a real focus ontheir ideas,” saysSteven Stralser,Artemis programand academic direc-tor. “The experiencegave them a tangibletake-away to use toadvance their ideasin the marketplace.”

The fellows in-clude women frommedicine, business,journalism, engi-neering and commu-nity development.Most fled the coun-try or stopped work-ing during the yearsthe Taliban ruled thecountry.

Each fellow waspaired with a mentorfor the next twoyears, a group thatincludes MeredithPeabody ’96, execu-tive director of theThunderbird GlobalNetwork. A princi-pal driving force be-hind the project wasformer ThunderbirdBoard PresidentBarbara Barrett, whoinitiated Project

Artemis after a 2003trip to Afghanistan.

“At Thunderbirdwe believe in busi-ness education as a force of social re-construction,” saysPresident AngelCabrera. “An entre-preneurial spirit,backed by the skillsand perspective we teach, can be a valuable tool inbuilding peace andprosperity.”

Project Artemishas generated muchinterest in the U.S.,including newspaperand magazine articles. One of thefellows, HomiraNassery, was seatednext to BarbaraBush during thePresident’s State ofthe Union address.

Read a profile ofeach of the fellows atthunderbird.edu.

news & notes

“At Thun-derbird, webelieve inbusiness education as a force of social re-construction. An entrepre-neurial spirit,backed bythe skillsand per-spective weteach, canbe a valu-able tool inbuildingpeace andprosperity.”

Phoenix businesswoman Katie Pushor will mentorArtemis fellow Zarghuna Walidzadah for two years.

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In Thunderbird'scomputer lab, Artemisfellows MarinaHamidzada, KamelaKhaliq, WahidaMohammed Zai, andArefa Haidary study theuses of technology.

8 spring 2005

Alumnicardsharksjoin MBApokertourney

ANEW BREEDof poker tour-nament has

found its way to LasVegas, and Thun-derbird alumni werethere for the deal.

“It’s about timewe competed againstthe top B-schools in something otherthan rugby and casecompetitions,” saysIngrid Lee ’03, a Las Vegas Chaptermember who servedas team captain.

The MBA PokerChampionship, nowin its second year,drew 300 MBAs January 14-16 to Binion’s HorseshoeCasino. Six pluckyThunderbirds wereamong them: Lee,Quinton Singleton’03, Bill Loux ’03, Jeremy Castleman’03, Mark Abromovitz’02 and Eric Yaver’98. The Thunder-birds paid up to $200 each to buyinto the TexasHold’emgames.

“It was the first tournamentI’ve ever played in,” Singleton says.

was as much aboutnetworking andfundraising as it was about playingpoker, Lee says. A networking partySaturday night, dis-tribution of a bookwith each player’srésumé and the presence of severalrecruiters were at-tractive motivators.At last year’s event,some studentssnagged interviewswhile sitting at thecard table. Morethan $15,000 wasraised for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Lee hopes to re-cruit more alumni,faculty and currentstudents to create apermanent pokersquad that wouldplay in a few eventseach year.

Gala addsmoney toscholar-ship fundDiplomats,sister citydelegates andrenownedchef join funat Ambas-sador’s Ball

MORE THAN450 peoplesipped

champagne, delight-ed in Swiss-styleroasted veal anddanced the polka to the music of a 20-piece band at Thun-derbird’s annualAmbassador’s Ball.

“It was the biggestsuccess in the 22-year history of theevent,” says host,Max Haechler, hon-orary Swiss Consul.“We raised moremoney, attractedmore people and hadmore fun than atany other ball.”

Sales of atten-dance tickets, a

raffle and an auctioncombined to raisemore than $90,000,which was donatedto the ThunderbirdEndowment Fundby the ConsularCorps of Arizona.The donation in-creases the endow-ment to more than$500,000, which pro-vides scholarships todeserving students.

Christian Blicken-storfer, Swiss ambassador to theUnited States, andFranz Hunkeler,Swiss Consul Gen-eral in Los Angeles,attended the gala,along with a 10-per-son delegation fromInterlaken, Scotts-dale’s sister city. The organizers also flew in a tradi-tional Swiss folkloreband and the execu-tive chef from the acclaimed Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel in Interlaken.

The event was atthe Scottsdale HyattRegency Resort atGainey Ranch.

news & notes

“I played well, butall I could thinkabout was whetheror not my shakinghands were a tell.”

Although none of the Thunderbirdsmade it into themoney, whichmeant finishing inthe top 20, Lee andSingleton wereamong the top 50.

“I got knocked outpretty early on Sat-urday,” Abromovitzsays. “I had pocketkings and the otherguy drew a flush onthe river.”

In Texas Hold’em,players are dealt twocards down, thenshare five commoncards. They try tomake the best pokerhand from the sevencards. The last com-mon card dealt iscalled the river card.

The event

(l to r) Roger Nelson, Pres., Scottsdale Sister Cities Asso.; Sibylle Andres, Pres., InternationalFriendship Asso., Interlaken; Christian Blicken-storfer, Ambassador of Switzerland; Pat Buchanan,Dir., Sister Cities International; Max Haechler,Swiss Consul and Chair of Ambassador's Ball.


CareerFair onGlendalecampus isa big hit

RECRUITERSrepresentingmore than

30 corporations werepresent at Thunder-bird’s Spring CareerFair at the Glendalecampus Feb. 16-18.Students had 311 in-terviews and count-less more informaldiscussions, duringthe three-day event,says Kip Harrell, associate vice presi-dent of ProfessionalDevelopment andCareer Manage-ment. “These aregreat numbers,” he says.

The interviewswere more than dou-ble the total fromlast year’s spring career fair, while the

number of corpora-tions representedwas up a third. Al-though the increasescould be taken as asign of an improvingeconomy, Harrellbelieves the strongshowing is morelikely due to holdingthe event on campusfor the first time inseveral years.

“It made it a loteasier for students toget to,” says MikeLavin ’05, who hadfive interviews andwas offered a sum-mer internship withIBM. “It meant youdidn’t have to miss aday of classes.”

Corporate re-cruiters also likedthe change in venue,which allowed foreasier interactionwith students. If the ThunderbirdActivity Center canbe cooled, the FallCareer Fair also willbe held on campus,Harrell says.

news & notes

To mark the end of the rainy season, members of the Bozo tribein the Ségou region of Western Africa hold a multiday festival. A tribal leader dons this heavy wooden headdress and covershis body with an equally bright costume and, through song and

dance, conveys tribal history, village life and ancientfables. This authentic artwork—and a

whole lot more—is available atthe Global Market on the

Glendale campus.

Bozo the tribe

T-bird pubinspirestwo Latinstudentsto createbusiness

ALOT OFGuinness-assisted ideas

have been hatchedover the years in theThunderbird pub inGlendale, but fewhave been as fruitfulas the one dreamedup by Arturo Per-chemlian ’04 andSantiago Mejia ’04.

It was there thatthe two friends con-ceived of the idea forTours Gone Wild,an adventure travelcompany that wouldbring young profes-sionals to LatinAmerican hotspots,like Rio de Janeiroand provide themwith more than thestandard package

amenities. Theirtours would haveconcierge servicesand would get theirtravelers into all thehappening local barsand nightclubs.

“We had just finished a statisticsexam and wanted to ease some stressby kicking back,”Perchemlian says.

They worked onthe idea in a Thun-derbird entrepre-neurship businessplan class and later

entered it in Thun-derbird’s 2003 GlobalBusiness Plan Com-petition, which theywon. They used the$25,000 prize moneyas seed capital tostart the tour com-pany, TGW Travel,Inc., which is nowbased in MiamiBeach, Florida.

Business is boom-ing for the T-birds.In the second year,they’re on pace todouble the first-yearsales of $750,000.

A few post-exam beers in the Thunderbird Pubhelped Arturo Perchemlian ’04 (left) and SantiagoMejia ’04 discover a winning business idea.

10 spring 2005

Studentstest theirbrandingabilities

IF THE brandingstrategies 12Thunderbird

students came upwith in a recentcompetition are carried out, Icelandmay be inundatedwith Chinesetourists and Ameri-can women may bewearing a lot moreEuropean-style bras.

In January, twoteams of T-bird students shared thetop spot in the finalsof the 2004 Global-Brand competition,which took place inNew York City. The Thunderbirdcompetition had stu-

dents create brand-ing solutions for halfa dozen companies.

“I can’t imagine abetter test of theirskills, their analyti-cal thinking andtheir ability to com-municate effectively

than to present theirbranding solutionsand be challenged infront of a group ofjudges who areworld-class brandprofessionals,” sayscompetition organ-izer Dr. Richard

Ettenson, whoteaches Internation-al Brand Manage-ment at Thunder-bird. “If a studentcan impress thesejudges, they will nodoubt impress anypotential employer.”

One of the winning teams presented a strategyfor Leal, a Dallas-based company thatimports luxury Eu-ropean lingerie intothe U.S. market; the other presented astrategy for the Re-public of Iceland todraw more Chinesetourists. The judgesscored them just ahalf point apart on a 100 point scale.

Judges included:Sam Hill, presidentof Helios; Scott Ler-man, president ofEnterprise I.G.; Joe

Dollens, presidentof GIO; James Con-ner, president of theJames Group; andthree Thunderbirdalumni: Carol Schus-ter ’83, of Ogilvy &Mather; Kelly O’Dea’72, CEO of AllianceHPL Worldwide;and Martin Susz ’89,of Euro RSCGWorldwide.

The two otherteams in the finalsdevised a brand revitalization strate-gy for Domino’sPizza in Taiwan and a brand strategyfor Emyco, one ofMexico’s largestshoe manufacturersand retailers.

Thunderbird President AngelCabrera congratulat-ed the winners at the Williams Clubin New York City.

news & notes

In the 2004 GlobalBrand competition, Sarah Cody '04and James Montero '04 were just two of the winningteammates in the 2004 GlobalBrand competition.

Anotherclassgraduates

THIRTY-FIVEcountries wererepresented

among the 192 grad-uates at the fall commencementDec. 10 at the Sundome Center for The PerformingArts, near the Glendale campus.

Commencementspeaker Robert Eckert, CEO ofMattel, Inc., chal-lenged graduates toraise the level of

ethical standards after revelationshighlighted a spateof crooked CEOsfrom companies like Enron, Health-South, Adelphia andMartha Stewart.

“As you go towork, your top re-sponsibility shouldbe to build trust: toperform every day at the highest stan-dards, not just foryourself but for yourteam, for your su-pervisor, for the con-sumer, for the com-pany’s shareholders,for the rest of us inbusiness, and for

those who havepassed before youand will succeed youat Thunderbird,”Eckert said. “It’s day one of the nextchapter of your life,and I’m putting mytrust in each of you.”

The festivitiescontinued at a partyin Scottsdale, whichdrew more than 400 people and fea-tured internationallythemed hors d’oeu-vres and desserts, a performance byBrazilian dancers, a steel drum musi-cian, dancing andcelebrating.

Zorana "Jane" Yawapongsiri '04, from Thailand, isdelighted to go into the world with an MBA in hand.

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Susan Shiflett ’95 (left) and Lucy Close ’01 snack onxiaolongbao with local Shanghai residents in a cafe.

Potentialstudentsget a feelfor schoollife oncampus

THUNDER-bird’s doorsopened to

prospective studentsthree times duringthe first trimester of2005, an expansionof a popular Hospi-tality Weekend program that beganjust two years ago.

“They are verywell-received by thepeople who attend,”says Joe Miller,

director of StudentServices. “It helpsour recruitment efforts to give peoplea taste of the school.There is a magic onthis campus.”

Potential studentswho have shown interest in Thunder-bird are invited tospend a weekend on campus, with allhousing and mealscovered by theSchool. During theirstay, candidates takecampus tours, findout more about admissions require-ments and share alunch with Thun-derbird professors.The highlight is atwo-hour class on a

business case mailedto prospects beforetheir visit.

“They come pre-pared, so there is alot of interaction inthe class,” he says.“The idea is to givethem a taste of howwe teach at Thun-derbird.”

Approximatelytwo of every fiveprospects who attend HospitalityWeekends becomeThunderbird stu-dents, Miller says.

If you know a potential student who would benefitfrom visiting the Glendale campus,email Joe Miller [email protected].

Going global PROPELLED BYnearly $25 bil-lion in foreign

direct investment andan increase in the num-ber of secure Internetservers, Ireland ranksas the most global na-tion on earth, accord-ing to the 2004 A.T.Kearney/Foreign PolicyGlobalization Index.Countries are judgedon four criteria: eco-nomic integration,technological connec-tivity, personal contact(international traveland telephone traffic)and political engage-ments (membershipsin international organi-zations and U.N. contri-butions). Western Eu-rope claimed six of thetop 10 spots for global-ly integrated countries.

Shanghaireunionright mixof socialevents &business

OCTOBER’SGlobal Reunion

in Shanghai was atruly global event:225 alumni from 27countries attendedthe four days of busi-ness meetings, socialevents and tours tothe mystical lake ofHangzhou and toZhouzhuang, theVenice of China.

“It was rich in cultural activities,and it was great tomeet other T-birdsfrom around theworld in a relaxed,social setting,” saysSusan Shiflett ’95.

Dr. Angel Cabrera,in his first officialevent after assumingthe presidency, welcomed alumni ata cocktail reception

that featured a liondance. Business seminars focused on doing business inChina, while thoseon the social tracktook advantage offull-day and half-daytours. Everyonecame together forevening banquetsand parties. Manyrevelers continuedwith festivities innearby nightclubsand bars.

“Shanghai had theright combination of events; it was aunique learning experience with justthe right mix of so-cial and networkingopportunities,” saysMeredith Peabody’96, who attended asan alumna and laterbecame executive director of the Thun-derbird Global Net-work. “It had a time-ly and informativebusiness component,shopping, nightlifeand culture—as wellas the usual sense ofcelebration when T-birds join together.”

12 spring 2005

School tolaunchclasses inprivateequityThunderbird’sPrivate EquityConferenceeyes trulyglobal reachof industry

NO CORNERof the earthwent un-

touched at the Glob-alization in PrivateEquity conferencehosted by Thunder-bird in September.

While most private equity con-ferences focus onspecific geographicareas or business sectors, the Thun-derbird Private Equity Conference

was wide ranging,featuring panelistsfrom Europe, Asia,Latin America andNorth America.

“Private equity is a growth industry,a new vertical forThunderbird to embrace,” says President Dr. AngelCabrera. “At somepoint, private equitywill touch most professionals duringtheir career, so it on-ly makes sense thatThunderbird shouldplay a role in it.”

The PE industryhas become a majorforce in the past 20years. From 1998 to2003, more than $660billion was investedglobally by privateequity firms, muchof it in emergingmarkets.

The event drewnearly 250 attendeesand featured more

than 20 speakers, including MichaelBleyzer, CEO ofSigmaBleyzerGroup; Dr. KurtGeiger, head of Fi-nancial Institutionsand Private Equityfor the EuropeanBank for Recon-struction and Development; Javier

Echarri, directorgeneral of the Euro-pean Venture Capi-tal Association; andDan Primack, an editor at ThomsonVenture Economicsfrom New York.

“This conferencehad a very congenialand functional atmosphere,” saysJohn Cook ’79,Thunderbird GlobalCouncil memberand head of the conference steeringcommittee. “By tap-ping into our vastnetwork of relation-ships among alumniand industry practi-tioners from aroundthe world, attendeessaw how global theindustry is and howwell the T-birdmindset matchesthat of private equi-ty professionals.”

Conference topicsincluded the indus-try’s structure andprofile, the role of private equity in transition

economies, emerg-ing trends in China, sustainability andclean-tech invest-ments, institutionalmoney flows, socialinvesting, opportu-nities in central and eastern Europe,power and infra-structure projects in Latin America, legal tricks and trapsin Mexico, and mid-market buyouts inthe United States.

“Thunderbird isideally positioned tobe the preeminentlearning institutionin global private equity,” Cook says.

Starting in fall2005, the School willoffer private equityadvanced course-work for full-timeMBA students, programs for work-ing executives, and a chair of interna-tional private equity.

For more informa-tion on private equitycoursework, go to thunderbird.edu.

news & notes

As a result of Thunderbird’s international reach, attendees saw how globalthe private equity industry is and how well it plays to the School’s strengths.

Thunderbirds in close formation Four alumni were recognized at the Thunderbird Alumni Weekend inNovember for their outstanding contributions to the Thunderbird AlumniAssociation. From left, Charu Modi Bhartia ’97 received the Rising Staraward, William Burrus ’72 received the Career Achievement award, J.Kenneth Seward ’57 received the Volunteer of the Year award, and Carl Bach’74 received the Jonas Mayer Award.


Winners’ideas areheaded toglobalmarket-placeGlobalInnovationChallengeattracts 251universities toThunderbirdcompetition

CHECK into aHilton Hotelin the next

few years and youmight find a univer-sal docking stationfor your laptop or aselection of educa-tional DVDs wait-ing in your room.You can thank theMBA candidateswho participated inthe 2004 Global In-novation Challengefor those amenities.

On Nov. 20, a five-man team fromSpain’s Instituto deEmpresa beat out250 other teamsfrom around theworld to win therapidly growingevent, which washeld on Thunder-bird’s Glendale cam-pus. The winningteam took home$20,000, but the titlesponsors—HiltonHotels and Valvo-line—took away invaluable concepts.

“Ideas are price-less,” says HiltonHotels Senior Vice President Jeff

Diskin, who alsoserved as a judge.“Almost every oneof the ideas had akernel that will beexpressed to ourguests. They had alot of good insights,a lot of good ideas. Itwas good to get thatbroader perspective.”

The universaldocking station, amulti-purpose iden-tification card hon-ored by all Hiltonpartners and a li-brary of on-demandlearning DVDs—yoga and stretchingexercises or foreignlanguage lessons—were all ideas creat-ed by teams in thecompetition thathave a good chanceof showing up in ahotel room, he says.

“The whole pur-pose of this year’scompetition was tomake sure the spon-

sors found valuableideas,” says Anil Rathi’02, co-founder ofthe InnovationChallenge (alongwith fellow T-birdalum Robert Lipton’03) and vice presi-dent of business de-velopment for IdeaCrossing, which organized the event.

At last year’sevent, finalists had12 hours to craft theirfinal-round innova-tions, but this year

they had weeks tomull over a solution.Teams did muchmore thorough mar-ket research, createdricher presentationsand some built pro-totypes, Rathi says.

Sponsors are al-ready lined up fornext year’s Thun-derbird InnovationChallenge, he said,including Hiltonand U.S. Postal Ser-vice, a new sponsor.

The 2004 Innova-

tion Challenge drewnearly twice thenumber of teams—251—than in 2003, agrowth rate expectedto continue.

The VanderbiltUniversity team finished in secondplace, while Michi-gan State University(Broad) came inthird. The other final round competi-tors were: Uni-versity of Arizona(Eller), BrighamYoung University(Marriott), EmoryUniversity, StanfordGraduate School ofBusiness, VanderbiltUniversity, CaseWestern ReserveUniversity, IndianaUniversity (Kelley)and IESE Spain.Thunderbird placedtwo teams in the top 50, but neithermade it into the final round.

news & notes

Global Innovation Challenge organizers ensure thatcorporate sponsors find practicable solutions.

Wine with a bite

WHITE WINES are all you’ll find amongthe offerings of Great White Wines(greatwhitewines.com), an importer of

boutique wines started by Melanie Marks ’97.She sets aside 10 percent of her profits towardthe conservation of all sharks, in particular theendangered Great White Shark.

“Quite frankly, red wines would present thewrong image of the shark,” she says.

Marks started the company after diving withGreat Whites in 2002 and becoming enamoredwith the misunderstood fish. The first wines—a chardonnay, chenin blanc and sauvignonblanc—were produced from the 2004 harvestfrom three different vineyards on the WesternCape of South Africa. Marks already is sellingher product to 15 stores and 10 restaurants inCalifornia, and she has two national distributors.

