Today Thunderbird’s global community celebrated graduates in a reinvented digital commencement featuring mobile telepresence robots that allowed graduates to “walk” virtually. One day these students will tell future generations that they not only successfully graduated during COVID-19 but they were also the first class to do so as avatar robots.

“Thunderbird transformed spring graduation ceremonies in order to celebrate our students with a ceremony that honored our historic traditions of bringing the world together – like our parade of flags from around the world. We also designed one that reflected our community’s resilience, compassion and creativity,” said Thunderbird Director General and Dean, Dr. Sanjeev Khagram. 

“We teach our students how to maximize the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by embracing global ingenuity and innovation, so leveraging transformative technologies like mobile telepresence robots for an unprecedented commencement was a fitting final lesson for the Class of 2020.

“We plan to celebrate our graduates again together in person when Thunderbird holds the grand opening of its new high-tech state-of-the-art global headquarters in 2021 in Downtown Phoenix,” said Dr. Khagram.

About Thunderbird School of Global Management

Thunderbird School of Global Management is a unit of the Arizona State University Enterprise. For more than 70 years, Thunderbird has been the vanguard of global management and leadership education, creating inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide by educating future-ready global leaders capable of tackling the world’s greatest challenges. Thunderbird’s Master of Global Management was ranked #1 in the world for 2019 by the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education. ASU is ranked No. 1 “Most Innovative School” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for five years in succession.

About ASU

Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.