ANNUAL REPORT ON GIVING - Thunderbird Magazine ...

BILL TIMMERMAN
Once caught off balance by
a confluence of rapid changes
in the MBA market and major
world events, Thunderbird was
pushed to the brink. But now its
fortunes have turned around and
the school has found its footing
THUNDERBIRD
RISING
When the MBA market
shifted suddenly at the
start of the 2000s,
Thunderbird wasn’t in
a position to adapt
quickly enough to avoid
hurting its bottom line.
Since then, the school
has transformed itself
and is once again
ready to soar.
By D.J. Burrough
IN CITIES AROUND THE WORLD, BILLIONS
of people joyously celebrated the start of the 2000s with
fireworks and champagne, ringing in a new year and a
new millennium, toasting to prosperity and good fortune.
Chimes of clinking glass resounded across the
globe, including at Thunderbird’s pub, where students,
faculty and staff gathered to share the historic moment. But, a time of
prosperity did not lie ahead for the nearly 60-year-old institution. For
Thunderbird, the new millennium marked the beginning of some very
trying times.
While Thunderbird still enjoyed a reputation as the finest school of
international management in the world and its Glendale campus bustled
with nearly 1,600 full-time students, the next few years would not
be nearly as bright. Forced to reduce its class sizes amid a dwindling
MBA market worldwide, and trying to maintain the same level of
quality and options for students, Thunderbird posted a significant
budget deficit in fiscal year 2000-01. Five consecutive years of declining
enrollment and deficits ensued.
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