14 spring 2005

Pioneergrads likeSchool’sgrowingdiversityT-birds turnout in largenumbers for2004 AlumniWeekend

MORE THAN200 alumnifrom 10

nations and numer-ous graduating class-es gathered Nov. 5-6at the Glendale campus for the 2004Thunderbird Alum-ni Weekend.

The strongestalumni representa-tions were from thecelebration years of1954 (50th anniver-sary), 1979 (25th) and 1994 (10th).There were even

folks from 1948, thefirst graduating year.

“The event ex-ceeded our expecta-tions,” says LindaJensen, assistant director of AlumniPrograms and Ser-vices. “People reallyenjoyed themselvesand liked seeing all the changes thathave occurred on thecampus.”

Alumni arrivedfrom Austria, Brazil,England, France,Germany, India,Mexico, Nether-lands and Thailand,as well as the UnitedStates.

Ron Burkard ’63,who lives in Okla-homa, was surprisedby the diversity ofthe current studentpopulation. “Theclass of 1963, about150 people, was over-whelmingly Cau-casian Americanmales in their late

20s,” he says. “Therewere only a fewwomen and proba-bly fewer than 10non-U.S. students.It is impressive tosee the significantdiversity now at theSchool in both gen-der and nationality.”

Ken Nelson ’54 en-joyed the Golden Pi-oneer Breakfast withPresident AngelCabrera. “It was relaxed and casual,”says Nelson, wholives in Phoenix andis often on campusas part of his workwith the PhoenixAlumni group. “Igot to know a littlemore about him andhis vision for Thun-derbird’s future.”

The weekend’smost popular eventswere the Meet andGreet evening in theThunderbird Pub on Friday and AsiaNight on Saturday.

Students’internshipin Mexicoa success

AS PART OFthe 2004Guadalajara

Summer Program, acandy maker and atequila distiller wereamong the 17 Mexi-can companies thatturned ThunderbirdMBA candidates intopart-time employees.

“Corporate Part-ners was designed togive students hands-on experience withcompanies in Mexi-co,” says PriscillaWisner, assistantprofessor of GlobalBusiness and co-director of the pro-gram. “Companiesliked it because theygot exposed to brightand creative MBAstudents, often forthe first time.”

Thirty-three MBAcandidates enrolledin the program, of-fered for the firsttime as part of the10-week GuadalajaraSummer Program,which has been operating for morethan 30 years. Facul-ty include Thunder-bird professors andadjunct professorsfrom the Universi-dad Autonoma deGuadalajara.

The Corporate

Partners program requires students towork at least fivehours a week. Students preparedeverything from amarketing strategyfor the tequila distiller wanting toopen markets in theUnited States to afeasibility study for the candy makerthat wanted to extend credit to employees so theycould purchase per-sonal appliances.

“I learned that es-tablishing trust withthe general manageris a lot different thanwith the lower-tiered employees,”says Sean Daley ’05,who, with Owen LaFarve ’05, developeda chain of commandinfrastructure forEMEX, one of Mex-ico’s largest mangoexporters. “It wasparticularly impor-tant to let the man-ager know that wewere there to helpher, not because shelacked the ability but rather time andresources. After that,she treated us likefamily and commu-nication was easy.”

All of the compa-nies participating inthe 2004 CorporatePartners programasked to be includednext year, Wisnersays. “It’s a testa-ment to its success.”

news & notes

Thunderbird President Angel Cabrera (right) joined some of the School’searliest graduates for a breakfast during Alumni Weekend on the Glendalecampus. Pictured (from left to right): Dr. William Slemons ’48, Jorge Carrera’51, David Wist ’54, Shelton Marlow ’51, Bob Moyer ’48, John Craft ’48, LloydClark ’49, Ernie Garfield ’52 and Ken Nelson ’54.


Passingthe test oftime withhonorsThunderbirdRussia CBSDcelebrates 10years of dedi-cated workand creativity

WHEN THEfirst cham-pagne bot-

tle was uncorked Feb. 19 to celebrate a decade of opera-tion for the Centerfor Business SkillsDevelopment (CBSD), it was alsoa toast to a businesssurvival story that iscase-study worthy.

In 1993, telecom-munications giantUS West and theU.S. Agency for International Devel-opment combinedforces to teachWestern businessprinciples in Russia.But goodwill andgrants were notenough. After 20months and a flurryof promising expan-sions, the CBSDlost the support ofits founding organi-zations. Though sixof its seven facilitiesclosed, some CBSDstaff kept working.

Three key playersin the program—Dennis Hopple,Kevin Smith andAnnemarie Wollam—got together andin 24 hours haddrafted a proposal to

save CBSD. Theyquickly turned toThunderbird for aid.

Since then, theCBSD has grownfrom its small officeon Moscow’s Ismai-lovo Island (thechildhood home ofPeter I) into one ofthe most respectedbusiness educationcenters in the coun-try. Each year, morethan 8,000 students,mainly managersfrom companiesthroughout Russia,Kazakhstan andUkraine, comethrough the doors toparticipate in one ofmany programs. In2002, the AmericanChamber of Com-merce Russia namedit the “Small Busi-ness of the Year.”

“Our manage-ment developmentprograms are so successful because ofthe unique positionsthey have,” saysHopple, director of

CBSD and vicepresident of Thun-derbird Russia. “Noother program inRussia can compareto the Looking GlassLeadership Program.The reputation ofour project develop-ment and executivedevelopment cours-es is unmatched.”

The LookingGlass Program, oneof Thunderbird Rus-sia’s most successful,is a four-day inten-sive program formanagers that honesparticipants’ strate-gic thinking andability to recognizeopportunities. Theprogram is deliveredby U.S.-based con-sultants from FGIInternational.

Other specializedCBSD programs include the BeckerCPA review, Soci-ety of Human Resource Manage-ment programs, and World at Work

certification pro-grams in compensa-tion and benefits.

The CBSD alsocreates individual-ized corporate pro-grams that havedrawn the attentionand patronage ofsuch mega-compa-nies as Coca-Cola,General Motors,Caterpillar, Motoro-la and Tefal.

Even though theCBSD has come along way since thoseearly days, Hopplesays there still aremany miles to go on the road to trueglobal development.As part of thatdream, Hopple says,the CBSD plans tohelp meet the pres-ent requirements of former Eastern Bloccountries by extend-ing its courses tohelp company managers and indus-trial leaders in thoseemerging markets.

— Carrie Miner

global campus

“Our pro-grams aresuccessfulbecause ofthe uniquepositionsthey have.No otherprogram inRussia cancompare tothe LookingGlass Lead-ership Pro-gram. Thereputation of ourcourses is un-matched.”

The team behind the 10th anniversary celebration for Thunderbird CBSDincludes Julia Aleshkevich, consultant, Dennis Hopple, president of CBSD, AllaGrochenkova, event organizer, and Yulia Meshcheryakova, marketing manager.

16 spring 2005

Brazil anexcellentoption for ExecutiveEducation

THUNDER-bird is lookingfor a new part-

ner for its executiveMBA program inBrazil.

For three years,the School partneredwith the AmericanChamber of Com-merce in offering a21-month executiveMBA program. But in January 2004,Thunderbird endedthe program, a vic-tim of the economicdownturn in whichthe country has beenmired for four years.

“Our intentionswere great, but thetiming was againstus,” says Tom Hen-

derson, a director ofExecutive Educa-tion. “Just as wewere gaining momentum in themarket, the huge de-valuation tripled thecost of the programovernight.” While itoperated, about 25MBA candidatesgraduated each year.The last group leftin January 2004.

With a populationof 170 million peo-ple, the largest econ-omy in Latin Amer-ica and commercialexpansion into glob-al markets, Braziloffers an ideal envi-ronment for Thun-derbird, Hendersonsays. A high qualityinternational execu-tive MBA program,the kind that Thun-derbird provides, isan attractive offer-ing in the Brazilianmarket. The best

partner would be atop-tier businessschool with an exist-ing infrastructure.

“We want to dosomething in Brazil,but we want to findthe right fit,” he says,“not just jump at thefirst opportunity. We

have to find the rightform of partnershipto support our longerterm goals in the re-gion. These types ofopportunities don’tcome up everyday.We want to do some-thing that works outfor the long term.”

A test insizzlingteamwork

FAJITAS WEREthe task andeating them

the reward for 23MBA candidatesfrom the Praguecampus, who werein Glendale in Janu-ary for one of the 10modules that makeup their program.The three teams—given the same ingredients and limited time to whiptogether a feast ofSouthwestern faji-tas—were judged onteamwork, presenta-tion and salesman-ship. Teams withAmericans familiarwith the dish had adistinct advantage,but so, too, did theteam that bribed thejudges with a bottleof Russian Moskov-skaya vodka.

global campus

Igloos they were not

TO A PRACTICED Eskimo, they werenowhere close to the real thing, but to thenew students on the Archamps campus,

they were towering symbols of teamwork. In January, more than 20 students squared

off in an igloo-building contest near the skiresort of Las Clusas, about an hour fromThunderbird’s Archamps campus just outsideGeneva, France. The half-day exercise, held infreezing temperatures, helped foster teamworkand bond the students together, says JulieCook, senior director for Executive Education inEurope. It certainly wasn’t about craftsmanship.

“They made an admirable effort, but theigloos were not very good,” Cook says. “Onegroup made a great snow hole, but that was notthe objective. The igloos would not have beenrecognizable as real igloos to an actual Eskimo.”

MBA students from the Prague campus compete in a fajita-making contest atThunderbird Glendale. “But what’s a fajita?” wonders one puzzled team.

New students at Archamps showed off rare talentfor team building, if not for igloo construction.


Teachingchange incorporateculturesThunderbird& McKinseyEurope offerunique 3-dayprogram inArchamps

THAWING Acompany thatis frozen in

place requires under-standing the barriersto change and howto transform themindset and behav-iors of entrenchedemployees.

Those tenants of successful changewere part of the curriculum of thefirst three-day program betweenThunderbird Europeand McKinsey &Company. The pro-

gram, “ReinventingCorporate Culture:The Key to DrivingSuccessful Transfor-mation Initiatives,”was held Nov. 15-17at Thunderbird’sArchamps campus,just outside Geneva.

“The seniority,national and culturaldiversity all com-bined to give us amagical mix,” saysRory Simpson, headof Thunderbird Europe and vicepresident for Execu-tive Education. “We also were veryfortunate to assem-ble a group that wasso eager to engagewith each other.”

Twenty-six peo-ple, representing 19 companies and 16 nationalities, traveled from 10countries to be partof the program. Ac-cording to Simpson,attendees included a

representative fromthe Saudi ArabianRoyal High Com-mission on Tourism,a team working toimprove the percep-tion of industry inSouth Africa and arepresentative of theAga Khan Founda-tion, a philanthropicnon-governmentalagency.

Through work-shops, the programexamined how corporate cultureimpedes change andhow to implementstrategies to over-come stasis. Among

the topics: the needfor developing astrategy based ontarget market, thesystems and proce-dures of change, andthe soft levers thatcan be used to embed change.

“Doing this in theThunderbird envi-ronment allowedparticipants to lettheir hair down and work in a morerelaxed, collegial environment,” saysMatt Cooper, a program participantand founder ofThEM, a Switzer-

land-based consult-ing firm that special-izes in energizingmoribund corporatestaffs. “Such an en-vironment promoteslearning better thana corporate setting.The mix of back-grounds in the roomonly reinforced themessage that thetopic is people-relat-ed, not cultural orlanguage specific.”

A second Thun-derbird-Europe/McKinsey & Com-pany program isscheduled for Julythis year.

global campus

Participants from 16 nations talk strategies for averting stasis in corporate culture.

The program brought the combined resources of Thunderbird Europe and McKinsey & Company to the Archamps campus.


U.S. foreign policy can affect sales ofAmerican companies abroad, andit mayhave already. What can be done now?

By I.J. Schecter and D.J. BurroughIllustration by Robert Case

T IMES SEEM SOMEWHAT BETTER FORAmerica on the global stage these days. Thenation has patched up some of the strained re-lationships it had with key allies, displayed hu-manitarian goodwill in the wake of the IndianOcean tsunami and, most dramatically, gar-nered considerable credit for a swing towards

freedom and democracy in the Middle East to help assuage com-plaints from around the world in the wake of the Iraq invasion.

What began as President George W. Bush’s secondary motive forinvading Iraq has evolved into a swelling pro-democracy trend, start-ing with January’s successful elections in Iraq, continuing with sta-bility in Afghanistan, street protests in Lebanon calling for Syria toend its occupation, the orderly and civil elections for a new leader ofthe PLO, local elections in Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian PresidentHosni Mubarak’s decision to allow some opposition candidates to runin the next presidential election.

Just months ago, the picture was much bleaker. America’s image,Brand America, had lost much of its luster throughout the world in

IS BRAND

AMERICABROKEN?

aged in the eyes of millions around theworld? Even more grave, has the tarnishingof Brand America endangered the nation’sdominant position in the global marketplace?

A tarnished image

WHILE SOME world lead-ers seem ready to embracea kinder and gentler U.S.government, many oftheir citizens aren’t so

sure they want to hug America back. Thosepeople, who may once have regarded Ameri-ca as a well-meaning bull in a china shop,now see it as a schoolyard bully who refusesto listen to its friends and indiscriminatelythrows its weight around.

A poll taken at the end of 2004 by the Asso-ciated Press found that just over half of thepeople in France and Germany said theyviewed Americans unfavorably, and nearlyhalf in Spain felt the same way. Even in Eng-land, the United States’ only steadfast ally inits war in Iraq, a banner headline in London’sDaily Mirror following the November re-election of President George Bush reflected adiminished attitude of the English: “Howcan 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?”

“The fundamental problem with Ameri-ca’s image in the world today has been theperception, right or wrong, that we have cho-sen a unilateral, ‘go-it-alone’ path of action,that we disregard the opinion of other peo-ples, that we disrespect international institu-tions,” says Keith Reinhard, chairman of themarketing services for DDB Worldwide andfounder of Business for Diplomatic Action, aprivate group that aims to improve the Unit-ed States’ image. “We, the quintessentialworld nation, are perceived to have turnedour backs on the rest of the world.”

While Germany’s Schroeder was happy towelcome Bush in March, his countrymenweren’t so open-armed. Plans for a townhallmeeting in Mainz were cancelled when theGerman government couldn’t guaranteefriendly questions.

A 2004 survey by Research Internationalfound that 80 percent of the residents in 10Latin American countries agree that “Ameri-cans only care about themselves” and thatjust 13 percent believe Americans “respectother cultures.” Meanwhile, majorities inBosnia, Korea, Russia and Norway believethat U.S. foreign policy has a negative effecton their countries, according to a Gallup In-ternational survey in 2002.

Dealings with Spain have become particu-larly frosty since it pulled its troops out of

20 spring 2005

recent years. It was measured in the torrent ofvitriolic editorials in foreign papers denounc-ing the United States, in the steady stream ofstreet protests by angry students and indownbeat poll after downbeat poll.

There are signs that the tarnishing of BrandAmerica spilled over onto American productsand companies, smearing them with an un-flattering patina. The halo effect that Ameri-can products and companies had been used togetting from association with a “cool” and“free” America has been damaged, and insome circumstances it has been replaced withnegative kickback. For some companies andproducts, being labelled “Made in the U.S.A.”can now be a marketing liability in interna-tional markets. There are signs that the ero-sion of Brand America has made it moredifficult for U.S. multinationals to holdtheir own, let alone expand, in the globalmarketplace.

But President Bush has made some posi-tive moves early in his second term to correctthe problem, perhaps partly in response toconcern from important global business con-stituencies within his own party. First, henamed Condoleezza Rice, his most impor-tant confidant, as secretary of state, the chiefinstrument of his new diplomacy, and sheimmediately visited more foreign peers inmajor markets than any previous secretary ofstate in that same period of time. He alsonamed his pivotal communications czar andclose friend, Karen Hughes, as assistant sec-retary of state for public diplomacy, a posi-tion that gives her the task of ensuring astrong and positive international recognitionof Brand America.

In March, Bush made a bridge-buildingtrip to Europe, not to meet with his moststaunch ally during the Iraq war, Tony Blair,but to break bread with French PresidentJacques Chirac and German Chancellor Ger-hard Schroeder, two of his biggest critics inhis rush to oust Saddam Hussein. Both hap-pily posed with him following their success-ful discussions and made friendly commentsabout working together.

As the U.S. administration looks out at theworld, it appears to be taking stock of thecomplexity of issues around the globe and ofthe potential long-term danger in pursuingthe go-it-alone policies it adhered to duringBush’s first term. Even if it had success insome spheres, unforeseen negative fallout inothers needs fixing. The signs are that the ad-ministration is moving in the right direction,but will those efforts be enough to restore areputation that has been significantly dam-

“We, thequintes-sentialworldnation, areperceivedto haveturned ourbacks onthe rest ofthe world.”


Iraq. Italian citizens became even more en-raged with the United States in March, whenU.S. troops in Iraq killed an Italian intelli-gence agent and wounded an Italian journal-ist who had just been freed from insurgents.In Bulgaria, citizen opposition to the Iraq warboiled over after U.S. troops killed a Bulgari-an soldier in a friendly fire incident. Whetheror not to withdraw its troops has become acentral issue in the run-up to June elections.Even Switzerland and Canada, countrieswhose feathers seldom get ruffled over any-thing, have taken exception to U.S. dealings,the former cutting back appreciably on im-ports and exports, the latter threatening todouble tariffs in response to what Canadaclaims are unscrupulous trading practices.

Evidence indicating that Brand America isdamaged has been building for several years,but there also are signs that brand erosion hasbegun to impact U.S. multinationals who selltheir products around the world, an evenmore ominous development that could signalthe beginning of the end for U.S. brand dom-inance.

In Hamburg, a group of restaurants haverefused to sell Coca-Cola and Marlboros,both iconic American products, or acceptAmerican Express cards. In France, protest-ers marched in 2004 to the local McDonald’sfranchise and toppled Ronald McDonald.Thirty-six thousand people from around theworld responded to a “Boycott Brand Ameri-ca” Web site put up in British Columbia.

U.S. companies affected

IN DECEMBER, Global Market Insite,an independent Seattle polling group,surveyed 8,000 consumers in eightcountries and found that 20 percent ofEuropeans and Canadians said their

anger over United States’ foreign policy woulddeter them from buying American brands.

“A profound trust gap exists for Americancorporations in Europe,” says Richard W.Edelman, president and chief executive offi-cer of Edelman U.S.A., the largest independ-ent public relations firm in the world, with 39offices worldwide. “It is brand players whoare particularly affected by this trend, whiletechnology companies seem to be immune,as they are perceived to be more global.”

The recent performance of U.S. firms withthe most powerful global presence paints atroubling picture. A study by market researchleader NOP World showed that consumertrust ratings in 30 countries for such emblem-atic behemoths as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s,Nike and Microsoft had each dipped betweenthree and six percent between 2003 and 2004.While it’s not unusual for consumers to sayone thing to a pollster and do the opposite atthe cash register, there are signs that all thisanimosity toward the United States and U.S.products has begun to influence not just whatconsumers say but what they do.

“Americans show that they are people whoare afraid and distrustful of everything sur-rounding them,” said a survey participant

Nearly half the worldbelieves U.S. foreignpolicy impacts nega-tively on their nations,according to a 2003Gallup survey thatrepresents the opinionof more than 1 billionpeople. In fact, onlythree out of every 10people believe thatU.S. foreign policy has a positive effecton their country. Themost critical publiccame from Switzer-land and Japan, bothwith a 68 percentnegative rating, while the most upbeatcame from Israel(68%), Afghanistan(74%) and Kosovo(88% positive).

World: U.S. ForeignPolicy Stinks

Source: 2003 Voice of the People Survey,Gallup International Association

S. America

N. America

Europe

MidEast

Africa

W. Asia

Asia-Pacific

negative positive no effect don’t know/no opinion

22 spring 2005

from Brazil, who was part of a 2003 study byResearch International. “Their products arealready not unique. The national debt is in-creasing everyday. And all this has shakeneven their self-esteem, which was strong as arock. I think that today it must not be so com-fortable being an American.”

