Thunderbird Magazine, Spring 1990

              TH NDERBIRD
THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN GRADUATE SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT SPRING 1990
JAPAN INTERNS IN SYNC WITH SEIKO
PANAMA:
The Cost of the Invasion
loans, and in many cases,
they already owe money
which they cannot repay.
Many international banks
view Panamanian busi-nesses
as "bad risks,"
O'Connell said, because
of Panama's unpaid
loans. Funding has been
funneled through the
Panamanian government
to provide food, clothing,
and temporary housing
for Panamanians whose
homes were destroyed
during the military
action, but very little
money has been given to
commercial enterprises.
While in Panama,
O'Connell found that
there were insured losses
i of $125 million to $DO
~~~0~~1~~~;~~~~=1~,§ mpaiyllaibolne, bbeucta tuhseey owf ethree not
f war-risk exclusion
They had been
expecting an invasion for
months, a Toyota dealer
in Panama City told Dr.
John O'Connell, c.v
Starr professor of insur­ance
at Thunderbird.
"Every time something
would happen at one of
the military bases, the
word would go out that
'the invasion is tonight,' "
O'Connell was told. But
each time the people cried
"Wolf," nothing happened.
"By the time the invasion
actually occurred, nobody
was really prepared for it,"
O'Connell said. 'Tremen­dous
losses occurred, and
they were the kind of
commercial losses that
aren't addressed by most
sources of assistance,
except by insurance
companies."
O'Connell went to
Panama in February on
behalf of Thunderbird to
assess damages in Panama
City brought about by the
U.S. invasion of Panama
in December, 1989, and
to investigate the need for
assistance. He also deter­mined
where assistance
could come from, or had
already come from. Some
assistance has been pro­vided
by church-affiliated
groups, bank loans, and
the U.S. and Panamanian
governments. However,
large amounts of assistance
were and still are non­existent,
he said.
Who Helps the
Businesses?
Because of destroyed
and stolen property and
inventory, many businesses
have nothing to offer
banks as collateral for
attached to most insur­ance
policies. The clause
"excludes for declared or
undeclared war, as well as
for direct and indirect
losses related to war,
insurrection, rebellion,
etc., "O'Connell said,
adding that this is a very
broad definition and has
caused confusion among
policy holders in Panama,
as well as among profes­sionals
in the insurance
industry itself. O'Connell
favors rewording the
clause to make it clear to
future policy holders that
damages will not be paid
if they occur during any
type of war situation.
However, he also favors
the development of
specific war-risk cover­age,
similar to buying a
flood insurance policy in
addition to traditional
property insurance.
Who Pays for Damages?
Although the Pana­manian
invasion was not
the first war or invasion
that has involved the
U.S. and U.S. insurance
companies, Panama is
unique in that the people
whose businesses were
insured by U.S. and
foreign insurance com­panies
are asking the
insurance companies to
first, decide whether or
not the war exclusion
applies in this case, and
second, to assess and if
liable, to pay for, damages.
For Panamanian busi­nesses
to recover, they
need assistance and are
pressuring insurance
companies to pay for
damages that may not be
covered under any form
of assistance.
Many of the commercial
damages occurred from
uncontrolled looting.
"Sources in Panama
indicated that it was not
only the poor people who
were involved in the
looting. Looters came
from many sectors of the
general population,"
O'Connell said. He also
said in some cases, the
looting was reported to
be "orchestrated."
"I was told that
Noriega's supporters had
been well versed in trying
to get the U.S.forces to
open fire on the public,"
O'Connell said. "Noriega
had, apparently, prior to
this invasion, instructed
people, whom he called
his dignity battalions,
to take over and make
certain that there was a
lot of upheaval, and
other problems," he said.
Abo~; A side street in Panama City shows the destruction that
occurred during the assault on Panama. Left; A U.S. military soldier
equipped with an MI6 rifle guards a building
damaged during the invasion.
'l\pparently, the intention
was to draw fire from
u.s. forces."
Why So Much Looting?
