President's Message

Thank you for your interest in Thunderbird School of Global Management.

In the summer of 2004, I was in a position similar to the one you may be in today: deciding if Thunderbird was the right place for me.

At the time, I was approached by the Thunderbird Board of Trustees to see if I had interest in becoming the next president of the world-renowned institution. While I found this a wonderful professional opportunity, I decided to learn more about the School before committing, so I began an intensive examination of every detail of Thunderbird: its history, its culture, what the faculty was like, what kind of students attended the School, who its alumni were and how involved they were with one another and the School, and what kind of place Greater Phoenix was, and on and on. In the end, I, obviously, very much liked what I found. Some of the most important aspects I discovered:

The Thunderbird Global Network – In its 60 years, Thunderbird has graduated more than 38,000 men and women, known as T-birds, who work in literally every imaginable industry and in every country in the world. As you will find if you talk with T-birds, they are very dedicated to one another and to the School. In the relatively brief time I’ve been with Thunderbird, and with nothing more identifying than a Thunderbird lapel pin, I’ve been approached by dozens and dozens of alumni all around the world, who recognize in the Thunderbird logo the signature of a fellow global mind.

T-birds are global explorers with a passion to understand the world around them and a knack for turning that understanding into successful businesses and unique careers.

Best in class – No School in the world has been educating global leaders longer than Thunderbird. The school was founded in 1946 based on the idea that the world needed—and would, in fact, be better off with—managers who could lead businesses across different cultures and nations. Since that time, Thunderbird has been the vanguard institution in international management. Long before newspapers and analysts began discussing globalization and predicting the flattening of the world, Thunderbird had created a learning environment where faculty and students from around the world teamed to learn about each other’s cultures, both in and out of the classroom. For years, a number of leading business publications have consistently ranked Thunderbird as the top school for international management (U.S. News & World Report has done so for 11 consecutive years). As just about any business professor will tell you (me included), one of the best operating strategies a business can have is to identify its area of strength and become the best in that area. That is something Thunderbird has done for a very long time.

Mission beyond business – There were a lot of reasons why I liked Thunderbird, but the one that touched me most, the one that got me to accept the position of President, was its mission. Thunderbird has a clear sense of purpose, nicely articulated by the School’s second president, William Schurz, when he said: “Borders frequented by trade seldom need soldiers.” Our goal is to educate global leaders who contribute with their business and their actions to building a more prosperous, livable, peaceful world. Thunderbird’s mission—educating global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide—is a reflection of the greater purpose of business as a force of good around the world. It’s also a vision of global management as an honorable profession that requires technical competence, professional skill and a non-negotiable commitment to ethical professional practice.

With all I learned about Thunderbird, I knew I had to be part of it. In time, I accepted the offer to become Thunderbird’s president and moved with my wife, Beth, and our two children from my native Spain to Arizona. The time I have spent here has confirmed for me that I clearly made the right decision, and I hope as you learn more about Thunderbird you’ll come to the same conclusion.

Good luck in your quest for knowledge—may it never end.

Dr. Ángel Cabrera