According to another study by NOPWorld, the total number of consumersworldwide who used major U.S. brands in arecent two-year span fell from 30 percent to27, while non-U.S. brands held their groundin the same period. And over the past year,sales of signature U.S. brands—McDonald’s,Coca-Cola, Marlboro, Wal-Mart, Disneyand Gap—have been weak or have fallen.

In Germany, whose population was decid-edly opposed to the Iraq War (and who elect-ed Chancellor Schroeder on a platformagainst the war), Coca-Cola was down 16 per-cent during the third quarter of 2004 com-pared to the previous year. Meanwhile, Mc-Donald’s blamed falling sales there for wipingout what would have otherwise been a growthyear in Europe. Sales numbers for Altria (thenew name for Philip Morris Companies),maker of Marlboro cigarettes, were downnearly 25 percent in France and 18.7 percent inGermany in the third quarter of 2004 com-pared to the previous year.

“Foreigners have a love-hate affair withAmerican companies and products,” saysMichael Vanderkaden, current director of fi-nance for a leading Canadian healthcare in-stitution and former consultant for a U.S.-based global strategy firm. He has observedthe issue from both sides. “To some, U.S.firms are a great alternative to staid domesticones, providing new technology, innovativeproducts and capital funding. To others,American cultural insensitivity and overrid-ing arrogance displace those benefits.”

The falling dollar may for now be maskingthe size of the problem, say experts, by inflat-ing repatriated profits and lowering the costin foreign countries of U.S. brands.

How important is the global marketplacefor U.S.-based companies? According to a re-cent survey by Interbrand, 64 of the mostvaluable 100 global brands belong to US-based companies. An increasing number ofU.S.-based companies are relying on salesoutside North America for growth. Coca-Cola does a whopping 80 percent of its busi-ness outside the United States, and nearly 25percent of all U.S. multinational profits comefrom foreign subsidiaries.

For decades, American brands have bene-fited from an unconscious—and sometimes

not so unconscious—brand association withthe United States. When the dimensionsthat defined Brand America were “fashion-able,” “modern,” “freedom,” “democracy,”“tolerance,” “compassion” and “equality,”U.S.-based companies flaunted their Ameri-can heritage, riding the halo effect all the wayto the bank. Marlboro had its iconic cowboyriding across the open West. Coke had U.S.citizens teaching the world to sing in perfectEnglish harmony. And Ford pick-up trucksbecame synonymous with the United States’free-spirit culture.

But now much of the world perceives theUnited States to be abandoning the princi-pals that defined Brand America. Like a 100pound anchor tied to a canoe, a tarnishedBrand America may risk dragging U.S.brands down with it.

U.S. products vs. policy

BUT SOME corporate leaders saythat any alleged soiling of BrandAmerica has not translated into acorresponding hit on their foreignbusiness activities. Consumers

simply do not care where their new iPod orLevi jeans come from as long as the perceivedvalue is high.

“At heart, most people know there is a dif-ference between American firms and theAmerican government,” says professor TimLeunig of the London School of Economics.“Where the value proposition stacks up, peo-ple will still buy American.”

Globalization of the manufacturing processalso has eroded the idea that any product isproduced in one country. “Made in theU.S.A.” has less meaning when a product’smicrochips were manufactured in Singapore,the assembly was done in China, the packag-ing in London and the customer service callsare answered in India.

Corporate America may not be ready to ad-mit that as Brand America goes, so goesAmerican products. But corporations are ex-pressing concern about the country’s image.

Recently, a group of 150 of the most power-ful and successful advertising and marketingexperts in the United States came together toform Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA).The nonprofit group, headed by Keith Rein-hard, aims to return some of the luster thathas been lost from Brand America. Amongits members are some of the biggest powerbrands in the United States, including Pepsiand McDonald’s.

Polishing Brand America has been triedbefore. In 2001, the U.S. government attempt-

“At heart,most peo-ple knowthere is adifferencebetweenAmericanfirms andthe Ameri-can govern-ment…Where the valuepropositionstacks up,people willstill buyAmerican.”


ed to deal with its flagging image in the Mid-dle East when it hired Charlotte Beers, for-mer head of WPP ad agencies JWT andO&M, to head up a $15 million ad campaign.Most Middle East stations refused to air thespots, and it only garnered derision from theresidents in that region. The “Shared ValuesInitiative” was soon shuttered and is widelyconsidered to be an abysmal failure.

Some question whether any commission—regardless of credentials or corporate pedi-gree—can influence America’s global imagewhen it has no control over the prime moverof that image: U.S. foreign policy. But BDA’sReinhard believes that U.S. multinationalshave a much greater influence over the imageof the United States around the world, that infact their brands come in contact with peoplemore than the government ever does. Con-sider that both Coca-Cola and McDonald’sspend more money, approximately $1.2 bil-lion each annually, in selling their brands.

“We believe we can start to regain respectand credibility for America with actions,projects and programs created, funded andimplemented not by the U.S. governmentbut by the U.S. business community, whichin many ways is more qualified than the gov-ernment and—at this moment in history, wewould argue—is certainly a more crediblemessenger,” Reinhard says.

Identify with local culture

STRATEGIES THAT U.S. multina-tionals should adopt in the face of adeclining Brand America should befar more subtle than simply hidingtheir point of origin, say marketing

and branding experts. The best response is toidentify better with the local markets, in partby hiring more local managers and adoptingpolicies that show cultural empathy.

In 2004, Madison Avenue powerhouse Mc-Cann-Erickson advised its clients to playdown their U.S. connections. Instead, theyshould highlight their “strong local roots” ineach regional territory.

Visa International has taken that tact andhas avoided the Brand America backlash, saycompany officials. Being seen as a local com-pany is promoted, in part, because global cus-tomers get their card from local institutions.

“We’re helped because we’re seen as local,”says John Elkins, executive vice president forVisa International, U.S.A. “In Korea, theysay we’re as natural as rice.” To maintaintheir local identify, Visa does not use a globaladvertising agency but only local agenciesand local media buying, Elkins says.

Some U.S. brands are so large or have beenestablished for so long on foreign soil thatgenerations of consumers no longer linkthem with the United States; they only know

THAT’S JUST ONE useful piece of advicein the “World Citizens Guide,” aunique travel book published by

Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA) andSouthern Methodist University. BDA distrib-uted more than 200,000 of these bookletson more than 800 college campuses acrossthe United States in the hopes of makingyoung travelers better global citizens.

“This may seem a small step toward winning back friends for America, but whobetter than our young people to be ambas-sadors of what’s good about America, and in the process learning to be good and sensitive citizens of the world by adoptingattitudes and behaviors that will stay withthem for a lifetime,” says Keith Reinhard,BDA president and chairman of DDB Worldwide. “U.S. college students are a

ready-made diplomatic corps tohelp change perceptions over-seas.” In 2003, approximately167,000 U.S. college studentsstudied abroad, and hundreds ofthousands more visited foreigncountries.

No advice on where to stay orwhat to see in this guide. Rather,it offers suggestions like, “Smile.Genuinely. It’s a universal equaliz-er.” Or: “Assume resentment as adefault and play down your wealth, powerand status.” Or: “In Japan, it is consideredrude to look at a person directly in the eyefor more than a few seconds.”

Much of the content for the book camefrom foreign nationals working in 130DDB offices worldwide.

The less ugly AmericanMake friends in Tibet by sticking out your tongue, butavoid waving like an American or you’ll insult people.

24 spring 2005

that they’ve grown up eating Kellogg’s CornFlakes and drinking Coca-Cola.

In spite of its problems in Germany, and ahistory of selling itself alongside BrandAmerica, Coca-Cola has more recently donea better job of aligning itself with the localculture, say marketing experts. A survey ofconsumers in China, India, Korea, Indonesiaand the Philippines by Leo Burnett foundthat 49 percent of the respondents viewedCoca-Cola as a global brand, while only 31percent saw it as a U.S. brand. Fifteen percenteven thought the brand was local.

A solid lesson can be learned from a com-pany that has slipped seamlessly into foreignmarkets despite the word “American” mak-ing up half of its name, says Dr. Richard Et-tenson, associate professor and area coordina-tor of marketing at Thunderbird. “Livingnear the Geneva border during G8 meetings,I found it enlightening to observe the patternof various protests. Who are the protesters al-ways targeting? McDonald’s. Yet they marchright by the American Express office. AmExisn’t perceived as an interloper like McDon-ald’s because it provides excellent value andavoids making waves with local traditions.”

Adapting the image

THE PERENNIAL targets havelocalized in various ways,however. McDonald’s hasadapted its menu, even addingKosher and Halal versions of

the chain in countries like Israel, Argentinaand Malaysia. Nike has won over the worldby developing localizing strategies, cam-paigns and messages. In Europe and Asia, thesports apparel giant concentrates on soccer,using famous stars from well-known teamslike Real Madrid. In Australia, Nike created acampaign around Cathy Freeman, the coun-try’s most famous Aboriginal athletics star.

The best run U.S. multinational corpora-tions started to deal with the declining BrandAmerica years ago, say Harvard BusinessSchool faculty members John A. Quelch,senior associate dean, International Develop-ment, and Lincoln Filene, professor of Busi-ness Administration. They hired more localexecutives and put more resources toward lo-cal community relations, Quelch says.

“In my opinion these multinationals inoc-ulated themselves from what would havetaken place if they had not gone down the lo-cal adaptation route,” he says.

U.S.-based multinational corporationsneed to have an even sharper awareness of thecultures they are selling in and how Brand

America is perceived there, say marketingexperts. U.S. companies need to appreciatethe growing sensitivity of consumers in localmarkets to all things American. Fail to dothat, say experts, and it could translate intoangry consumers who read cultural slightsinto every piece of adverting.

“The United States is in a position thateven the ancient empires of Greece, Romeand Egypt have never experienced: a singlecountry wielding enormous power due solelyto its economy,” says Tony van der Hoek ’89,director of strategy and business solutions forCoca-Cola’s global Wal-Mart account team.“When you have that power, you need toshow extra sensitivity. Businesses need to tieinto the fabric of the countries in which theyoperate. They need to develop a local pres-ence by identifying with local sensibilities.”

Although it’s done very well in localizingits message, Nike Inc. recently tripped overits own fashionable feet in China with a cam-paign featuring National Basketball Associa-tion star Lebron James. The ads featuredJames going up against and beating a kung fumaster and other Chinese cultural icons in avideo-game style battle. Nike’s intendedmessage was lost on a population sensitive toAmerican aggression.

BDA’s Reinhard believes that U.S. multi-nationals should poll their own internationalworkforces to see whether their companiesare exacerbating the decline of Brand Ameri-ca or doing something to reduce the problem.

“Once CEOs hear from their own people,we believe they’ll become more engaged inthe issue,” he says.

While American multinationals can domuch to control their own image in the glob-al marketplace and have considerable impacton how Brand America is perceived, thebiggest player in creating an American imageoverseas is the United States government.

If democracy, peace and economies arewell established in Afghanistan and Iraq in afew years, if an independent Palestine and Is-rael are living in peaceful co-existence, if theUnited States can back up its stance as theworld’s moral arbiter with less rhetoric andmore policy changes, and if it can listen to itsallies and avoid taking unpopular unilateralactions, then Brand America can once againbecome the shining beacon it once was.

But that’s a lot of ifs. How is Brand America perceived where you are

in the world? What can multinationals do to keepfrom being dragged down with the image? Go tothunderbird.edu and join our Brand America dis-cussion group.

“TheUnitedStates is ina positionthat eventhe ancientempires ofGreece,Rome andEgypt havenever expe-rienced: asinglecountrywieldingenormouspower duesolely to itseconomy...When youhave thatpower, youneed toshow extrasensitivity.”

By D.J. Burrough

In less than a year as president, Dr. Angel Cabrera has introducedimportant changes that are movingThunderbird in new directions

ON THE ROAD TO

TRANSFO


DR. ANGEL CABRERA COULD BE MISTAKENfor one of Thunderbird’s MBA candidates, andless for his youthful appearance than the timehe spends with them. It is as common to findthe 37-year-old president in the commons shar-ing a slice of pepperoni pizza and a freneticback-and-forth conversation with students as

to find him behind his paper-strewn desk. When the search commit-tee picked Cabrera from among the pool of potential candidates, theysaw him as a hard-charging achiever and transformative leader. In hisfirst nine months on the job, he has done nothing to belie that image.

Cabrera’s ubiquitous presence around campus is a reflection of hisengaging approach as Thunderbird’s leader. If students have found

RMATIONFRONT & CENTERPresident Cabreraexplains key programchanges, including theGlobal MBA On-Demandprogram, to the Schoolstaff. He also coveredthe same topics withstudents, faculty andalumni.

tightening the entry requirements, increas-ing the selectivity of students, defining thebrand, improving marketing and communi-cations, developing new programs for newmarkets, and creating a new structure to bet-ter serve the 35,000 alumni.

Truly Global

FOR YEARS, Thunderbird devel-oped brand awareness with a smallamount of advertising and publicrelations, relying instead on infor-mal word-of-mouth efforts of

alumni. However, with more businessschools encroaching into Thunderbird’s coreinternational business expertise, and withfewer people applying to business schools, es-pecially international students following the9/11 terrorist attack, it became clear, Cabrerasays, that the School’s existing minimalistmarketing strategy was no longer functional.

“As mainstream business schools take oninternational specialties, we need to better ar-ticulate what makes Thunderbird so unique,”he says. The first step to improving the mar-keting effort was to better define the brand,says Ken Lambert ’77, vice president andchief marketing officer, “to find out justwhat exactly the ‘Thunderbird Mystique’ isall about.” Lambert was hired shortly beforeCabrera was named president.

In June 2004, Lambert organized a brand-ing exercise that included students, alumni,recruiters, faculty and staff. From the feed-back of those participants and quantitativeanalysis gathered over the years, the new con-cept of “Truly Global” emerged as the corebrand concept.

“It is intended as a positioning statement,but just like other great lines—Nike’s ‘Just DoIt’ or Coke’s ‘The Real Thing’—it morphedinto our marketing tag line,” Lambert says.“The essence of Truly Global means that thestakeholders in Thunderbird have a greaterpotential for success in their careers and, in-deed, in their lives than do people attendingany other higher education alternatives whenit comes to global opportunities.”

On its own, “Truly Global” differentiatesThunderbird from other programs that claimto offer international management. But thepositioning statement “becomes a very pow-erful message with extraordinary saliency”when it’s paired with the pillars that supportthe concept, he says.

The five pillars, which came out of thesame branding exercise, define not only thestrengths of Thunderbird but also the peoplewho graduate from the program.

28 spring 2005

him engaging, faculty, staff and board mem-bers have been impressed with his energyand his ability to quickly grasp issues.

“The speed with which Angel has gained ahandle on things is impressive,” says CraigWatson, a Thunderbird board of trustee.“He’s also formed a very positive bond withthe staff, which is critical in getting thingsdone. And I understand his relations with thefaculty are similarly strong.”

“Even before his first board meeting,” saysMaribeth Rahe, a trustee who also served onthe search committee, “he was well versed inthe issues facing Thunderbird. He has ex-ceeded my expectations. We’re lucky to havesomeone who is high-energy, hard-workingand collegial... who knows what it takes.”

Before taking up the presidency in Septem-ber 2004, Dr. Cabrera had studied the strate-gic business plan prepared under his prede-cessor, Dr. Roy Herberger. “It is a good plan,”Cabrera says. “A lot of thought went into thatplan, and a lot of people and stakeholders par-ticipated in building it. The plan respondsvery well to the challenges and opportunitieswe face. Before we let it collect dust on theshelf, we need to gear up and implement it.”

The thrust of the plan is to better brand theSchool as the world leader in internationalmanagement, to reposition the full-timeMBA program among the best in the world,to diversify the portfolio of programs offeredand to increase our reach to other world mar-kets. The first steps in carrying that out in-clude streamlining the application process,

A GLOBAL VOICEWith a new brand inhand—Truly Global—themarketing departmentis advertising inprominent businessnewspapers and maga-zines around the world.


The five pillars, or concepts, upon whichThunderbird stands include Global ThoughtLeadership, Enterprising Spirit, Culture-Business Fusion, Borderless Communityand Global Citizenship.

After completing the brand-defining exer-cise, an integrated marketing campaign led toa reorganization of the marketing staff withseasoned professionals; an increase in the ad-vertising budget; a redesign of the alumnimagazine and Web site; creating print andInternet advertising campaigns; and intro-ducing a program of lead generation, usingthe Internet, enhanced marketing, sales toursand direct marketing. In addition, an expand-ed corporate communications program al-ready has led to incremental coverage in someof the world’s most influential business pub-lications, including the Financial Times, TheWall Street Journal and The New York Times.

In addition, Thunderbird has placed adver-tising in a number of international publica-tions, including The Economist and Business-Week. Internet ads have appeared on sites forU.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek andothers. Radio spots are running in variousmarkets around the world, and a televisionspot is being created for the Asia market.

The external Web site is undergoing acomplete redesign with new navigation tobetter reflect the dynamic nature of theSchool and more deeply engage visitors. It isexpected to debut in the fall, Lambert says.

At the start of 2005, Thunderbird em-barked on a series of information toursthroughout the world, which attracted hun-dreds of prospective students in Europe, Asiaand the United States. Early signs indicatethat the marketing push has worked; studentlead generation is up 70 percent over last year.

“There is a buzz in the Thunderbird com-munity around ‘Truly Global’ and the fivepillars,” says Lambert. “It has been embraced.That’s an amazing sign so soon in the game.”

Global Network

REENGINEERING OFthe Thun-derbird Alumni Association be-gan more than two years agowith a study titled, “Thunder-bird Alumni Association of the

Future.” It included research of personal andprofessional life management processes andbenchmarked Thunderbird alumni againsttop university and professional associations.It also included focus groups and surveys ofT-bird alumni. From the research came aconcept paper for changes to the association,for which the Thunderbird Board of Trusteesapproved funding in November.

“It’s less a change in structure than achange in roles and responsibilities,” saysMeredith Peabody ’96, who conducted muchof the research and helped draft the conceptpaper, and who later accepted Cabrera’s invi-tation to become the executive director of the

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TAKING A BREAK President Cabrera already is leading Thunderbird in new, creative and dynamic directions.

“Theessence oftruly globalmeans thatthe stake-holders inThunder-bird have a greaterpotentialfor successin theircareersand,indeed, intheir liveswhen itcomes toglobaloppor-tunities.”

30 spring 2005

new association. “It’s an alumni organizationthat is being created by alumni for alumni.It’s about fostering alumni engagement withthe alumni network and with the School.”

The research and surveys revealed that theorganizational structure of the associationwas confusing to alumni and, thus, not effec-tive enough. There also was a lack of clarityabout roles and responsibilities for the alum-ni chapters and councils. “The alumni officehad experimented with many structures andhad reached a point where alumni in generaldid not understand the alumni volunteerstructure,” Peabody says.

The TAA and Alumni Relations Office al-so tended to implement programs and servic-es that were responsive to the short-term de-mands of the School or alumni, but were notthe best for long-term strategic planning.

To address those issues, the Global Board isbeing restructured to include two membersfrom each Regional Council, 10 at-largemembers representing a diversity of geogra-phy, degrees, age and industry, and 10 mem-bers from the largest chapters. The changemeans chapters will be better-represented.

During the next year, alumni should alsoexpect to see changes in the look and feel ofMy Thunderbird (MTB). “We are going toredesign the Web site,” says Peabody, “andmake it more intuitive, relevant and easy toaccess and navigate.” Plans call for a reintro-duction of MTB, along with a program to en-courage alumni to use it often.

The network will do more to support net-working events among chapters, such as pro-viding top-level speakers and hiring a man-ager of Chapter Affairs and Volunteer Lead-ership, Peabody says. Alumni also should ex-pect to see more career programs and services,among them a list of T-birds who are eitherin the professional coaching or executivesearch fields. The network also will assistalumni on posting their résumés on MTB.

“If we get it right, people will choose to re-main active for the rest of their lives,” Cabr-era says. “We want to create a network thathas value for each and every person. Thereare very few organizations that have thereach that we have.”