O'Connell explained
that the looting took place
in front of u.s. service­men,
but the u.s. forces
had no orders to stop the
looting. The Panamanians
were defenseless because
most people had been
disarmed under u.s.
military orders. Even
private security guards,
hired by business owners
to protect property and
inventory against looters,
had been disarmed and
were, therefore, helpless
in the face of the
uncontrollable mob.
In preparing for an
attack on Panama,
business owners pur­chased
looting insurance,
but discovered after the
invasion that the policies
contained war-risk
exclusions.
How Do You
Assess the Loss?
The total need for
assistance in Panama City
has been estimated at
$300 million to $2 billion.
O'Connell blames the
wide range of estimates
on the lack of trained
personnel who were asked
to assess the damages in
Panama. Because of the
lack of agreement in the
value of the losses, it will
be hard to address claims,
O'Connell said. In the
future, O'Connell said he
would like international
insurers to be appointed
to assess values of loss
in disaster situations,
whether it be assessing
damages caused by
natural disasters, such as
Hurricane Hugo, or
damages caused by military
actions, such as the u.s.
invasion of Panama.
And the Loser Is ...
O'Connell spoke with
two individuals who had
two of the largest insured
losses. The first was
the owner of Lurias, a
department store, which
had insured losses esti­mated
to be $6 million
to $8 million.
"One of his warehouses
was bombed by a u.s.
jet the first night of the
invasion (on December
20,1989)," O'Connell
said. "Some ammunition
was stored in a trailer that
was next to the Lurias
warehouse. The U.S. was
fearful that the weapons
were going to be taken
and used by Noriega
supporters, so the u.s.
bombed the warehouse
(as well as the trailer)
and Lurias lost a couple
of million dollars in
inventory," he said. The
warehouse damage may
be covered by a u.s.
military claim, O'Connell
said, since a nonmilitary
target was struck and
damaged.
Lurias also suffered
inventory losses and
property damage to
individual stores. When
O'Connell saw one of the
stores, he said it had been
refurbished and looked
"like new inside" but the
shelves were empty.
During the invasion,
looters had taken every­thing,
O'Connell said,
including piping and
insulation. The store had
been gutted.
A Toyota dealership in
Panama City also ranked
as one of the hardest-hit
insured businesses.
O'Connell reported a loss
of $6 million to $8 million
in vehicles, which were
taken from the show­room
and a storage yard.
Other losses included
extra parts and other
valuable items taken from
the dealership's ware­houses.
O'Connell was
told that "they were
cleaned out by people
who knew exactly what
they were doing because
the dangerous kinds of
commodities like flam­mables
or caustic chemi­cals
in 55 gallon drums
were left untouched."
Everything else, including
company records and
computer tapes, were
either taken or strewn
over the floor. "If the
property couldn't be
taken, it was destroyed,"
O'Connell said.
The information that
O'Connell obtained in
Panama has been passed
on to the students in his
international risk man­agement
insurance course,
who have been asked to
research the definition
of war; disaster assistance
programs; and the state
of the Panamanian econ­omy,
before and after the
invasion, as well as other
facets of the invasion that
relate to insurance.
By Pam R. Selthun
CONTENTS
T'bird Interns in Japan
2
Campus News
8
WBAC Profile
lO
An Interview with Mischa Semanitzky
11
Faculty Profile
12
Trustee Richard Snell
13
Viewpoint
14
Network
16
Updates
20
Thunderbird Magazine
Spring 1990
Quarterly magazine of the
Alumni Relations Office of
the American Graduate
School of International
Management, 15249 N.
59th Avenue, Glendale, AZ.
85306 (602) 978-7135
TELEX 187123
FAX (602) 439-5432
American Graduate
School of International
Management
Assistant Vice President for
Communication and Editor:
Nelda S. Crowell
Director of Publications and
Managing Editor:
Carol A. Naftzger
Communication Secretary:
joann Toole
Design:
Pat Kenny Graphic Design
Director of Alumni
Relations and Publisher:
Bobbie M. Boyd
Assistant Director
Alumni Relations:
Michelle Olson
Alumni Relations Staff:
janet M. Mueller
Executive Secretary/
Office Manager
Donna Cleland
Data Base Administrator
Brenda Woolf
Data Entry Clerk
jane Kidney
Secretary
Ruth E. Thompson!
