Spring 11 MASTER.indd - Thunderbird Magazine

Executive MBA students
hold ‘G78’ summit in Geneva
news & notes
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Maggie Gu ’12, an Executive
MBA student from Nanjing,
China, participates Nov. 15,
2010, as U.S. diplomats discuss
multilateral aspects of their work
at the U.S. Mission in Geneva.
Three Executive
MBA cohorts
from Europe and
the United States
converged Nov. 13-20, 2010,
at the “G78,” a series of site
visits and classes involving
78 globally minded students
in Geneva, Switzerland.
Working professionals
from Arizona’s Cohort XX
and Europe’s Cohort VII
participated in a joint field
seminar that created opportunities
for networking and
shared learning.
Thunderbird Adjunct Professor
Kevin Stringer, Ph.D.,
of Credit-Suisse in Zurich
led the field seminar, which
included presentations
from private, social and
government sector leaders.
Highlights included visits to
meet Betty King, U.S. ambassador
to the United Nations,
and Claude Belge, a
former Swiss diplomat and
the outgoing chairman of
SwissPost.
Students also heard guest
speakers from the Association
of Foreign Banks, the
World Trade Organization,
Booz & Co. and Medair.
Andreas Sigl ’95, head
of marketing communications
for Infiniti Europe,
spoke about global brand
innovation.
Concurrently, Europe’s
Cohort VI stayed busy with
coursework in global strategy,
finance and entrepreneurship
with Thunderbird
Professors Mary Teagarden,
Ph.D., Lena Booth, Ph.D.,
and Steve Stralser, Ph.D.
During the week, the
students visited the local
World Intellectual Property
Organization and hosted local
entrepreneurs. Rock Lake
Thunderbird Professor Steve Stralser, Ph.D., left, talks with former
Costa Rican President José Mariá Figueres during a Thunderbird
Executive MBA reception Nov. 19, 2010, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Associates Chairman John
Cook ’79 also led a session
on private equity.
The culminating event for
all three cohorts was a reception
Nov. 19 with former
Costa Rican President José
Mariá Figueres, a member
of Thunderbird’s Board of
Fellows and a former CEO
of the World Economic
Forum.
Figueres called on T-
birds to combine their commitment
to global citizenship
with their passion for
business innovation as the
world searches for solutions
to the global climate crisis.
Alumni in attendance
included Cook, Ricarda
McFalls ’84 of International
Labor Organization, Steve
Klemme ’85 of JPMorgan
Chase, Rachael Franco ’97
of Merck Serono, Beatrice
Bernescut ’90 of The
Global Fund, and Camille
Germanos ’98 of Everest
Capital.
Thunderbird’s Executive
MBA programs, ranked
No. 3 in the world by the
Wall Street Journal, cater
to working professionals
through formats such as
concentrated weekend classes
and weeklong modules.
WILL MCDONALD
Global Leadership
for Global Impact
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LEARN MORE AT THUNDERBIRD.EDU/2020DU/2020
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