Global MBA On-Demand

ON SEPTEMBER 10, Thunder-bird will welcome its first co-hort of students in the GlobalMBA On-Demand program,a 21-month program that is a

blend of interactive, collaborative learningvia the Internet and face-to-face intensiveseminars on Thunderbird campuses in Glen-dale, Archamps and Beijing.

“This is unlike anything Thunderbird hasdone in the past,” Cabrera says. “The fastestgrowing segment of the MBA market is indistance learning, and now the technologyhas advanced to the point where we feel wecan offer a quality experience. Thunderbird’sgoal is to extend our reach around the world,

“It’s analumniorganiza-tion that is beingcreated byalumni foralumni. The Thun-derbirdGlobalNetwork is aboutfosteringalumniengage-ment…”

ALUMNI LEADERMeredith Peabody ’96,executive director of theThunderbird GlobalNetwork, is implement-ing changes in its rolesand responsibilities.

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and that can only be achieved if we take thelead in utilizing the new technologies in in-telligent ways.”

The Global MBA On-Demand programwill be based on some of the same content,curriculum and professors as the on-campusdegree. The program is designed for workingprofessionals worldwide. Coursework andinteraction between the faculty and students,and among student peers, will be conductedusing an exclusive MTB intranet portal andother new technologies, like Tegrity stream-ing videos and e-learning modules.

“There is a market out there of individualswho want to earn an MBA but don’t want totake a financial hit by leaving their jobs andrelocating,” says Bert Valencia, director of theGlobal MBA On-Demand program. “It’svery difficult to devote all your time to study.”

On-Demand is modeled on the successfulGlobal MBA for Latin America managersprogram, of which Valencia is director. Theprogram has brought distance learning tonearly 600 Thunderbird MBA students sinceit’s inception in 1998. Even though those stu-dents spend only a brief time together oncampus, Valencia says, the experience hasbeen that they bond tightly as a group and asThunderbirds.

“They are some of the most intense alum-ni I’ve ever met,” he says. “When they comehere, they connect with each other veryquickly, and they cherish the time spent oncampus. I believe we will give the On-De-mand students that same experience andthey will root very quickly to the School.”

On-Demand students will have real-timeinteraction with their peers and professors al-most daily, Valencia says. They may work ona case in a study group with six other stu-dents or will work one-on-one with a profes-sor on a negotiation exercise or, just like oncampus, receive a case study to analyze andsolve, he says.

“Students will sign on in the morning,wherever they are, and have continued inter-faces throughout the day,” he says. “The waythey will be working is just how multination-al corporations are working today, where peo-ple from, say, finance and marketing work onprojects as virtual teams and only meet onceor twice a year.”

The selection process for students will bethe same as it is for students in the full-time,on-campus degree program. Furthermore, torecreate the cultural mix that occurs on cam-pus, the On-Demand program will pair stu-dents of different cultures in work groups.

The time students spend on Thunderbird

campuses—a total of four modules of 10 in-tensive days each—will comprise more thana quarter of the course work, Valencia says.On-Demand students will have a unique op-portunity to blend their business trainingwith an invaluable global experience, learn-ing in three continents and working with col-leagues from around the world, he says.

With the On-Demand program, Valenciasays, Thunderbird is joining the growingranks of business schools that are offeringdistance learning, including Duke, Purdue,Insead, IMD and Instituto de Empresa,Cabrera’s former school.

In the brief time he’s been president, Ca-brera has created a vibrancy about Thunder-bird among the students, staff, faculty, boardmembers, Phoenix leadership and alumni.Much of what has fueled the increased inter-est has been the early initiatives he’s set forth,but it’s also being flamed by Cabrera’s per-sonality and the knowledge that he’s leadingThunderbird on a journey whose conclusionis uncertain but is sure to have some very in-teresting sights to see along the way.

“We need to make some changes,” he says.“Some of them will be mistakes, but most ofthem will be great successes. There is noquestion we need to act, that we need to makedecisions. The industry is changing so rapid-ly, and we need to change with it if we are tocontrol our destiny.”

“Thunder-bird’s goalis to extendour reacharound theworld, andthat canonly beachieved ifwe take thelead inutilizing thenew tech-nologies inintelligentways.”

THE MAN ON DEMAND Administrator Bert Valencia has taken on theleadership of the Global On-Demand MBA program, which begins in September.

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Thunderbird Global Council memberMichael Bleyzer was in Kyiv, Ukraine,

in November and witnessed, andhere reports on, the beginning

of the Orange Protest andthe birth of a true democracy

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A NATION BORN INORANGE


NOVEMBER 23 LED BY OPPOSI-tion presidential candidate ViktorYushchenko, as many as 1 million peo-ple march on parliament, turning thenarrow brick streets into a sea of or-ange flags and ribbons. The protest

springs up as a result of the outcome of the second round ofthe presidential elections, held November 21, which declaredthe Russian-speaking Prime Minister Victor Yanukovichthe narrow winner. Exit polls indicate widespread fraud,and international observers call the election results tainted.

We are in the middle of the Orange Revo-lution in Kyiv. It is an incredible experience tobe here. We have been spending a lot of timeon the streets and on the main square, Maid-an Nezalezhnosti, Independence Square. Nonews footage can do justice to the feeling ofbeing surrounded by a million people. It isamazing how incredible this crowd is. Thinkof an unhappy crowd—cheated by politicians,betrayed by the system—and you expect an-gry, agitated people. Think again! This is thehappiest, friendliest, most incredibly lovingand supportive group I have encountered, andthere are a million of them! People smile,sing, laugh and offer help and support to eachother. There are no police in sight. Imaginethat! There are not even any reports of crime in this huge metropoli-tan area. Everyone is a friend, everyone is a neighbor, everyone is abrother. We are in the middle of a miracle. The people of this countrycame out on the streets to say, “We have had enough! Enough of crim-inals running the country, enough of corruption, enough of lawless-ness. We want to be free, we want to be clean and civilized, we wantto be a part of Europe and the World.”

NOVEMBER 24 Tens of thousands of Orange Protesters vow to staycamped in Independence Square until reports of election fraud are examined.

It is cold out here. Most nights the temperature goes well belowfreezing. But the tent city that has gone up in the middle of Kyiv, nowwith thousands of tents, is very warm. There are mountains of warmclothes everywhere on Khreshchatyk, the main street of the city, do-nated by Kyivites. Food, hot coffee and hot tea are abundant and freeeverywhere. But you do not see any alcohol. This is the most soberone million Ukrainians you will ever meet. The crowd is completelyself-organizing and is improving its collective behavior continuously.Every new day brings better organization, improved conditions andcommunications, and good behavior. Where are the sociologists? Weare living one of the finest examples of crowd behavior in history.

NOVEMBER 25 Despite freezing temperatures and worsening living con-ditions, protesters remain in Independence Square, saying they’ll only leavewhen a new presidential election is held and Yanukovich agrees to step down.

A SEA OF ORANGEThe peaceful revolu-tionaries of Kyiv floodIndependence Square to listen to MykolaTomenko, a centralfigure in the OrangeRevolution. Tomenko isnow Vice Prime Ministerof Ukraine for Humani-tarian Policy, the resultof his support for ViktorYushchenko.

EXPECTANT CROWDPeople jam MaidanSquare at the heart ofKyiv, while Ukraine’s blueand yellow flagsintermingle with theorange flags of change.

bers, the democratically-elected body declares theelection results invalid. Three days later, the par-liament votes to fire the entire presidential staff.

Today was another exciting day with theextraordinary session of the Ukrainian Rada,or parliament. It started four hours ago and isbeing shown live on television all over thecountry. We are all glued to our televisionscreens. The Rada already voted to considerthe runoff elections invalid, and it expressedno-confidence in the Central Election Com-mittee, along with other important actions.They are still debating, but they are progress-ing well. Things are looking up! The OrangeRevolution continues!

DECEMBER 23 The Ukrainian SupremeCourt invalidates the presidential election resultsand orders a new elec-tion to be held Dec. 26.

DECEMBER 26Election results showthat Viktor Yushchen-ko has won with 52 per-cent of the vote to just44 percent for VictorYanukovich.

JANUARY 23 Yush-chenko is sworn in aspresident. Inaugurationballs are held throughKyiv.


It is clear to any observer that this crowdwill win. There’s no way to stop it without amassive blood bath, which cannot happen inEurope in this new century, with all theworld’s TV cameras turned on Ukraine.Over the last five days, the opposition hasbeen winning continuous victories. Thecrowds are growing bigger, and demonstra-tions are all over the country. Famous ath-letes, actors, artists and high ranking militaryand police officers are joining the opposition.When Ruslana, the most famous Ukrainiansinger and the 2004 Eurovision contest win-ner, and Vladimir Klitchko, the heavyweightchampion, joined Victor Yushchenko on thepodium three days ago, the crowd went wild.The following day brought Lech Walesa, sen-ior officers of SBU (formerly the KGB) andthe police and several formerly neutral “oli-garchs” to the podium.

NOVEMBER 27 The Ukrainian SupremeCourt declares the presidential election null until itconsiders the claims that the vote was rigged.

The media are free once again in Ukraine.Until now, only one channel was coveringthe events from Maiden Nezalezhnosti 24hours a day. Our Volia Cable also was deliv-ering its signal to some 1.5 million viewers inKyiv despite the pressure, including 10 daysin July when some of our managers went tojail. All the other channels have been ignor-ing the people on the streets and insteadshowing cartoons, music concerts and trav-el destinations. Most TV journalists hadbeen fired or had gone on strike because theyrefused to continue broadcasting lies, so al-most all stations had ceased operations. Forthree days, most of Ukraine had no TVnews, for there was no staff left to producethe news.

Last night it all changed. The owners of themajor channels gave in to the demands oftheir journalists and allowed honest news re-porting for the first time in the history of in-dependent Ukraine. Some ran their eveningnews broadcast with a group shot of all jour-nalists standing together, with one of themreading a statement in which they swore toreport honest news only. It was an unbeliev-able and inspiring sight. And then the mira-cle happened: They showed a direct feed of amillion proud Ukrainians on Maidan Neza-lezhnosti in Kyiv to the whole country. Ifthere was a defining moment in the birth ofthis nation, that was it!

NOVEMBER 28 In a day of tension and loudprotests both on the street and in parliament cham-

Blazing a trail

MICHAEL BLEYZER is the founder of SigmaBleyzer, a multinational fundmanager with a focus on Southeast Europe. The company provides in-vestment banking, research, and economic development consulting

to both companies and governments. The 100+ person firm, based in Hous-ton, Texas, has created a model for investing in former Soviet-bloc countries. .

SigmaBleyzer offers clients a family of Ukrainian Growth Funds. The firmlooks for newly privatized companies, startups and strong turnaround candi-dates that are undervalued and have high growth potential. The company hascontrolling interest in several companies across a spectrum of industries, in-cluding technology, energy, manufacturing, food and consumer products.

Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 1951, Bleyzer was raised and educated in the So-viet Union, graduating from the Kharkov Institute of Radioelectronics with aMaster of Science in digital electronics and quantum physics. His career tookhim to Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, before coming to theUnited States in 1978, where he became a U.S. citizen. Bleyzer then embarkedon a career in finance and management.

When the USSR dissolved in the early 1990s, Bleyzer responded quickly tothe opportunities presented, utilizing his business experience to invest strate-gically in the emerging region.

IWROTE THESE DIARY ENTRIESin the last days of November 2004 atthe height of the Orange Revolutionin Kyiv. It was the most excitingtime of my life. I did not know whatthe final outcome would be, or if vi-olence would erupt despite the opti-

mism, or how power would be transferred ifthe revolution did succeed. But I knew that Iwas witnessing one of the most incredibleevents of recent years.

Now, many months later, we know thatthe Orange Revolution was a resounding suc-cess, greater than even the most optimisticexpectations in November. The long termconsequences for Ukraine and the world now

depends on what theOrange revolution-aries do with theirnew power. Manychallenges lie ahead,not least of which isthe difficult legacy of10 years of slow andpainful transition toa market economy.

The “revolution-aries” are in chargeof all government in-stitutions and agen-cies. It is amazing torealize that the revo-lution was accom-plished without anyviolence nor a singleshot fired. The

largest peaceful revolution in history had aquick and victorious end, with power trans-ferring to the Orange team with little resist-ance. It took less than three months in all.

The Orange Revolution was exciting andfull of energy and color despite the cold, drea-ry days of Ukraine’s winter. Even a revolu-tion staged by MTV would not have seemedhipper, happier, nor more photogenic. Thechants razom nas bahato, nas ne podolaty (to-gether we are many, we cannot be defeated)and svobodu ne spynyty (freedom can’t be

stopped) should be taught in every school.These incredibly powerful chants wereturned into inspiring songs by bands duringthe revolution.

The three months of the Orange Revolu-tion was the great awakening of the Ukrain-ian nation and an incredible cleansing of itscivil society. A democratic nation was born.The new rulers were anointed by the street,and Ukrainians are better off now becausethey can always remember nas bahato, nas nepodolaty! What happened was even better forUkraine than if Yushchenko were simplyelected cleanly and transparently in the firstround. People came out in the streets andsaid, “We do not want these guys any longer.We want those guys!” And they got them!What can be more democratic?

The Ukrainian people and the world ex-pect a lot from the new government: Sim-plicity. Transparency. Predictability. As aninvestor, I want simple and effective solu-tions that can be explained to the Ukrainianpeople. I want frequent and open communi-cations between the new government and thepeople. The government needs to listenclosely to what the people say. And I want astable and predictable business and legal en-vironment where local and foreign investorsfeel secure deploying new capital withoutsurprises and sudden shifts.

The government needs to take care of thebulging budget deficit left by the previousgovernment’s efforts to get re-elected at anycost, the overgrown and unruly governmentbureaucracy that needs reform; strengthen-ing the rule of law, deregulating businesses tofurther liberalize the economy, promoting in-ternationally a strong image for the nation toattract foreign direct investment that willhelp sustain and accelerate economic growth.Yes, there are challenges ahead, but there isalso a new government with lots of young,dedicated, energetic and patriotic people. Iam optimistic about the future in Ukraine.The Orange Revolution was a beautiful andheroic movement. It will not go to waste.Ukraine will succeed!

36 spring 2005

Now what?The Orange “revolutionaries” are in charge,but will they lead with transparency andhonesty, and bring stability to the country?

JOYFUL T IMESAuthor Michael Bleyzer(right) shares the funwith new street friends.

HE LOVES SPORTING EVENTSmore than anything else. Sowhy did Sal Galatioto ’77 turndown invitations to the NBAAll-Star Game, NHL All-Star

Game and the Super Bowl last year, along withany number of other games that most sportingenthusiasts would give their right arm to at-tend? Simple. Business conflicts.

Before feeling sad for Galatioto, consider what the Brooklyn-raised52-year-old does for a living. He deals with the likes of WashingtonRedskins owner Daniel Snyder, New York Yankees owner GeorgeSteinbrenner, Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno and other toppower brokers in the world of sports.

Galatioto is one of the leading financial advisors to the owners ofprofessional sports teams in the United States. He has advised and/orarranged the financing on dozens of professional sports franchisetransactions in the past decade, including Snyder’s $800 million pur-chase of the Redskins, the biggest deal in American sports history, andthe $401 million sale of the Phoenix Suns, the largest in National Bas-ketball Association history. He has become the go-to guy in a multi-


PLAYING THE

FIELDThe man behind the biggest deal inU.S. sports history has become thego-to guy for super-rich team owners By David Sweet

STILL TRUE TOHIS ROOTS Despite his enormoussuccess, Sal Galatiotoseems like just anotherguy from Brooklyn. Hisfavorite actor is RobertDeNiro; among hisfavorite movies is “TheGodfather” trilogy.

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overlooked industry segment. Not only didsports qualify, but it was uniquely attractive.

“It’s sexy, unlike mining and minerals,”Galatioto says.

In the zone

TODAY, THOUGH Galatiotorubs shoulders with majorsports stars and billionaire own-ers, he still seems true to hisBrooklyn roots. His favorite ac-

tor? Robert DeNiro. Favorite movie? “TheGodfather” trilogy. Most sentences startwith the word, “Look,” like a finger pushedinto your chest.

“Look,” he says, explaining why teamowners and executives choose to deal withhim over his competitors, “it comes down tothis: I’ll walk away from a fee. And 90 percentof what we make is a success fee. Even if itcosts me $4 million in fees, I’ll speak up if it’sa bad deal for them, unlike all too many peo-ple in this business who chase the fee.”

Take the time two years ago when the WaltDisney Company hired Galatioto to helpthem unload the Anaheim Angels baseballteam (now the Los Angeles Angels of Ana-heim). He knew that Arte Moreno, a Phoe-nix executive who made hundreds of mil-lions of dollars in the billboard advertisingbusiness, was itching to own a competitiveteam in the West. Galatioto called Moreno,flew west to meet with him, and the deal was

40 spring 2005

billion dollar business segment that barely ex-isted 20 years ago.

In February, after more than four years asthe managing director of Lehman Brothers’Sports Advisory & Finance Group, Galatiotolaunched his own financial advisory firm,Galatioto Sports Partners. The firm, based inNew York City, will pursue financing for po-tential owners and will arrange and under-write even the largest sports financing trans-actions.

So how did a man who emigrated fromSicily as a child and never dreamed he’d beable even to meet a professional ballplayerend up such a significant player, so signifi-cant that the entire New York Yankees squadautographed a jersey for him?

“He’s very smart, but he doesn’t wear it onhis sleeve,” says New York Mets owner FredWilpon, who has worked with Galatioto on anumber of transactions, including buyingformer owner Nelson Doubleday’s share ofthe franchise. “He’s on top of what’s happen-ing,” Wilpon says. “And he’s the most non-typical investment banker you’ll find.”

Bred in Brooklyn like Galatioto, Wilponoffered the borough’s highest compliment.“He’s one helluva guy.”

Galatioto started tackling the most com-plex financial issues—leveraged finance, spe-cialized insurance lending—first at WestpacBanking Corp. and then at SG Cowen. Bythe mid-1990s, he began searching for an

2004 $300Charlotte Bobcats* New Jersey Nets

2004 $401Phoenix Suns

2002 $360Boston Celtics

2001 $200Seattle SuperSonics

1998 $158Sacramento Kings

1995 $125Memphis Grizzlies*Toronto Raptors*

1993 $75San Antonio Spurs

1988 $32.5Miami Heat,* Orlando Magic* Minnesota Timberwolves*New Orleans Hornets*

1985 $18.5Milwaukee Bucks

1983 $10.5Indiana Pacers

* Expansion team, fee set by league.

Net worth The value of profession-al sports teams hasbeen rising exponential-ly over the past 20 years.European football teamsReal Madrid and Man-chester United, as wellas the Washington Red-skins and Dallas Cow-boys, are worth about$1 billion.

The purchase pricefor basketball teams,shown here in millions,has been driven in part by revenue-generating arenas and the potential for the league to expand globally.


done. Disney shed a financial burden, Mor-eno got his dream, and Major League Base-ball welcomed its first Hispanic owner.

In the most expensive transaction in Unit-ed States sports history, Galatioto represent-ed Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. He agreesthat Snyder bought the team at a high valua-tion, given the prices paid up to that point,but today, just five years later, he is convincedthe team is worth more than $1 billion be-cause of Snyder’s marketing savvy and hisability to lure high-profile talent to the team.

When New York Mets owners FredWilpon and Nelson Doubleday were pub-licly at each other’s throats over how to man-age the team, Galatioto stepped in and bothnegotiated and financed the deal that gaveWilpon full control of the team. Galatioto al-so represented Bob Johnson when he tookover the expansion Charlotte Bobcats of theNational Basketball Association, becomingthe first African-American owner of anAmerican professional sports franchise.

Though Galatioto cannot reveal specificdetails of the deals he’s played a part in, he didsay that each one is unique. “Some buyerslook closely at economics. Some want an as-set that’s fun to have. Some use their teams asmarketing vehicles, letting their best clientsmeet the players,” he says.

