ANNUAL REPORT ON GIVING - Thunderbird Magazine ...

Donations to Campaign Thunderbird will be used to
better integrate students and classes from various
programs around the world.
funding is needed,” says Dr. Mansour Javidan,
dean of research and RKN head. “Faculty need
time to gather data, conduct studies and write
high-level research papers, which complements
and strengthens their time in the classroom.”
Donations in this area will go toward hiring
additional world-class faculty members and
professors prominent in their fields of expertise
and known for their excellence in the classroom
and cutting-edge research. The funds al-
so will be used to recruit and develop adjunct
faculty around the world, and to provide research
assistants to aid in projects.
The very best research that comes out of
RKN would fund additional research projects
by generating revenue for the school in the
form of executive seminars, books and other
workshops.
The research centers housed within the Research
& Knowledge Network are The Lincoln
Center for Ethics in Global Management,
The Garvin Center for Culture and Languages
of International Management, the
Center for Global Entrepreneurship, and the
Thunderbird Private Equity Center.
Facilities, Technology and
Curricular Innovation
Goal: $20 million
Annual impact: $2 million-plus
Growth: 50 percent in budgets for facility
improvements and technology upgrades
Now in its 61st year as an educational institution,
Thunderbird’s campus and technology
are in need of upgrades, according to Chris
Lee, associate vice president of financial and
administrative services, who says the learning
environment must be upgraded to serve the
school’s growth in size, sophistication and geographic
reach.
“As the market becomes more and more
global, Thunderbird must improve its technology
and facilities to maintain a world-class
learning experience,” he says. “This includes
upgrades to classrooms, auditoriums, residences
and lodging for students and corporate
clients. Investments in facilities and technology
are essential to perpetuating a far-reaching,
global learning community.”
Thunderbird’s Career Management Center,
which was built in 1994, was the last new construction
on the Glendale campus. The last
stand-alone classroom space to be built came
in the 1980s with the development of lecture
hall 53; the Clarke and Betty Nelson Lecture
Hall (54); and the Pharmacia Corp. Lecture
Hall (55).
In terms of technology, the school has in recent
years embarked on new technology-based
academic programs and uses a state-of-the-art
distance learning center to deliver its Global
MBA On-Demand and its Global MBA for
Latin American Managers. But it is the only
classroom of its kind on campus. Other classrooms
are in need of additional power outlets,
wireless Internet connection, and new instructional
computers.
24 spring 2008