ASU - Thunderbird School of Global Management

Thunderbird School of Global Management is the world’s premier academic institution for the study of global leadership, management, and business for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but we are much more than a school. Thunderbird is also a global network of leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs spanning the private and public sectors who advance inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide. 

A Rich History at the Vanguard of International Management Education

In 1946, American military officers and business leaders founded Thunderbird as the American Institute for Foreign Trade after acquiring Thunderbird Field, a decommissioned World War II air base in Glendale, Arizona where pilots from around the world trained. With the new mission of building peace through global commerce, Thunderbird became the world’s first academic institution to specialize in international management by concentrating its graduate curriculum on cross-cultural communication, regional and international affairs, and hands-on, real-world training in the nuances of global business at the intersection of public policy and law.

In 2014, Thunderbird joined Arizona State University, recently relocating to its growing Downtown Phoenix campus where construction is underway on a state-of-the-art facility housing Thunderbird’s in-person graduate degree and executive programs. The capital city’s urban core has undergone a remarkable revitalization and today, 20,000 students call ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus home.

Sunshine and Scholarship: A Unique Location in the American Southwest

Located in the heart of Phoenix’s flourishing, multicultural business district, Thunderbird's global headquarters is steps away from major sports arenas, museums, performing arts centers and other entertainment venues. Uniquely positioned adjacent to other professional schools in the nation's fifth-largest city with the fastest population growth, T-birds have easy access to first-class fitness facilities, a dazzling variety of dining and entertainment options, a diverse local culture steeped in regional history, and unlimited ways to enjoy the warm, sunny climate.

Thunderbird’s growing network of satellite hubs around the world will all be connected by the dynamic new global headquarters facility, an architectural tour de force. Designed to foster innovation and collaboration, the digitally enhanced building will embody Thunderbird’s rich history while leveraging the latest technology to serve as a central nexus of the school’s worldwide network. 

Thunderbird’s new home base is engineered as a welcoming and luxurious space in which to convene and educate global leaders to maximize the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Envisioned as a global village of high-tech learning and innovation, the new global headquarters is scheduled for completion in 2021 when the Thunderbird community will be celebrating 75 years of educating global leaders who advance inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide.

Students at Thunderbird enjoy modern classrooms equipped with cutting-edge technology for global connectivity, complemented by spacious, comfortable study rooms and lounge areas. Thunderbird students can also make use of libraries, sport and recreational facilities, entrepreneurial projects, cross-sectoral collaborations, research and innovation labs, executive meeting suites for boardroom style presentations, and more, without leaving campus. Graduate students step outside their high-tech business tower into a vibrant commercial district packed with restaurants, gyms, shops, theaters, hotels and bars.

All Thunderbird students also join the broader ASU community and benefit from Thunderbird’s rich history of training global leaders in skills like cross-cultural management and cross-border negotiation combined with ASU’s innovation expertise in disciplines from bio-design to journalism, space science to humanities. 

Global Leadership for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Thunderbird has transformed its Global MBA program into a newly designed, highly innovative Master of Global Management (MGM), ranked #1 in the world by the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education for 2019. MGM students choose from 16 academic concentrations with opportunities to take courses within ASU’s other schools. Thunderbird's No. 1-ranked MGM offers applied learning opportunities, 16 concentrations, including STEM-designated specializations, and internships in real-world settings around the globe where students gain hands-on experience and learn from the diverse perspectives of a global cohort of classmates. Graduates join a worldwide alumni network of 45,000 leaders across 170 alumni chapters. 

All courses are offered in English; however, Thunderbird’s MGM program includes foreign language training. All graduates earning the Master of Global Management degree are required to have training in at least one language in addition to English by graduation.

Global Innovation and Inclusion

Thunderbird is known worldwide for its welcoming culture of collaborative innovation. The school has often been called a “mini-United Nations” because of its diverse and inclusive global student body and its vast and engaged alumni network spanning 145 nations.

Guided by a global mindset and a deep commitment to advancing inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide, Thunderbird integrates original, multidisciplinary management and business training and research with leadership expertise across sectors to empower leaders of transnational organizations to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world. 

Thunderbird Career Management Center offers a full suite of support services, including a one-credit professional development course. All students are paired with an alumni mentor, a student liaison, a career coach, and a faculty advisor. The entire Thunderbird community cares about students’ success and we are all here to support T-birds throughout their Thunderbird journey.

Many Thunderbird programs, including the Master of Global Management, require both applied learning and internship experiences. The Global Challenge Lab sends teams of students to complete consulting projects for organizations in the US and abroad.

In Fall 2019, 93 % of MGM students participated in a summer internship. The Fall 2018 MGM class enjoyed a 97 percent employment rate after 9 months. 

Thunderbird’s global alumni network consists of 45,000 professionals in leadership roles around the world, including 170 alumni chapters in 145 different countries.