Negotiating in the niche industry of sportsfranchises—where typically fewer than a

dozen transactions a year take place—is notlike typical investment banking deals, Gala-tioto says. “The difference here is we’re deal-ing with the principals,” he says. “They’re allprivate transactions, not public companies.There’s less bureaucracy. You don’t haveshareholders to worry about. I prefer this athousand times more.”

Though hashing out the economics ofsports deals can be more difficult than a stan-dard investment banking transaction, Gala-tioto says, it’s a more interesting product, es-pecially since he’s negotiating with some ofthe wealthiest people in the United States.Still, regardless of their wealth, financing isalmost always needed in sports deals. Gala-tioto’s Sports Partners sets up financing, hesays, and also provides direct financing.

Though he’s proud to bring new owners in-to the sports world, Galatioto knows there arepitfalls to owning a sports team, especiallymaking money year to year. “There aremany other investments that give you a bet-ter short-term profit,” he says. “You get a lotof pressure to spend money. The communityonly wants a winning team and doesn’t careif you make a profit or loss. This is a businesswhere every move you make is scrutinizedby the press. There’s extreme visibility.”

Galatioto, who has turned down deals withJapanese baseball franchises because theywere too small, just $30 million or so, is inch-

“Look, itcomes downto this: I’llwalk awayfrom a fee.And 90percent ofwhat wemake is asuccess fee.Even if itcosts me $4 million in fees, I’llspeak up ifit’s a baddeal forthem, unlikeall too manypeople inthe businesswho chasethe fee.”

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Galatioto's office is festooned with mementos of some of the major transactions he's brokered.

42 spring 2005

ing his way into the European market. He re-cently helped finance Wembley Stadium andhas spoken with a number of European soc-cer clubs about possible deals. But any majormove to the continent is still a few yearsaway. “The problem is that we’re a smallgroup, and there are quality-control issues.One bad deal and we’d lose our reputation,”he says. “There are different league struc-tures in Europe and different legal structures.You have to go slow there.”

Sports aside

FOR SOMEONE whose life is so in-tertwined with sports, Galatioto’soffice walls are surprisingly free ofautographed photographs, sportsmemorabilia and the sports pages

of newspapers touting big transactions (ex-cept for a photograph of Galatioto and GeorgeSteinbrenner standing side by side). Instead,the walls of his midtown Manhattan officedisplay nearly 100 Lucite tombstones, ubiqui-tous in most investment bankers’ offices, tes-timony to as many successful deals for clients.One transcription, for instance, reads: “TheWalt Disney Company has sold the Ana-heim Angels to Moreno Baseball, L.P. andMoreno Family Baseball, L.P. The under-signed [Lehman Brothers] acted as financialadvisor to The Walt Disney Company in thistransaction.”

It’s not that Galatioto isn’t a fan of sportsmemorabilia. He cherishes the Yankee jerseysigned by team players and another signedsolely by Derek Jeter, the star shortstop forthe New York Yankees. But on the fatefulmorning of Sept. 11, 2001, Galatioto’s office sat

across from the World Trade Center andeverything was lost: a signed Phoenix Coy-otes jersey, an autographed photo of hockeygreat Mario Lemieux holding the StanleyCup and baseballs signed by Don Mattingly,Sandy Koufax and Yogi Berra.

One month later, Galatioto experiencedhis greatest moment in sports before the thirdgame of the World Series in which the Yan-kees played the Arizona Diamondbacks.“President Bush strolled out of the dugout,baseball in hand. He stood on the mound,with all that security around, and he threw astrike,” Galatioto says. “I’ll never forget it.”

It’s appropriate that Galatioto’s favoritesports moment is drenched in history. AWorld War I and World War II buff, he alsospends time reading about constitutional law.Not all his pastimes involve quiet study,however. Although living in Long Islandmakes it hard to satisfy his passion for hunt-ing and shooting, he does find time to occa-sionally visit a nearby shooting range. “I’m aWesterner trapped in the East,” he says.

Galatioto also has found joy in teaching. AtColumbia University’s graduate businessschool, he leads a class of 68 students in theups and downs of sports business.

Because of his standing in the industry,Galatioto is able to attract some of sportsmost influential businessmen to the class, in-cluding Yankees President Randy Levine andthen-sports agent and now Arizona Dia-mondbacks owner Jeff Morad.

“He has put together a great group of aca-demics and people from the real world,” saysRon Douglas of the Rothschild Bank, whowon a lottery to get into the popular course.“He shared his own experiences and his ex-pertise. He was always personable.”

Since Galatioto travels on average threedays a week for work, getting a call from himin January while he sits in his New York of-fice is a surprise.

“I was stuck in the Midwest,” says Gala-tioto. “My plane was seven hours late. To-day’s been a mess. I never get to go to theMidwest in the summer and Florida in thewinter. It’s always the other way around.”

Although there was a ticket waiting forhim, Galatioto did not make the trip to Jack-sonville for Super Bowl XXXIX, settingaside his love of the game over the need to ap-pear impartial to current and future clients.For Galatioto, the frustrations that are part ofhis job—long hours, long miles, airportfood—are nothing but the price of admissioninto a game he was made for. “I have thegreatest job in the world,” he says.

First team al Galatioto ’77 wasn’t the only Thunderbird involved in the $401 million sale of the Phoenix Suns in April 2004.

Two Thunderbirds, Sam Garvin ’88 and Francis Najafi ’77, were partof the investment group that made the record-setting purchase of theteam. Garvin is the second largest investor, behind Robert Sarver, abanking and real estate investor who is the group’s managing partner.

The Phoenix Suns commanded such a high price—despite one ofthe worst records in the National Basketball League—because ofArizona’s huge population growth and the likelihood of Phoenixresidents to attend sporting events, Galatioto says. “What sold thatfranchise was the city of Phoenix and Jerry Colangelo,” he says.

If you look closely during games, you can find Garvin and Najafifilling courtside seats.

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44 spring 2005

New matejoins T-bird

AFTER a searchof more thana year, Thun-

derbird has filled akey faculty positionwith a candidatefrom down under.In March, Dr. Rob-ert E. Widing II

became senior vicepresident of Acade-mic Programs, mov-ing to Arizona fromMelbourne, Aus-tralia, where he wasthe chair of Market-ing at the Universityof Melbourne.

Widing’s mandateis ensuring that “allof our programs de-

liver on three key di-mensions: learningoutcomes, studentsatisfaction, and fi-nancial soundness,”says ThunderbirdPresident Dr. AngelCabrera.

Formerly, Widingwas associate deanof Graduate Studiesat the University of

Melbourne, wherehe led the creationand growth of 13master’s degrees andgrew enrollmentfrom 131 to 628,while entry require-ments became morestringent.

Read more aboutDr. Robert Widing atThunderbird.edu.

EXPECT THE unexpected to belurking around the corner. Thatguy above you is trying to hold youdown. If you fail, hit the reset but-ton and start over. Such are some

of the lessons learned by 20-somethingsfrom playing countless hours of video gameslike “Asteroids,” “Doom” and “RainbowSix,” according to a new book by Thunder-bird adjunct professor Dr. John C. Beck.

Got Game: How a New Generation ofGamers is Reshaping Business Forever isbased on a study of 2,000 young profession-als. According to the book, young people areapplying the principles learned from videogame-playing to their lives. “They know thegaming world expects them to succeed, sothey learn to expect success from them-selves,” Beck says. “They are self-confident,highly motivated and teamwork-oriented.”

Young gamers learn teamwork when theygather to play, Beck says, and when playingas a team against the computer or otherteams. During a game, they pass the con-troller from player to player or into the

faculty focusVideo Generation20-somethings are succeeding in the workplace usingskills honed by countless hours of video game playing

hands of the player who is most skilled atplaying that section.

It was during the Internet boom of themid ’90s, when investors clamored to investin almost any dot-com, that the gamer gen-eration began applying video game rules.“The new rules were just the old rulesgamers have always played by,” Beck says.“Go as fast as you can, from venture capitalgroup to venture capital group, picking upthe bags of money.” Video game principalsserved the gamer generation just as wellwhen the dot-com boom went bust. “Thisevent follows the rules of every game they’veever played,” Beck says. “When you lose,you push the reset button and start over.”

Born after 1970 and comprising a largerpercentage of the United States populationthan baby boomers, the number of activegamers in the United States is expected toreach 126 million by 2008. Gaming is grow-ing even faster in other countries. During the past five years, annual video game salesgrew by 56 percent in China and 49 percentin India.

Dr. Robert E. Widing II


DO PROFICIENCYin foreign lan-guages and understanding of different cul-tures offer an edge in the global

economy? Or is English enoughfor doing international business today? In a world in whichmany believe that English is the language of internationalbusiness, what advantages haveexecutives gained by knowingforeign languages?

A survey on the competitive advantage offoreign language and cultural competence of581 graduates of Thunderbird, The GarvinSchool of International Management foundthat those MBAs feel that these skills havebeen a great benefit in their careers.

Eight-two percent of the respondents saidthey gained a competitive advantage in busi-ness from their foreign language skills. Andeven more, 89 percent, said they received anedge from their knowledge of other cultures.Although competitive advantage is difficultto quantify, many Thunderbird alumni defined in specific terms the edge that foreign languages and cultures have giventhem in their careers.

The alumni who participated in the studyall graduated from Thunderbird between1970 and 2002 with a Master’s in BusinessAdministration & International Manage-ment. For nearly 50 years, all students atThunderbird have been required to take aminimum of four semesters of foreign lan-guage or demonstrate equivalent proficiency.

In the business world, competitive advan-tage refers to the edge that a company or individual has over competitors. It might bein lower costs, higher quality, better service

or faster distribution. In terms of languageand cultural knowledge, competitive advan-tage refers to the perceived and real benefitsthat set apart people who possess them.What experiences, opportunities, rewards,recognition and personal satisfaction cometo people as a result of their foreign languageproficiency and cultural understanding?

Researchers asked the Thunderbird gradu-ates what languages they spoke and howthey acquired their foreign language skillsand cultural competence. Many graduatesare multilingual, with 38 percent speakingone foreign language, 31 percent speakingtwo foreign languages, 18 percent speakingthree, 9 percent speaking four, and 3 percentspeaking five or more foreign languages.

The most popular foreign languages ofThunderbird alumni are: Spanish (50%),French (37%), German (25%), Portuguese(11%), Japanese (11%), Chinese (9%), Russian (2%), and Arabic (1%).

The most valuable source for learning aforeign language, for those surveyed, wasliving abroad, according to more than 70 percent of the respondents. They also citedschool or classroom settings, Thunderbird,travel and friends and family as othersources of language learning.

The large majority of those surveyed(82%) responded that foreign language skillsand cultural knowledge gave them a compet-itive advantage in the workplace. More thanhalf of them (53%) claimed a significant ad-vantage from their language skills. Another28% believed they gained some competitiveedge, whereas 18% said they received none.These figures give strong evidence of the value of foreign languages and cultural competence in the workplace. In their comments, the alumni gave examples of how foreign languages and cultural knowl-edge had benefited them and their careers:

“Language skills and the ability to adjustto multiple cultures raise the level of effec-tiveness significantly. It becomes much easi-er to ‘get things done’ and lowers the stress

The CompetitiveAdvantage

Christine UberGrosseDr. Christine UberGrosse has been aprofessor of ModernLanguages at Thunder-bird since 1994. Shereceived her Ph.D. inRomance Languagesfrom the University ofNorth Carolina at ChapelHill. The full articleoriginally ran in TheModern LanguageJournal, 88,iii (2004).

By Christine Uber Grosse

faculty writings

46 spring 2005

faculty writings

level associated with being an expat to manageable proportions.”

“Language and cultural skills are manda-tory for local acceptance and setting oneapart in a foreign setting. Those that do not make an attempt to learn the [local] language are looked down upon not only by the locals but also by the expatriate community which has taken the time tolearn the language and, with it, the culture.”

Data analysis suggested that the better analumnus knew a foreign language, the morelikely it was to be helpful at work. A largepercentage (64%) of the respondents self-reported a high level of proficiency in these languages. One fourth of them self-described their language competence as likea native, while 40 percent rated themselvesas fluent in most business and social situa-tions. More than one-fourth communicatefairly well in the second language.

The great majority of respondents (89%)received a significant or some competitiveadvantage at work from their cultural com-petence. Almost half (48%) of them gained a significant competitive edge, whereas 41percent of them acknowledged receivingsome competitive advantage. Only 11 per-cent of the participants derived no competi-tive advantage from cultural understanding.

One male respondent commented: “Cultural understanding, and the enhancedcultural understanding that language studiesprovide, is vital to success in the internation-al business community.”

Thunderbird alumni reported that compa-nies rewarded their foreign language skillsand cultural knowledge in a variety of ways.The most popular acknowledgements: travelopportunities (41%), overseas assignments(33%), written or oral recognition (30%),promotion (18%), and raise (14%). The percentage as well as order of most popularacknowledgements were nearly identical for cultural knowledge.

Although the study focused on profession-al competitive advantage, for many alumnithe personal advantages mattered as much,if not more:

“Learning foreign languages is a labor oflove, and what they can return to someone istruly priceless.”

“While I value this knowledge in mybusiness life, I feel that the study of languagehas added an incredible richness to all facetsof my life. There is so much of the world’s

beauty that I would miss without evenknowing it, had I not studied language froman early age. It literally opened up entirenew worlds for me.”

“Knowing another language is equal togaining another soul in the richness anddepth it adds to my life.”

Of those alumni who said they used theirforeign language skills at work, the most-cited areas of use are: conversation (81%),meetings (62%), e-mail (59%), presentations(52%), negotiations (47%), and reports (37%).

The ways that cultural knowledge helpsalumni at work are: to feel comfortable withpeople and cultures (86%), to understand the business environment (77%), and to gain respect and credibility (65%).

Respondents were more likely to use theircultural knowledge at work—daily (44%),frequently (26%), occasionally (17%), seldom (8%) and never (4%)—more oftenthan their foreign language skills—daily(38%), frequently (13%), occasionally (15%),seldom (21%) and never (13%).

Despite the career advantage most alumnisaid they receive by having language skillsand cultural knowledge, a number of thempointed out that U.S.-based companies seemto have a blind spot when it comes to seeingthe advantage of having employees with language skills and cultural knowledge:

“Many managers give lip service to wanting to understand other cultures, because that is the thing to say, but that isnot a true interest.”

“I have found that, unfortunately, U.S.companies would prefer to send a non-for-eign language-speaking, non-cross-cultural-ly trained employee who was perceived aseither knowing the business or who was politically connected within the company,than send someone trained for an interna-tional position. I have watched this takeplace again and again with my clients. Then they would wonder why they did not get the results they expected.”

Given the tightness of the job market and the state of the global economy, thecompetitive advantage of foreign languagesand cultural knowledge could help MBAstudents and others in their careers. Moregraduate and undergraduate business programs should consider adding foreignlanguage and cultural studies to the curriculum, in addition to sending students abroad for study or internships.

“There is so much ofthe world’sbeauty thatI wouldmiss with-out evenknowing it,had I notstudied lan-guage froman earlyage. It liter-ally openedup entirenew worldsfor me.”


million, was a very attractive market. Moreover, Brazil was a member of MercadoComun do Sul (Mercosul), which would allow Dell to export to other countries in the customs union—Argentina, Uruguay,Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia—at zero tariffs.

Like Dell, Ford also had negotiated a gen-erous incentives package with the previousgovernor for a proposed plant in Rio Grandedo Sul. After Governor Dutra took office,executives at Ford attempted to renegotiatethe deal with him, but to no avail. Since Ford had not yet begun construction on themanufacturing plant, it began to consider alternative locations within Brazil.

The state of Bahia emerged quickly as aviable alternative. The state governmentthere, determined to win Ford’s investmentfor this state in the impoverished northeastpart of Brazil, offered incentives identical tothose the Britto administration had prom-ised. Another plus was that Bahia was partof a federal government program that gavespecial incentives to automobile manufac-turers locating their plants in Brazil’s poorernortheastern region.

A strong point in Bahia’s favor was thatAntonio Carlos Magalhães (ACM), then-president of Brazil’s Senate and one of themost influential politicians in Brazil at thetime, was from the state. With his enor-mous clout, ACM was able to push throughthe Congress a modification of the legisla-tion on incentives for manufacturing automobiles in the northeast, so that Fordcould still take advantage of it, even thoughthe deadline for additional companies to do this had passed.

The federal government also approved additional incentives in order to make up forthe extra costs Ford would face by putting itsplant in Bahia rather than the more conve-niently located Rio Grande do Sul. Brazil’snational development bank, Banco Nacionalde Desenvolvimento Económico e Social(BNDES), provided a low interest loan ofover USD $300 million to Ford after it an-

faculty writings

EXECUTIVES ATDell Computer Corporation faced asetback in January1999. They had al-ready chosen a sitein the state of Rio

Grande do Sul, Brazil, as the location for Dell’s first manufac-turing plant in Latin America.Rio Grande do Sul’s Governor,Antonio Britto (1995-99), hadpromised the company generousincentives to lure Dell’s $108million investment in the plant.

Yet to the Dell executives’ chagrin, Brittolost his bid for re-election. The new gover-nor, Olivio Dutra (1999-2003) of Brazil’s socialist Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), or Workers’ Party, took office Jan. 1, 1999,and was vehemently opposed to granting incentives to large foreign transnational corporations (TNCs). It appeared likely thathe would rescind Dell’s agreement with theprior government.

Fortunately, Dell’s executives in Brazilfound a way to turn what could have been an unfortunate situation into a positive out-come for both Dell and Rio Grande do Sul.Dell’s experience in this case offers lessonsfor international managers as well as forgovernments seeking to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to advance theirown economic development. In order to understand how both Dell and the statemanaged to achieve this positive outcome,some additional background is useful.

Brazil was a logical place for a Dell manu-facturing plant. In the late 1990s, sales of personal computers were growing faster inLatin America than anywhere else in theworld. Brazil, the largest Latin Americancountry with a population of more than 170

Dell Computer’sBrazilian dance

Roy C. NelsonIn 1993, Roy C. Nelsoncame to Thunderbird asa visiting assistantprofessor and two yearslater joined the staff asan assistant professorteaching internationalstudies. In 2000, he wasnamed an associateprofessor and academicdirector for Thunder-bird’s Executive MBAProgram in Sao Paulo,Brazil. He received hisPh.D. and MA fromCornell University,another MA from YaleUniversity and his BAfrom Stanford University.

By Roy C. Nelson

48 spring 2005

faculty writings

nounced it was moving to Bahia. This wasfar more than BNDES had planned to givefor Ford’s investment in Rio Grande do Sul.

Too late, Dutra realized that Ford was nowlikely to pull out of Rio Grande do Sul andgo to Bahia instead. Aware of the negativepolitical consequences that could ensue, he attempted to negotiate with the Ford executives. But Ford had already decided to withdraw from Rio Grande do Sul. Thecompany soon signed a contract with theBahian state government.

Ford’s departure was a political disaster forDutra. Residents of Guaíba, the town wherethe plant was to have been located, were especially upset and marched in protest, carrying signs critical of the governor. Edito-rials and articles in the press attacked Dutra.Naturally, Dutra’s political opponents em-phasized repeatedly the negative impact theloss of jobs would have on the state.

Not wanting to lose another major TNCinvestment, Dutra took a different approachwhen Dell executives approached him torenegotiate their incentives package. Brittohad promised Dell very generous incentivesin order to attract its proposed USD $108million plant: a 75 percent reduction in thestate value-added tax for 12 years, plus aUSD $17 million loan, to be paid back over 10years, with a five-year grace period. Yet now,facing the loss of these incentives, Dell con-sidered doing what Ford had done and locateits plant elsewhere. Other states were readyand willing to receive Dell’s investment, and on highly favorable terms. One possiblestate was Minas Gerais, which Dell hadlooked at earlier. The state met Dell’s basicselection criteria and was ready to offer anincentive package similar to what the com-pany had received in Rio Grande do Sul.And there didn’t seem to be the same levelof partisan differences, at least in regard toattracting foreign direct investment.

