Thunderbird commencement and dinner with Steve Forbes, Craig and Barbara Barrett, and the President of Costa Rica!

Congratulations Spring 2008 Thunderbird graduates!

Today was commencement for the Spring term. As a staff member (and graduate) of the school, I volunteered for two Thunderbird events today.

The first was the commencement ceremony itself. It was held at the new Renaissance Glendale Hotel and Spa. Even though we only live about ten minutes away from the place, I've never been inside before. The hotel is much larger and nicer than it looks from the outside.

Here are a few pictures:

The second event, also at the Renaissance Glendale, was a Thunderbird Global Leadership Society dinner. It was an appreciation/fundraising dinner for the school's top donors. There were many high profile attendees, including the following special guests:

• Steve Forbes (CEO of Forbes Inc. and former presidential candidate)
  
• Dr. Craig Barrett (Chairman of Intel Corp...my former employer) and wife, Barbara Barrett (aka "Superwoman"...CEO, IR rated pilot, and now U.S. Ambassador to Finland...this woman is amazing!)
• Jose Maria Figueres (President of Costa Rica from 1994-1998)
  

The Barretts are huge advocates of Thunderbird. They are also chairing Campaign Thunderbird - the school's $65 million dollar capital campaign. To kickstart the campaign, they have made a $5 million dollar pledge.

I helped with check-in and registration and was able to enjoy the dinner afterwards. The dinner was decent (as good as hotel banquet food can be...). Here was the food served:

I was having dinner with Steve Forbes, the Barretts, and the former President of Costa Rica (among others)! Even though I didn't technically sit with them, I was in the same room. =) WOW!!! What an amazing opportunity!

I experienced a similar feeling when the Dalai Lama visited the school a while back and I attended his speech. Incidentally, Barbara Barrett was instrumental in coordinating that visit.

Thunderbird truly is an amazing place...

Ah - the benefits of working and volunteering at the #1 school in the world in International Business! =)