However, in spite of their alternative options and Ford’s failed attempts to renego-tiate with Dutra, local Brazilian executivesworking for Dell decided to approach thegovernor again.

Dell’s Director of Corporate Affairs inBrazil, Fernando Loureiro, devised a face-saving strategy for the governor to let Dellkeep its incentives. When Loureiro and histeam met with the governor, they explainedthat Dell was not a typical TNC. Personalcomputers (PCs), the products Dell

produced, were highly beneficial to society.By using PCs, people could obtain access tothe Internet. The Internet provided peopleof all social strata with access to informa-tion. Thus, Dell’s products would actuallyhelp to create a more egalitarian social struc-ture. For this reason, Dell’s goals and thoseof the governor from the PT were actuallyclosely aligned! While it might make sensenot to offer incentives to companies such asFord, Loureiro explained, Dell was different.

Dutra certainly did not want to lose another major investment. He had experi-enced the ire of the Rio Grande do Sul popu-lation firsthand after Ford decided to locateits plant in Bahia. Thus, political calcula-tions may have influenced his actions at thispoint. But whether persuaded by Loureiro’sreasoning, motivated purely by political fac-tors, or a mixture of both, Dutra decided tolet Dell keep all of the original incentivesthey had been offered, along with a few additional minor conditions, such as Delldonating some computers to poor areas. Dellstayed. And in many of his public speechesthereafter, Dutra used Dell as an example ofthe sort of company his government wouldlike to attract to Rio Grande do Sul.

Dell achieved a positive outcome becauseits local executives knew Brazil well and un-derstood the needs and concerns of the manwith whom they were negotiating. Thus,they were able to find a creative way aroundthe problem that allowed all to benefit.

For its part, despite its new approach, theDutra government still had difficulty luringinvestment to the state in the years that followed Ford’s departure. Few TNCs werewilling to invest in a state whose governorseemed, at the very least, to have an ambiva-lent attitude toward FDI, and one that couldso quickly change the rules regarding foreign investment.

This may help explain why Dutra losteven the internal primary election to run asthe PT candidate for governor in 2002 andwhy the candidate finally selected to repre-sent the PT in that election lost to a politi-cian from the more moderate Partido doMovimento Democrático Brasileiro(PMDB). More important, however, RioGrande do Sul’s experience further under-scores the benefits—both political and economic—that FDI can provide, and whymost governments are so eager to attract in-vestments like Dell’s manufacturing plant.

Dellachievedthis positiveoutcomebecause its local executivesknew Brazilwell… theywere ableto find acreativeway aroundthe prob-lem that allowed allto benefit.

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T-bird Tuesday at 8,038 ft.Alumni Relations introduces the

Customized trips for T-birds and guests

Inca Trail to Machu PicchuSeptember 2-11, 2005

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Visit the Alumni Travel webpage at www.thunderbird.edu/alumnitravel for details

Trips operated by

Thunderbird Alumni Travel Program

Upcoming Trips2005-2006


WHEN A GROUP of Thun-derbirds gathered in earlyFebruary at the Asian ArtMuseum of San Francisco,the wine and cheese weren’t

the only things at the event that had grownbetter with age. As part of the 40+ Initiative,the get-together continued a string of business and social meetings for T-birdgraduates who are 40 or more years old.

“The objective of the 40+ Initiative is toreengage alumni with the Thunderbird network locally and globally and therebyimprove the value of the Thunderbird net-work worldwide for alumni of all ages,” saysJulianne O’Dwyer ’99, the 40+ Initiativeglobal coordinator and a member of theTAA North America Council (julianneod-wyer@ hotmail.com). “The 40+ alumni reallyappreciate the opportunity to network withpeers who are close to their age and whoshare their professional status.”

Since the effort began a year and half ago,other alumni chapters have formed 40+ Ini-tiatives, including Chicago, Dallas, Denver,Hilton Head, Los Angeles, Miami, NewYork City, Paris, Phoenix and San Diego.

So far, events around the country have included a seminar on the Latin Americabusiness climate in Dallas, a gathering atthe Museum of Science in Miami and aChinese New Year’s celebration in San Francisco. The Paris group met for dinner following a visit to a technologyshowcase

“T-bird Tuesdays are enjoyable, but the40+ Initiative offers an additional gatheringplace with professional and social eventsgeared to our interests,” says PatriciaTrosclair ’90, San Francisco chapter leaderand 40+ coordinator.

chapter newsVintage T-birds

New YorkAcclaimed fash-

ion designer NormaKamali, who be-came famous withher “Sleeping Bag”coats and her stun-ning swimwear,spoke to a group ofNew York chapterT-birds at theWilliams Club inMarch. She mes-

merized the crowdwith details abouther 40-year career,her retail store operations, and her insights into the latest trends ininterior design andhigh fashion. Kamali set the fashion worldabuzz lately withher new line of

Enjoying an evening atthe Asian Art Museumfor the San Francisco40+ Initiative are groupmembers Russell Walter’80, Chris Casselmann’83, chapter presidentand 40+ Initiativecoordinator PattyTrosclair ’90, Jeff Nigh’77 and Anne WebsterHayden ’69.

packable, multi-useclothing and hermove into the wellness and beautycategory.

ChicagoThree members

of the ThunderbirdGlobal Councilwere the featuredspeakers on Feb. 22at the first profes-

sional developmentevent hosted by theChicago chapter.The panel was madeup of Dr. James A.McClung, formersenior vice presidentof FMC Corpora-tion; Noe Kenig,former chairman ofMotorola Interna-tional; and MilesGreer ’75, former

vice president of theSara Lee Corpora-tion.

NorthCarolina

In November,more than 50 Thunderbirds fromthroughout the Car-olinas gathered for aBrazilian-themed

Riding for a friendand fellow alumnus

ON A CHILLY MORNING last September, a group ofThunderbirds gathered for a 100-mile bike ride tocelebrate the life of Bob Miller ’82, who succumbedto brain cancer in April after a valiant two-and-half-year battle. The Bob Miller Memorial Bike Ride was

part of the North Shore Century 2004 Ride, which was held inElburn, Illinois, where Miller lived with his wife, Judy, and theirchildren, Rebecca and Brad. Brad, a sophomore in high school,rode his father’s bike in the event. More than 15 Thunderbirdsjoined the family members and other friends.

Jim Guthrie ’82, who flew in from Denver for the bike ride,says that Miller kept the positive attitude he was always knownfor through eight operations and countless cancer treatments.“He was just such a positive guy,” Guthrie says, “and an avid bi-cyclist. He was never down, just always upbeat, great to bearound and very friendly.”

The Thunderbirds who gathered for the ride set a goal of$25,000 toward college expenses for both children.

Donations to the Bob Miller Memorial Bike Ride can be sentto Nat Yang ’82, c/o Bob Miller Memorial Bike Ride Fundraiser,Apt. 4A, 5 Peter Cooper Road, New York, NY 10010.

party at the familyhome of TeresaJohnson ’99 over-looking the woodsin Chapel Hill NC.Alumni came fromas far away as Charlotte, morethan 140 miles southof Chapel Hill. The event featured a churrasceria-styledinner and free-flowing Caipirinhas,a concoction of lime,sugar and cachacathat is the officialdrink of Brazil.

“We had everyside dish imagina-ble, in true Brazilianstyle,” said FredrikCarlegren ’01, a for-mer chapter leader.“Teresa’s father

even borrowed allthe grilling utensilsfrom a local Brazil-ian restaurant justfor the occasion.Everyone had agreat time, regard-less of the year theygraduated or thetype of work they’redoing. Thunder-birds just know how to have fun, especially when youthrow in those greatCaipirinhas.”

TexasLeaders from

alumni chapters inTexas met for twodays in early Marchto share ideas andbest practices on improving and

increasing alumniparticipation in achapter. The con-clave, organized byPeter Petrik ’00,the Dallas-Ft.Worth chapterleader, was attendedby Matt Romero’99, Jaideep Potnis’99, Greg Fitzgerald’96, Scotty McNutt’88 and KathrynNewth ’94. Some of the shared ideasthat were generatedincluded the cre-ation of a mentor-ship program withthe 40+ Initiativegroup, providinglinks to the Websites of other Texaschapters on MTB,and partnering

with another Texaschapter that is at asimilar stage of development.

“It was an excel-lent way to leverageeach other’s experi-ences, enhance theTexas spirit andstrengthen theThunderbird net-work,” says Petrik.The leaders nowplan to hold similarmeetings twice ayear in Texas chapter cities.

SeattleMore than 60

people attended aNovember panelpresentation on the latest trends inoffshore outsourc-ing, hosted by theWashington Statechapter and theWorld Trade Clubof Seattle. The eventis the first of manysuch jointly spon-sored seminars for Seattle area residents. Event organizers includedKen Tousley ’03 andMatt Couch ’02,along with supportfrom chapter leadersAmy Lyndon ’88and Jules Miller ’88.

OrangeCounty

More than$100,000 in prizes are being offered at thethird annual OrangeCounty Golf Tour-nament, to be heldMay 6 at the TustinRanch Golf Club inTustin, Calif. Thegoal of the event is

to raise at least$50,000 to establishan endowed scholar-ship fund to aid deserving studentsof the School. Sponsorships for the event run from$10,000 for title spon-sorship, $750 for thebeverage cart, $500for the closest to thepin contest, and $150 for the tee and greensigns.

For their $200 entry fee, players receive a gift bag fullof golfing goodies,lunch, dinner,awards and thechance to win itemsthat include a $45,000vehicle, $25,000 incash, full tuition fora Thunderbird degree program,Goodyear tires forlife and a ride in theGoodyear blimp.

SouthFlorida

More than 220 T-birds rangingfrom the class of1966 to 2004 came together for thechapter’s annual holiday party Dec. 4in Miami Beach.The Latin-themedevent featured a live flamenco dancer, regional dishes fromaround the world—including a tradi-tional roast sucklingpig, “lechon asa-do”—and a barloaded with drinksfrom sponsor Bacar-di. The lively eventwas hosted by DanPartel ’67.

chapter news

52 spring 2005


chapter news

AzerbaijanOnce a major stop-

over on the GreatSilk Route, Azerbai-jan now has becomea meeting place forThunderbirds. InMarch, in one of thefirst events of itskind in this country,five alumni came to-gether for a FirstTuesday to share sto-ries old and new. Thegroup was made upof Mark Pom-merville ’89, Ben

Ryan ’95, CatherineTrebes ’94, andchapter leaders JulieHamlin ’93 and PaulHamlin ’92, who hasoffered up an induce-ment to get otheralumni to visit Azer-baijan. “Be the firstT-bird to show upwith a six pack ofbeer and win a fabulous prize,” saysHamlin, who can bereached at Lermon-tov 3, Apt. 26, Baku3700, Azerbaijan.

SwedenT-birds donned

tuxedos and formalgowns for the firstannual SwedishMBA Alumni Network Black TieDinner, held Feb. 18at the Cavalry ofStockholm. SevenT-birds attended the event: Katja andPatrik Salen ’00,Rolf Alexander ’99,George and Liliana(Galvis-Pineda)Rizpulos ’99, and

Donya and HenrikEkstrand ’85.

In all, 70 MBAsfrom eight differentprograms gatheredfor the event. Theevening included apiano inspiration, a magician, a three-course dinner, anopera performanceand dancing.

“The idea is tomake this an annualevent and, consider-ing the high spiritsthroughout the

evening, I believethere will be sub-stantial reasons toplan another eventfor next year,” saysPatrik Salen ’00,who was one ofthree co-hosts forthe evening.

The black-tie affair was the firstpurely social eventthe MBA graduatenetwork has orches-trated since thegroup was formedin 2002.

Pole positionDetroit sets scorchingpace for fundraising

MOTOR CITY MAY BE Detroit’sofficial nickname, but forThunderbird it’s rapidlygaining a new moniker:fundraising city. The local

alumni chapter surpassed all otherchapters in finding ways to connect andengage with alumni and encouragephilanthropic support.

During its 2003-04 fundraising campaign, the Detroit chapter increased the number of alumni donors by 39 percent over the prior year. The chapter also got thealumni to give more, up from $7,000 in 2003 to $35,000 last year.

“None of us gave $60 million but we gave what we could, and we proved that wecan have an impact,” says Gail Kozeliski ’93, who spearheaded the campaign alongwith Detroit chapter co-leader Heath Norton ’03. “Alumni want to feel that Thunderbirdis a good investment, and that’s not a hard case to make. Undesignated donations,like the one Detroit made to the School, mean more student scholarships, resulting inbetter graduates and greater prestige for the Thunderbird brand, she says.

“A lot of people graduate from Thunderbird, but not all give back,” says Russ Pha-neuf, director of Annual Giving and Advancement Communications. “If all our 35,000alumni would realize that if they all gave just a little, it would really add up and makea difference. That critical mass of giving is something we’ve missed for a long time.”

The chapter has set a new fundraising goal for 2005: to fully endow the Francis and Louise Gifford Scholarship Fund, which would require another $35,000 to reachpermanency. The Giffords spent 30 years working for the School. Louise began herThunderbird career as a secretary and worked her way up to director of Financial Aid.Francis worked in Housekeeping and Central Supply.

“If they continue their current momentum, they’ll do it easily,” Phaneuf says.

More than two dozen T-birds, including (fromleft) Carol Mayer ’98,Ramelle Gilliland ’98 andAdiel Avelar ’04, cametogether in January forthe 2005 North AmericaInternational Auto Show.The reception, held atthe Detroit RacquetClub, was a fund-raisingevent for the Francis and Louise GiffordScholarship Fund.

All your personal news that’s fit to print...

Comings & goings

1945-1955Alfred Jankus ’47 stopped counting at 68 the

number of countries he had visited as an interna-tional management and marketing consultant. He is now retired in the United States at 81... Donald G. Groves ’49 of Sun City West AZpassed away January 5, 2004. Groves served in the U.S. Navy in WWII and the Korean War…James A. Bridgeman ’52, a longtime St. Thomasresident and businessman, died December 25,2004, at his home on Hypoluxo Island in LantanaFL… Boye Lafayette De Mente ’53 has createdmemoireditions.com, which records life events to be shared with a memoir writer’s family. DeMente has written more than 50 books and lives in Phoenix … Ed Campeau ’53 lives in Granville,Ohio. His email address is [email protected] Neblett ’53 lives at Epworth Village, Apt.529, 3500 W. 16th Ave., Hialeah FL 33012. He wouldlove to hear from classmates and friends… Paul F. Anderson ’55 passed away on July 18,2004… Carroll “Rick” Rickard ’56 was featured in the November issue of 101 North, the magazineof North Scottsdale. Retired from Citicorp andContinental Bank, Richard maintains the MayoClinic nature trail on a volunteer basis…

1960-1969Juan Santos ’62 has been named secretary

of the Department of Trade and Industry for thePhilippines. He was the former president of Nestlé Philippines Inc… Clarence (Chuck) Yahn’62 has formed Strategic Options Inc., a corpora-tion that helps Japanese, European and Americancompanies establish manufacturing operations inMexico… Alan Tiffany Murray ’62 passed awayApril 5, 2004, in Tucson AZ… Allen J. “Duke” Libby ’63 recently wrote “Uniform Romeo,” a fictional account of a goofball U.S. Navy ship’s1959 mission to the Caribbean and Brazil. Thebook can be found on authorhouse.com… CharlieLagergren ’64, who retired from Federal Mogulafter living in every Latin American country butthree, writes: “Who would have known when I arrived at Thunderbird speaking a few words ofSpanish that I would spend weeks communicatingwithout speaking English. Thunderbird providedme with great jobs, wonderful friends and incredi-ble experiences…” Horst Busse ’67 president ofMartin Windsor & Associates Inc., a business-to-business communications firm, has been electedpresident of the Michigan Chapter of the GermanAmerican Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-

THERE IS MORE to life than just what happens between the office walls, and Class Notes reflects thatin its pages. Tell us if you get married, have kids, run theBoston Marathon, scale a peak in the Himalayas or plana flight around the world. Have you been selected for the

school board, Bush’s cabinet or People’s Sexiest People edition? Orare you volunteering your time to make the world a better place?Tell us all about it, please. And, of course, we want to hear aboutthose T-birds who have passed on so we can honor their memories.

Send your information to [email protected]

classAll your personal news that’s fit to print...

Comings & goings

54 spring 2005

Talk to uswest… George Grimmett ’68 currently lives in Lake Placid FL… William C. Demmin ’68 has been named senior bank strategist for BancIntelli-gence.com. In his new position, Demmin willopen the company’s first office on the west coast…Richard A. Koehler ’69 is program director/lecturer for the Baltic Sea Management Academyin International Business Relations at GotlandUniversity in Visby, Sweden. He continues tomaintain a consulting company, IKR Corporation,for international business development projects…William Dodge ’69 recently completed the 2004NYC Marathon in a pledge run to support hisdaughter, who suffers from schizophrenia. He is the editor of his daughter’s book (www.sugar-story.com) about her battle with mental illness…William Anderson ’69 retired from Hallmark in2000 after 32 years of service. He worked in thePhilippines, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan,Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,India, Laos, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bruneibuilding Hallmark’s businesses. In 2001, he startedAnderson International LLC, which operates outof Honolulu HI and services such clients as Crayola and Hallmark.

1970-1974David Kaveny ’70 became a father for the third

time in September 2004 when daughter Corinnewas born in Singapore, where the family resides...Larry McCarver ’70 has returned to Taco Inc. as director of International Business Development.Based in Cranston RI, Taco is one of the largestproducers of pumps and other hydronic equipmentfor heating and cooling… George Hiller ’72 isworking on a new international trade program inSouthwest Virginia via a grant from the U.S. Dept.of Education. He is a member of the ThunderbirdGlobal Council and resides in Richmond VA…Don Carson ’72, a board member and former CFOof the Atlanta Symphony Choris, has helped raisefunding for a state-of-the-art symphony center,which is now being built... Alberto Almirall ’72 hasbeen appointed marketing and commercial directorfor the South American Football Confederation,the governing body of soccer in South America.He lives in Asuncion, Paraguay, with his wife

Betty… Ed Auble ’72 was the recipient of the 2004Lafayette College Alumni Association ServiceAward for long-term volunteerism and leadership.The college is located in Easton PA… Bryan P. Fay’74 has joined First Tennessee Bank in NashvilleTN as senior vice president and manager of thePersonal Trust Division… Norman Huddle ’74passed away in August 2004 in Mt. Vernon IL…Maribeth Rahe ’74 is president and CEO of FortWashington Investment Advisors. She lives inCincinnati.

1975-1979Roger Hunt ’75 ran for the Nampa ID school

board. He is a salesman for Graybar Electric inBoise ID… J. Jorge Verduzco ’75 has been nomi-nated by Junior Achievement for the 2004 LaredoBusiness Hall of Fame in Texas. He is executivevice president, director of sales and marketing forInternational Bank of Commerce-Laredo… DennisM. Farren ’75 passed away of kidney cancer in Janu-ary 2004 in Santa Cruz CA… Philippe J. Deymes’75 has relocated to Le Mans, France, and has beenpromoted to director of new projects for theSchweitzer-Mauduit International group, a special-ty paper company spun off from Kimberly-Clark.He welcomes all T-bird motor racing fans to theannual 24-hour endurance race… Andres Voto-Bernales ’75 passed away from a brain edema in July 2004. He was a distinguished marketing consultant for several well-known internationalcompanies and one of the pioneering marketers tointroduce marketing philosophy in Peru… DavidBarrett ’76 owns and operates Audio Acrobat, anaudio streaming application used by authors, musicians, educators, media specialists, speakersand trainers… W. Britt Cobb ’76, commissioner ofagriculture for North Carolina, was grand marshalof the state’s Watermelon Festival Parade. Cobbserves on the executive committee of the SouthernUnited States Trade Commission… Charles Johnpeter is North Central Region director forMitsubishi Motors North America… SiegfriedMike Kiegerl ’77 won the Republican primary for District 43 in the Kansas House of Representa-tives. A resident of Olathe KS, he is a retired businessman and an adjunct college instructor…

You can let us know aboutchanges in your lifeby e-mailing us [email protected]’t forget toupdate yourpersonal profile onMy Thunderbird(MTB). Log on atmy.t-bird.edu, clickon the personalizebutton, then clickon the edit buttonsfor each categoryyou want to change.We’ll publish yournews in the nextissue of themagazine.

notes


56 spring 2005

Peter Smith ’77 passed away September 2004 inPhoenix after a long battle with multiple sclero-sis. Services were held in Morris Plains NJ,where he grew up. He spent his entire career atAllied Signal Corp. in the Specialty ChemicalsDivision until his illness caused him to go on disability in 1995… Gary L. Towell ’77 died in February 2004 in Medford NJ. He worked in therailroad industry for the past 25 years… MaryKolehmainen Lambert ’77 passed away peacefullyin February 2005 at her home in Glendale AZ. Services were held in Park City Utah, wheremany family and friends attended. The family has established the Mary Kolehmainen LambertScholarship at Thunderbird. Donations can begiven through the Thunderbird Annual Fund,

specifying the Mary Kolehmainen LambertScholarship. Information can be retrieved atwww.thunderbird.edu/annualfund and questionscan be directed to [email protected]... Patricia K. Savage ’78 passed away in April 2004… Frances A. Sevilla-Sacasa ’78 was featured in theApril issue of Hispanic Business magazine as one of its “Top 5 Elite Women” of 2004. She is thepresident, Latin America and Europe, of CitigroupPrivate Bank. She lives in Miami FL with her husband and three children… Jeb S. Syler ’78has been promoted and transferred to run theCosta Rica operation for Stark Truss, one of the largest wood building component manufac-turers in the world… Lloyd Reeder ’78 has beenpromoted to senior vice president of marketing for

class notes

She leftthe lifeshe hadwanted tofind thelife sheneeded

FIVE YEARSafter graduat-ing from Thun-

derbird, RebeccaGolden ’89 hadeverything she everwanted. She hadadvanced quickly atHouston-basedSchlumberger Ltd.,an oil servicescompany, to be-come at 30 thecompany’s firstfemale controller.She had travelledthe world and wasresponsible formore than $50million in revenue.She had a beautifulhouse, a six-figuresalary and acomfortable life.

But in 1995, shewalked away from itall.

“I preferrred tospend my life doingsomething moremeaningful, to meanyway, than play-ing the corporategame,” she says.“How many luxuryhotels, new dishesand bottles of cham-pagne can one girlhave? I wanted to becloser to thosesuffering, to assist insome small way. Idid not want to lookback on my life at80 and think, ‘Wow,I made a lot ofmoney for myself.’”

By the end of thatyear, Golden wasworking as a finan-cial and administra-tive coordinator forDoctors WithoutBorders/MedecinsSans Frontiéres andliving in a remotepart of Angola in ahouse withoutrunning water orairconditioning. The electricity andtelephones workedonly from time totime. Her pay wasless than a tenth ofwhat it had been.

“It was one of themost liberatingthings I have everdone in my life,”she says. “I workedfor a year to pay offall my bills and paremy possessions.After that, they nolonger owned me,and I was as free asa bird.”

In Angola, Goldensaw landminevictims carried fordays to reach ahospital, where

geously was deeplymoving,” Goldensays. “I rememberhe lay on the flooras there were nobeds in the hospitaland quietly turnedhis head, curled histoes and took the‘poison.’ If youcompare such starkrealities to anAmerican grocerystore or Toys-R-Us,you think you mustcontinue your work,no matter how itchanges or affectsyou.”

In spite of thedangers inherent inher work in danger-ous places, Goldenhas continuallyasked to be postedto field positions.Last summer, shedeparted for yetanother mission,this time in north-ern Nigeria.

“Life is too shortto be spent wishingor, worse, findingexcuses,” she says.“I believe that if youreally want some-thing, you can makeit happen.”

most often the only“treatment” wasamputation. Shehelped with aprogram to fightsleeping sickness, a tropical diseasethat still claimsmore than 40,000Africans a year. Thetreatment is a formof arsenic, and isextremely painful.

“To see a boy of 8 or 10 taking hisinjections of‘poison’ so coura-

REBECCA GOLDEN ’89 has been working as anadministrator for Doctors Without Borders since 1995.


LSI Lighting Solutions Plus. Lloyd and his familylive in Plano TX… Larry Wolfe ’78 is Hanoi projectdirector for Health Volunteers Overseas. The proj-ect promotes the interests of people with disabilitiesin Vietnam, especially in health, education, em-ployment and barrier-free access to public places…Ken Jacuzzi ’79, a member of the family that start-ed Jacuzzi spas, was featured in September’s PhoenixMagazine. Formerly CEO of Jacuzzi Europe, Jacuzzihas created five companies in the Phoenix area andis an advocate for people with disabilities.

1980-1984C. Ross Croulet ’80 is the coordinator and head

of the Microfinance Division, African Develop-ment Bank, Tunis, Tunisia. He has been with thebank since March 2001… Nelli Long Calame ’80 cel-ebrated her 24th anniversary with Intel in October.She recently completed a year-long assignment asIntel’s India HR director, based in Bangalore. Nelliis starting a similar assignment for Intel in Russiaand will be based in Moscow… Dan Hammang ’80was named chief financial officer for DriveCamVideo Systems, a leading company in knowledge-based systems that improve driving behavior, inJanuary 2005. He had formerly served as vice president for Sony Electronics Inc., and worked atApple Inc., the Singer Company and Arthur An-dersen & Co… Paul Ryan ’80 was married toMonique Muther in July 2004. He and his wife re-side in Coronado CA… Christophe Bellinger ’80recently left the Multilateral Investment GuaranteeAgency World Bank in October 2004 to move toManila and work with the Asia DevelopmentBank… Joaquin Pericas ’80 is director of Foodservice/Retail Research at Coca-Cola in AtlantaGA. He has worked for the company for 10 years inHouston, Milan, Vienna and Atlanta. Married for24 years, he has three children… Alain Labat ’80was named president and CEO of VaST SystemsTechnology Corporation, a division ofTMCmet.com. Formerly CEO of TeraSystems, hebrings 20 years of industry experience to his newposition… Jeremy Nash ’80 recently contributed achapter on the vital link between engagement andhigh performance in “Workplace Community:Motivation.” Nash is an executive coach and speaker with the firm, Communication at Work, inWhite Plains NY…

John Gould ’81 has been named financial advisorat McDonald Financial Group in Indiana… RuudSteenhuisen ’81 has been promoted to CEO ofHoliday on Ice Productions, a touring ice show…Cliff Samuelsen ’81 recently married Ellen LouiseCarney. He is the Global Manager for ARI, an in-ternational automotive fleet leasing company thatprovides cars and trucks for corporations in 87countries… Paul Banas ’82 and his wife, JasmineKim, had a second child. Banas is currently taking off from internet marketing management to spendtime with his family… Robert Shatz ’82 formedand is the CFO of the International Trade Development Center in Tucson AZ, which aims to teach locals about global business…

Andrew Karigan ’83 was profiled in the Daily Pilot section of the Los Angeles Times in January.Andrew, a coastal estate specialist with Prudential

California Realty, was praised for a successful yearin real estate as well as a long sales career… KetanNavnitrai Parekh ’83 co-founded Love Humanity, a charitable organization for orphaned or displacedchildren in India…

Trevor Shine ’84 is managing director of VirtualHealth Network Ltd., a company specializing in medicine information and pharmaceutical marketing within Britain’s national health service.He resides in Brookwood, England, with his wifeMelanie and two children… Joseph Brown ’84 diedin Cayce SC in July 2004… Peter Higuchi ’84 washired at airPharma, a pharmaceutical company thatfocuses on commercializing products for respirato-ry disease, as vice president of corporate develop-ment in December 2004… Rob Lewis ’84 was pro-moted to sales manager, Asia-Pacific and LatinAmerica by PDQ Manufacturing Inc., a division ofDover Corporation in Green Bay WI, which pro-duces automatic vehicle wash equipment.

1985-1989Tom Knowlton ’85 is managing partner at

Phoenix-based Firebird Foods, which merged withProgressive Sales & Marketing in August 2004…Mark Webster ’85 has been living since 1999, inJakarta, Indonesia, where he works for Interna-tional Flavors & Fragrances Inc. He and his wifehad a third daughter in June 2004… Merrie Martin-son ’85 joined Scudder/Deutschebank as seniorregional vice president in 2002, marketing invest-ment strategies. She was the keynote speaker lastyear for the CIMA organization in New YorkCity, where she resides… Sandy Sandler ’85 was recently featured in both the Las Vegas Sunand Las Vegas Business Press as the inventor of theBowdabra, a device that helps in the making andtying of decorative bows… Michael Zak ’85 spokeat the annual Reagan dinner in September 2004 in Virginia. He is the author of “Back to Basics for the Republican Party” and is a policy analystfor the House Republican Party Committee. He resides in Washington D.C.

Arnaldo Mendez ’86 had his home featured in the May issue of Tucson Lifestyle magazine. He helped create the Sonoran Revival space, influ-enced by architect Josias Joesler… Ed Verbeeck ’86lost his wife Kristen, 38, after a five-year battleagainst breast cancer… Ken Cheuvront ’86 was inthe January/February edition of bizAZ magazineregarding his service in the state senate, his con-struction company, Cheuvront Construction, andhis wine bar in downtown Phoenix, namedCheuvront Wine & Cheese… Bill Magers ’86 willrun for mayor of Sherman TX in the May 2005election. Magers had previously served as DishNetwork’s director of operations for the west coastof the U.S., and launched Quest Home Entertain-ment… Ed Verona ’87 and wife Patricia have returned to Moscow, where he represents theCanadian mining company, Barrick Gold Corporation. They would welcome hearing fromfriends who might be passing through town.

Chuck Bullard ’88 passed away September 16,2004, in Grand Junction CO… Carol Webster ’87just celebrated the one year anniversary of her in-ternational consulting firm… Gigi (Gano) Ekstrom

class notes

Class of 1979A generation haspassed since theclass of 1979 wastogether in oneplace, but nowthere’s a chancethey will be again.The class iscelebrating its 25th reunion at the2005 ThunderbirdHomecoming,which will be heldon the Glendalecampus Nov. 4-6.Organizers ask thatthose from the 1978and 1979 classesupdate their MTBprofiles so they canbe notified. ContactScott Myers ’79 formore information:[email protected], or at 210-240-0747.

58 spring 2005

What everhappened to……that girl fromTaiwan who got youthrough DataAnalysis or that guy from Brazilwho sounded justlike Frank Sinatrawhen he sang “My Way” onKaraoke Night inthe ThunderbirdPub?

Track down thoselong-lost friendsfrom your bygoneThunderbird dayswith help fromAlumni Central, aone-stop shop forhelp with anythingalumni related.Reach them at:[email protected] 1-800-457-6957 (US only) or 602-978-7358.

’88 is an independent educational consultant. Shehas recently written a fashion marketing textbook,published by McGraw-Hill in January 2004. Shelives in Dallas TX with her husband, Johan, andson… Laura Kozloski Hart ’88 was married in 2004and lives in Wellington FL with her husband, Jay.An associate professor in the College of Business at Lynn University in Boca Raton, she manages aconsulting business that provides strategic planningand mergers and acquisition support to area busi-nesses… Barbara Mason ’88 and Jamie Douglashad a son, Alexander Mason Douglas, born in June2004… Leslie Kiel Brown ’88 has been appointedbusiness development manager, Nevada Region,for North American Exchange Company, a divi-sion of Lennar Homes. She lives in Las Vegas NVwith her husband and five formerly stray animals.

Jeffrey Ovian ’89 has been appointed managingdirector of Trans Hex Angola, which has mined diamonds in Africa for nearly 40 years... RobertDennis ’89 is the senior manager-audit with Deloitte in Moscow. He, his wife and two childrenrelocated in June after spending nine years withPricewaterhouseCoopers in Paris and other coun-tries in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

1990-1994Christopher Barreto ’90 joined V2 GfK, a

pharmaceutical marketing research firm, as a seniorconsultant. He previously held an executive direc-tor position with TVG… Bowen Banbury ’90 wasprofiled in his undergraduate alumni magazine, Occidental. Bowen is the founder, president andCEO of DocuVault, an information managementservice that ranked 36th among America’s fastest-growing urban businesses on Inc.’s Inner City 100list… Marco Ziegler ’90 spoke at a Chicago City-wide Pride event during a forum, titled “Being Outat the Top.” He is partner at Accenture, a globalmanagement consulting, technology services andoutsourcing company… Mike Rogers ’90has been appointed vice president of Corporate Development for Cyberguard Corp., a public company based in Ft. Lauderdale FL that providesnetwork security software for global merger and acquisition activity… Todd Baker ’90 recentlyjoined iAssessment, a technology company provid-ing solutions in K-12 education, as executive vicepresident of client solutions… J. Arthur Wicker ’90and his wife Christine Caillaud had a son, DavidHenry Francis, born November 2004 in Turin,Italy… Thomas Quinn ’90 recently joined RSMMcGladrey Inc., an accounting and managementconsulting firm, as director of Risk ManagementServices. He lives in Lake Oswego OR with hiswife, Heidi, and two children… Marysue K. Shore’90 has been working in the Bush administrationfor the past four years as senior advisor to the President and director of African Affairs at theOverseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Elizabeth (Beth) Duncan ’91 recently joined Illinois Institute of Technology, a four-year Ph.D.granting institution, as assistant director of Marketing and Communications. Prior to this, she traveled the world working on a cross-culturalchildren’s book that is currently under review forpublication… James R. Love ’91 was appointed

director of admissions at Mercyhurst College,North East Campus in Erie PA. He resides in Mill Creek PA… Susan J. Hughes ’91 received the“Someone Special” award from United Way DaneCounty and Domestic Abuse Intervention Servicesin Wisconsin… Ellen Quiros ’91 has been namedinternational marketing manager for Brinker International. She and her husband, Jorge, live inthe Dallas-Fort Worth area with their three chil-dren… Kyle Volluz ’91, who married Dr. ChithraArumughan in November 2004, is employed as as-sistant general counsel to Goldman Sachs SpecialtyLending Group. The couple resides in Dallas TX…

Eileen Walker ’92 has been hired by Tucson Realty and Trust Co. Walker is a specialist in themarketing of office, medical, biotech and researchfacilities… Cathy Balach ’92 is one of the foundersof Goldleaf Chocolatier and acting Chief Choco-holic of the San Francisco-based startup. Her newventure involves creating a retail, wholesale and online presence for selling the product to con-sumers and corporate accounts… Pamela Unhoch’92 married Edward Michael Tomer in GreenwichCT. The couple spent their honeymoon in Bermu-da and will return to their home in Cos Cob CT…Jennifer Stanton ’92 is engaged to Christopher Pignataro. She’s employed by Colgate-Palmolive inNew York City… Renee Lavecchia ’92 and SvenThorslund ’92 have lived in Washington D.C. sinceMay 2003. Renee is vice president, account directorat RTC, a Y&R Brands company. Sven is the salesand business development director for WorldwideAssistance, the U.S. office of the Paris-based Europe Assistance Group… Julie Norquist ’92 iscurrently vice president of marketing for a cus-tomer service software company. She is gettingmarried in April 2005 in France…

Anwar El Ghonemy ’93 is vice president of JonesLang LaSalle, a commercial real estate investmentbanking firm in San Francisco. He lives with hiswife, Gigi, and twin daughters in Benicia CA…Vicki Austin ’93 started her own career-coachingbusiness, Choices Worldwide, in 1997, after leavingher job in marketing and communication in thehealthcare field. She and her husband live in Illi-nois, where she also teaches at Lewis University…Peter Grant Hodes ’93 started Bold Planning Solutions, a company that focuses on the homelandsecurity emergency management industry, inNashville TN… Jeff Whitney ’93 married Roma-nia-born Virginia Tone in Bucharest in August2003. Whitney is a representative for five softwarefirms in the United States and Europe and is involved in the transportation and financial services sectors… Maureen Lyon Flynn ’93 andDirck Lyon ’96 had a second child, a daughter. Theycurrently reside in Shanghai, where he is the direc-tor of electronics for Johnson Controls AutomotiveGroup, and she is the director of order fulfillmentfor American Power Conversion… Robert C. StrainJr. ’93 and MiJung Lee Strain had a daughter,Kathryn. The family lives in Seoul, South Korea,where Robert works as Asia Pacific Regional logis-tics manager for General Motors… Umesh Kulkarni’93 is vice president of a transaction testing soft-ware company in Scottsdale AZ. He and his wiferecently had a baby boy… Christian Krugman ’93

class notes


married Krystie Korn in Phoenix AZ Thanksgiv-ing weekend. He’s with Chubb Insurance inPhoenix…

William F. Humphrey Jr. ’94 was named “Em-ployee of the Year” by ICE Inc. and OurVacationStore.com in Phoenix AZ, beating out more than700 employees in five countries… Michele LanningBrenner ’94 is the director of marketing at theScotts Company. She is married to Steve Brenner.They have one child and another due in June… Amy Koster De Macena ’94 and husband, NilsonDe Macena, had a son in September 2004. They live in Los Angeles… Kristina Wagner (Durkin) ’94,who was married in November 2004, is the associ-ate director of admissions for the Eller MBA pro-gram at the University of Arizona. She is currentlypursuing her Ph.D.… Patrick Galvin ’94 and hiswife, Ellen, have moved to Portland OR. They are co-owners of Galvin Communications, a publicrelations firm. Patrick is giving seminars through-out the country this year on how to create buzzabout companies… Fernando Sandoval ’94 passedthe October 2004 U.S. Licensed Customs BrokerExam. He is applying for a license and plans to startoperations early 2005 at the Nogales AZ Port of Entry… Deborah Murray ’94 has become deputy director, Asia/Pacific Region for Family Health International. She lives in Thailand with husband,Rod Livingston ’94, and two sons.

1995-1999Heather Witt ’95 is a developer for The Little

Gym International for British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. She has two children, and lives in Scottsdale AZ and Vancouver BC… Lori AnnPriday ’95 is engaged to Matthew Lyons. She’s asenior manager of Advanced Planning and Strategyat Nissan North American in Los Angeles… TravisChrist ’95 was promoted to vice president of Marketing for America West Airlines in Phoenix.He was formerly president of America West Vaca-tions … Lisa Von Bargen ’95 has relocated back toPhoenix and launched Beyond Implementation,Inc., a technology consulting firm… Tim Hunt ’95and wife, Stephanie, had their fourth child in No-vember in London. He works for Goldman Sachsand is head of European leveraged finance sales…Mike Brady ’95 recently joined Time Warner Cablein Herndon VA as director of business affairs… Andre Doumitt ’95 is with BAE Systems, an aero-space company formerly known as British Aero-space. In November 2004, he took responsibility forbusiness development for fixed and rotary wingsystems for 15 business units across California,Ohio, Indiana and New York, as well as forRochester and Plymouth in the UK and Edinburgh,Scotland… Connie Fu ’95 worked in corporate finance for General Electric in the United Statesand Hong Kong after graduation. She is now working as finance manager for Espirit, a clothingcompany in New York. She lives in Great NeckNY with her husband and newborn son… AlfredGuerrero ’95 and his wife, Polly, had twin girls in December, joining a 2-year-old sister. The familylives in Miami FL…

Lysa Nicklas Kristensen ’96 has been promotedto vice president and portfolio manager at First

class notes

MATTHEW HILGER ’96 now makes his living as aprofessional poker player, author and poker expert.

It’s all inthe cards,or maybeit’s not

FIGURING THEodds, knowingwhen to take

calculated risks andunderstanding yourcompetition’smotivations areessential skills forevery MBA gradu-ate. But unlikemost T-bird alumni,Matthew Hilger ’96applies those skillsacross a pokertable, not the one inthe boardroom.

Hilger makes hisliving as a profes-sional poker player.In 2002, he won theNew Zealand PokerChampionships andlast year took home$80,000 by placing33rd, out of 2,500,in the World Seriesof Poker.

“It’s a great life,and it’s a lot offun,” the 37-year-old says. “I’vefound a way tomake a living in anindustry I love.”

Hilger has beenplaying poker mostof his life, but it wasduring his year atThunderbird thathe began visitingnearby casinos.

“I was on a col-lege budget, so Ihad no money tolose,” Hilger says.“But I was able tohold my own everytime I went.”

After graduation,Hilger worked withChiquita Brands inCosta Rica, wherehe honed hisgambling talents.

“At the time, Iplayed in tourna-ments every Sun-day at the TexasHold’em clubs,” hesays. “The personwho ran the club

was one of the topplayers in theworld, and I wasplaying with someof the mostrespected TexasHold’em players.”

When he trans-ferred to Argentina,Hilger had successwith Internet gam-bling. He took atwo-year sabbaticalfrom Chiquita andmoved to NewZealand, where hemade his livelihoodplaying internetpoker and wrote hisbestselling book,“Internet TexasHold’em: WinningStrategies from anInternet Pro.”

In 2003, Hilgerstarted up a TexasHold’em Web site. It receives morethan 100,000 visi-tors a month. “I amdefinitely using myinternational skillsin this business,”Hilger says.

“It’s a greatlife and it’s alot of fun. I’vefound a wayto make a living in an industry Ilove.”

60 spring 2005

Brian Bergholm ’96 recently celebrated his one-year anniversary with GE Insurance Solutions. He manages fulfillment of the company’s marketresearch requirements via a staff of nine market researchers based in India. He and his family relo-cated to Kansas City KS to join the Global Market-ing group at the company… Meredith Peabody ’96was pictured in the January issue of Arizona Month-ly. Peabody is one of 15 Arizona businesswomenwho are sharing their expertise with 15 Afghanwomen as part of Thunderbird’s Project Artemis.

Nancy Cailleteau ’97 delivered the key addressin November 2004 in Chennai, India, for the JayaSchool of Business. The occasion was the install-ment of the first international chapter of Sigma Iota Epsilon, the American honor society formanagement studies and professionals… ErumAmin ’97 and Australian Wolfgang Stefan havemarried. The couple met while working at Dresd-ner Bank in London… Dr. Chien Hung (Charlie)Chen ’97, assistant professor at Appalachian StateUniversity, has co-written a study on e-learning

class notes

American Trust. She lives in Corona Del Mar CAwith her husband Mike Kristensen… Frederick(Rick) Rasmussen ’96 authored an article titled“The DNA of Loyalty” for Colloquy magazine, theindustry publication for loyalty marketing. He isgeneral manager of international partnerships forDelta Air Lines, and recently spoke at the annualLoyalty Marketing Industry Summit… AnniqueGilbert London ’96 and Dane London had a daughter in June 2004. Annique is the assistant vice president of Marketing Services at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Minneapolis MN… AlanChelko ’96 and Sharon Machuga Chelko ’96 had ason, Maksym Luka (Max), in June 2004… Kevin M.Peck ’96 was promoted to principal of MarketingCorporation of America’s (MCofA) TechnologyPractice… Anders A. Suarez ’96 was appointed tothe board of directors with Amerityre Corporation,and will serve as the company’s CFO… Tim Sultan’96 ran for Congress in District 8 of Arizona, butlost to incumbent Jim Kolbe… Michael Pascoe ’95of San Francisco helped with Sultan’s campaign…

KEITH POWERS ’99 played a crucial role in getting SpaceShipOne into orbit, andis now floating in air with the joy of doing something he loves.

The skyisn’t thelimit forhigh-fly-ing alumni

FOR KEITHPowers ’99,it’s all about

gravity. In October,as chief develop-ment officer for the

X PRIZE Founda-tion, Powers award-ed $10 million toairplane designerBurt Rutan and Mi-crosoft co-founderPaul Allen, of Moja-ve Aerospace, forputting SpaceShip-One into orbit afterit beat out 27 otherteams vying to bethe first privatelyfunded spacecraftin orbit.

Spurning otheroffers, Powersjoined the Founda-tion on a pro-bonobasis just twomonths before thehistoric flight andthen raised nearly$4 million insponsorships.

“I wanted to beinvolved withsomething that haspurpose,” he says.“I wanted to do

something biggerthan the nextmarketing plan.”

Building on thesuccess of the XPRIZE, the Founda-tion kicked off a$25 million fund-raising campaign inApril. The newfunding will be usedto award prizes fora host of othersignificant hurdles,some related tospace and others toearth-bound issues,like clean energy orwater purification.Powers was impor-tant in attractingGoogle founderLarry Page onto theboard.

“The idea is toapply the samemethodology toleverage a compe-tition that challen-ges people to comeup with solutions,”Powers says.

The next will be inthe fall of 2006,

when the X PRIZECUP will be held inNew Mexico. Thefive-day event —“NASCAR onsteroids,” Powersays—is expectedto attract hundredsof innovators tobuild spacecraftthat can go higherand faster, pushingthe envelope of airtravel. Based on theinterest shown inthe X PRIZE flight,Powers expectshundreds of thou-sands to attend.

“Right now, only530 people havegone to space, andthat’s not enough,”Powers says.“We’ve only begunto scratch the sur-face of possibilities.There’s no reasonwhy we shouldn’tbe in space. Weneed to push ourlimitations beyondwhat we know. Thetechnology is here.”

JIM

CA

MP

BE

LL


environments in the assimilation of informationtechnology skills. It was published in the Journal ofInformation Systems Education... Robb McGregor’97 has returned to New York from London,where he lived for more than three years whileworking for Bank of America Securities… LisaTotino ’97 has been promoted to director for NewBusiness Development at Custom Plastics Inc.She leads all business development and marketingefforts for its new product division, Handi Solu-tions Inc., which focuses on garage organizationand storage products… Brad Smith ’97 joined S3Investment Company as executive vice presidentafter the acquisition of TSPartner. Previously, hewas co-founder and chief operating officer of IPIntelligence, a consulting firm providing intellec-tual property services… Annabelle Abba Brownell’97 and Peter Brownell ’97 have two children. She is a marketing communications professionalin the Silicon Valley, and he is working on his ownbusiness… Anna Maria Moore ’97 has been livingin Washington D.C. since January 1999 and work-ing for Equant as an IT training manager inNorthern Virginia. She enjoys meeting up with T-birds and staying in touch… Jerry Hanley ’97lives in San Diego and sells mobile video solutionsfor Qualcomm Inc. to Latin American and South-east Asian customers… Michele Manzek (Thomas)’97 married Cameron Thomas in San Juan Capis-trano. The couple lives in Scottsdale AZ.

Katherine Johnson ’98 was appointed foreignpolicy advisor and director of the U.S. CoastGuard’s international affairs staff. Johnson coordi-nates international policy, participation, and opera-tions within the Coast Guard and with other U.S.government agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations… James McGraw ’98was named director of the Axapta ERP practice forSCS Inc… Adriana Mikulla (Tschinkel) ’98 passedaway in August 2004. She had been living inGuadalajara, but died in San Francisco after a brief illness… Gabe Castaneda ’98 co-foundedCastaneda Williams Ltd., a marketing communica-tions firm. The business was highlighted in theJune 18 issue of the Twin Cities’ Business Journal.

George Bradbury ’99 ran for District 4 Supervi-sor in Arizona, but lost to the incumbent. He resides in Surprise AZ… Jarad Carleton ’99 waspromoted to consulting analyst at Frost & Sullivanin Palo Alto CA… Joseph Urso ’99 has been ap-pointed lead planning manager for General Motors,Thailand… Erica Savka ’99 recently began work-ing as an international solutions marketing manag-er for VeriFone Inc., responsible for launching ver-tical market strategies for all non-financial applica-tions that can run on VeriFone’s point of sale termi-nals. She is based in Miami FL… Michael Wissot’99 has been named vice president of Luntz Research, a public affairs and corporate communi-cations firm. He also serves as an adjunct professorat Pepperdine University, teaching public speakingand rhetorical analysis. He lives in Pacific PalisadesCA with his wife, Alison… Garth Knudson ’99 issenior solutions marketing manager at SoftwareAG. He and his wife, Rachel, had their fifth child, a daughter… Daniel Gies ’99 was featured in theChicago Sun-Times in an article about his work

class notes

financing local agricultural businesses in Afghani-stan on behalf of Chicago’s ShoreBank in coopera-tion with USAID… Christina Halbert ’99 marriedAriel Gamino in September 2004 in Michigan.They are planning another, bigger wedding thisyear in Mexico. The couple resides in Miami FL…Sangeeta Bajaj ’99 married Joseph LaForges inApril 2004. Fifteen T-bird alumni attended theevent… Mark Merifield ’99 and Carolina Montero’99 relocated from Miami FL to Nice, France,where he is manager of Global Service Design &Management at Amadeus. She is an account man-ager for the internet marketing firm, Latin3. Theyhad a daughter in August 2003… Lisa Shackelford’99 married Eduardo Larenas in June 2004 in Mia-mi FL. She has been working for Caterpillar’s LatinAmerican division in Miami for five years… TamiPeter ’99 married Gregory Heintz in Roseland NJin July 2004. The couple resides in West New YorkNJ. She is the vice president of Structured CreditSales for SG Americas, the investment bankingarm of Societe Generale in New York.

2000-2005Chris Donaldson ’00 is managing Motorola

handset launches to T-Mobile. He married Sarah(Lamoree) Donaldson in August 2003. The couplelives in Chicago IL… Brian Kenny ’00 will com-plete this year his executive doctorate of manage-ment degree at Case Western Reserve UniversityWeatherhead School of Management… JulieJensen ’00 was appointed as the new marketingand advertising sales director for National Geographic Channel and Adventure One (A1) inAustralia and New Zealand… Krista Peterson ’00has been assistant director of Global Business Cen-ter, University of Washington Business School,since April 2002. She is internationalizing theschool’s curriculum. Krista was married in October2003 to Brian Woodward… Brian Mefford ’00 wasnamed president and CEO of the Center for Infor-mation Technology Enterprise (CITE) in BowlingGreen KY. CITE is a research and consulting organization that provides information technologystrategy and policy planning to institutions aroundthe world… Terry Wick ’00 passed away February11, 2004, in Canton OH… Jami Fry ’00 and JeremyWong ’96 have two boys and live in San Diego CA,where she is a strategic marketing manager forSyntricity Inc., and he is a senior systems analystfor Qualcomm. He is also founder and chief monkee of Speedmonkee Performance LLC.

Muyi Louisa Li ’01 and husband, Long Yang, had a daughter, Emma, born in November 2004… Nishant Taneja ’01 is global marketing operationsmanager at McAfee, a leading security softwarecompany based in Silicon Valley CA… DavidAdams ’01 and his wife, Elizabeth, had a girl, JuliaVargas, in January 2005. The family lives in Chan-hassen MN. He works in strategy and business development in the entertainment group at BestBuy… Alison Leo Rana ’01 is still working forExxonMobil in Washington D.C. in internationalgovernment relations. She had lunch with Alice SuKidwell ’01 and Miki Sazon ’01 over Thanksgivingand had a great time catching up. Sazon lives inSingapore and is traveling the world, particularly

around Asia. Kidwell works at the American RedCross in D.C…. Juan Garcia ’01 ran the New YorkCity marathon and finished in a time of 4:44… Deborah Shapos ’01 and Steve Andaloro ’01, alongwith one other partner, opened Aspire Markets infall 2004, the first gourmet grocery store for peopleon special diets in Scottsdale.

Jason DeLecour ’02 died February 26, 2004 in asnow slide on a Utah mountainside… Ryan Bartell’02 is engaged to Jamie Hope Katz of Solon OH.He is a consulting evaluation analyst for HVS International in Miami FL. The couple plans aMay 2005 wedding… Cliff Fossum ’02 passed awayin April 2004. A memorial fund supporting the Dolores Library District has been established with the First National Bank of Cortez, Drawer A,Cortez CO 81321… Allison Kaiser ’02 is marketingmanager for ViroLogic, a biotech company based inSan Francisco… Mark Abromovitz ’02 was featuredin the February edition of the Phoenix Business Journal for a real estate project his company is developing in downtown Phoenix. Abromovitz Investment Properties develops, manages, and invests in industrial, commercial, medical and historic properties in Phoenix, with an emphasis onredevelopment in the downtown corridor.

Francisco Rivera Haro ’03 was named COO in one of the top home construction companies inMexico, which is building 5,000 houses per year and has a two-digit growth rate… Carole Low ’03is senior account manager at Digital Impact, an online direct marketing solutions company in SanMateo CA… Gene Shi ’03 was promoted to Asianmarketing manager for the Bay Area Region ofFirst American Title Company in October 2004…Bernardo Grossi Lobo Martins ’03 and Nicole Re-nee Annarino ’03 will be married in Belo Horizonte,Brazil in the fall of 2005. The two began datingthree years ago while working on a marketing project at Thunderbird. The couple lives in Boston,where he works for Tyco International, and sheworks for TJX… Balaji Viswanath ’03 was inter-viewed on Manhattan News Network in January2004 about the tsunami relief and rehabilitation operations in India. Balaji is the director of marketing and public relations for Vibha, a non-profit organization that supports child developmentactivities in India and the United States.

Ismene Papayianis ’04 and Benjamin Wolf ’04have announced their engagement… Andrew Dicello ’04 and Marcie Butty were married in April 2005 in Phoenix AZ… Jeff Ostaszewski ’04is working at iRobot Corporation in BurlingtonMA. The company markets unmanned ground vehicles… Danilo Pelho ’04 died December 8, 2004,in a car accident near his hometown, Aracatuba, inSao Paulo state, Brazil. While a student, Pelho was president of the Brazil Club and helped organizeRegional Nights and Brazilian barbecues. In hismemory, his classmates and friends have estab-lished a scholarship and tree memorial. Donationscan be given, through the Thunderbird Annualfund, to the Danilo Pelho Memorial Scholarshipand Danilo Pelho Tree Memorial. Information:www.thunderbird. edu/annualfund; questions: mygift@t-bird. edu... Jennifer Slack ’04 is manager for the Vanguard Group in Malvern PA.

62 spring 2005

class notes

Alumnascorespoints forleague’sfinances

WHEN youconstantlytake your-

self outside yourcomfort zone,” saysKimberly Williams’92, “there’s nochallenge that’sinsurmountable.”That attitude hascarried Williams, atage 35, to seniorvice president offinance at theNational FootballLeague, making herthe highest-rankingwoman in the heav-ily male industry.

The route shetook to managingthe NFL budget was

as serpentine as aBarry Sanders run.Following her Thun-derbird graduation,a job in London withGeneral Electricgave Williams theopportunity to dealwith complexities.The job involved notonly multiple cur-rencies, culturesand languages, butalso differing prac-tices in businessand law.

Later, Williamswas hired as CFO ofNBC West Coast,where she evaluat-ed the viability ofnew televisionlaunches andweighed in on thedeal that led to thehit show “Friends.”

When she wasfirst approachedabout the NFL job,Williams hesitantlyagreed to an inter-

view. But she washooked the minutethe interviewerstold her that theNFL’s financialdepartment neededto play a moreprominent role inthe organization.

“I have strongopinions about therole of finance, andI thought it mightbe fun to turn thatfunction around,”she says. “The bestpart is being anoperational partnerand contributing todecisions.”

She now has apassion for the NFL,which “representsthe heart and soulof this country,” shesays. “Being one ofvery few femalesdoesn’t matter. Re-sults matter. That’sthe reason I lovethis organization.”

KIMBERLY WILLIAMS ’92 is senior vice president offinance at the National Football League.

“The NFLrepresentsthe heartand soul ofthis country.Being oneof very fewfemalesdoesn’tmatter. Resultsmatter.”

Share your T-bird experience.

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Visit www.my.t-bird.edu and click “Refer a Future T-bird.” A Thunderbird recruiter will contact you soon.

Get involved!

Thunderbird is looking for Alumni Ambassadors.Work hand-in-hand with Thunderbird’s recruitmentteam to help spread the word to prospective students.

Serve as a representative at local events.

Inform Thunderbird’s recruitment team about local alumni events open to prospective students.

Coordinate conversations between prospectivestudents and alumni in the same global region or career.

Share your experiences

with future T-birds

Thunderbird Alumni Class of 2005, Sara Swain, US; George Alambo, Kenya; Supang Srichaovarat, Thailand.

For more information contact: [email protected]

You’ve been there. You’ve done that.

64 spring 2005

Editor’s Note

forumJ

UST A FEW WEEKS AGO, I inter-viewed a Thunderbird alumna for a management job in Russia.Her first question: “Do people haveindividual freedom in Russia?”

For me, it served as yet another reminderof the kind of press this country gets in theWest. Although the cold war has been overfor more than two decades, there still seemsto be frosty feelings between the former Soviet Union and much of the Westernworld. Every time I return to the UnitedStates, I still have people who ask about themafia and the availability of basic goods.

Russia seems to be getting the same coldshoulder from Thunderbird and many students. Not long ago, Thunderbird had athriving Russian language department andstrong student interest in Eastern Europe.But after Russia’s financial crisis of 1998, interest in Russian studies evaporated, as didstudents’ interest in seeking a job in Russia.

It’s time for a revival. While much of the press about Russia’s

loss of media freedom and backsliding to-ward dictatorship has some basis in fact,what unfortunately has been overshadowedis how business is booming.

A Russian middle class has emerged,young professionals are buying cars andapartments at an amazing pace, businessesare growing at double- and triple-digit ratesand salaries are increasing nearly as quickly.Best of all, the expectation that the state canor will provide support is disappearing.Moscow has become a true world capital, as

every bit as vibrant as New York City orParis, with a plethora of quality shops,restaurants and hotels.

It truly is an exciting time to be in thisrapidly changing market.

However, this environment isn’t for every-one. Much is still being defined and devel-oped, and President Vladimir Putin and the government do not think through everydecision for the unintended consequences. Russians don’t want an America-styledemocracy, for it places too much responsi-bility on the individual. Preferring a strongcentral leadership, they eventually will findtheir own hybrid form of democracy. Untilthen, the country will lurch forward.

Working and thriving in any emergingmarket requires some acceptance of ambigu-ity and the understanding that significantchange takes generations, not a few years.This is where T-birds can have a true com-petitive advantage, but only if the School addresses the language need and studentsput Russia on their job consideration lists.

A Thunderbird graduate with a spirit ofadventure, Russian language skills and a desire to play a part in the transformation ofa country would be much in demand as thecountry embraces capitalism and the inde-pendence that comes with business success.

Russia certainly is not the only “land ofopportunity,” but Thunderbird and its stu-dent should look past the one-sided report-ing and see that this emerging market offersexcitement, an accelerated career path andthe rare chance to ride a wave of change.

Let’s put Russiaback on the map

Thunderbird Forum isopen to members of theThunderbird communitywho have a vision or anidea to share. Write tothe editor with yourideas, and we will explore with you its potential as a column.

BY DENNIS HOPPLEPresident, Thunderbird CBSD Russia

Dennis Hopple

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or call 602-9978-77659.

Thunderbird European Alumni ReunionJune 2–5, 2005 Geneva, Switzerland

R E L A X . R E F L E C T . R E C O N N E C T .

Thunderbird CampusAlumni Relations15249 North 59th AvenueGlendale, Arizona USA 85306-6000 USA

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED57 . 2 . 2005

NONPROFIT ORG.

US POSTAGE

P A I D

MENDOTA, IL

PERMIT #135

Thursday, June 2Kick-off evening cocktail party

Friday, June 3Your choice of daily activities including guided tours and hiking trips.

Dinner and dancing at the Domaine de Penthes

Saturday, June 4More daily activities in the fantastic Geneva region

Exceptional dinner and dance aboard a cruise boat on Lake Geneva

Sunday, June 5Au revoir brunch

ContactsAntoine van Caloen ’87 ([email protected]) Shelley Collum ’03 ([email protected])

Web sitehttp://www.thunderbird.edu/alumni/prog_serv/events/reunion.htm

Brand AMerica

Documents

Transcript of Brand AMerica