Helen Grassbaugh
Administrative Assistants
On the cover: (I-r) Dieter
Haberl and jim Loftus
display watches from Seiko.
Seiko was one of six
japanese companies offering
internships to 13
Thunderbird students in the
fall, 1989. Photo by Tim
Rogers
Thunderbird Alumni
Association 1989-90 Board
of Directors and Officers
Chairman of the Board
jack E. Donnelly '60
President
Daniel D. Witcher '50
Vice Presidents
john C. Cook 79
Robert G. Lees 77
McDiarmid Messenger 72
Peggy A. Peckham 74
Thomas A. Peterson 77
Secretary
Bobbie M. Boyd
Ex Officio Members
Roy A. Herberger. jr.
Richard Snell
Board Members
George T DeBakey 73
Eric A. Denniston '80
Webb F. Elkins '63
john A. Florida '62
Stephen F. Hall '69
William H. Holtsnider '59
Donald Howell '90
Larry K. Mellinger '68
Gary L. Pacific 72
Charles M. Stockholm '56
Mariya T ochey Fbgaras~ 78
jeri R. Towner
Denniston 78
Clarence H. Yahn, jr. '62
Honorary Board Members
joseph M. Klein '47
Berger Erickson '86
Back cover: Thunderbird
student Motoko Yuasa is an
intern with Business Express
Technology, Inc. in Phoenix.
She is shown with General
Manager Richard Gnant.
Photos by Tim Rogers
TOKYO
FROM THE
INSIDE OUT
S itting amid eight people who
have helped make Japan an economic
giant, Joe Kuehn worked with Kao
Corporation's top management team
in an office with few dividers, elbow
to elbow with the brains behind the
company's success.
Kuehn was one of 13 students
who participated in an innovative
Japan internship program last fall,
providing a skin-stinging impression
of living and working with a success­ful
Japanese company. Participating
in the program were six Japanese
firms including Seiko and Shiseido.
The idea of setting up an intern­ship
program with some of Japan's
most influential corporations evolved
from a discussion Thunderbird
Professor Akihisa Kumayama had
with Takeshi Kikuchi, a Tokyo Science
University professor who taught at
Thunderbird last summer. Kikuchi, a
former president of Japan's Marketing
Association who has many contacts
with Japanese presidents and CEOs,
went to Tokyo with Kumayama to
recruit the Thunderbird internships.
"Realizing the effect of
Japan-bashing, the companies were
predisposed to receive Thunderbird
students," says Kikuchi. 'l\s a
goodwill effort to counteract it, the
companies provided students not
only with a monthly stipend, but
also with free living accommodations
and commuting expenses."
'~ll Japanese companies are
placing a major emphaSiS on
globalizing their businesses," says
Kumayama. "One way is to send
their employees to business schools.
Another is to introduce American
and European students to their
companies, giving an opportunity for
company employees to blend
together with them."
Kumayama, a Japanese language
professor and advisor to the Japan
interns, says, "We teach things to
students in class, but they don't
experience the culture in the class­room.
Here, Japan knowledge
remains at the cognitive level. But
when students are there as interns,
the culture stings their skin."
iE:E ~J:)
Kao Corporation
Joe Kuehn along with two other
students, Stephen Tom and Mark
Ross, worked at Kao Corporation,
the number one household and
toiletries company and number one
advertiser in Japan. In its lOath year,
the company is just beginning to
become internationally involved.
Within the last two years, Kao has
purchased Jergens America and
Goldwell Cosmetics, Germany, as
well as distribution systems and
factories in France and Spain.
'The Japanese were constantly
asking our opinion of what we
thought of their setup in contrast to
an American company," comments
Kuehn. Many of the employees never
had contact with foreigners on a
business level. Most interns were one
of only a handful of foreign employ­ees
out of thousands of workers, or
perhaps the sole foreign employees.
The three interns at Kao were
given three weeks of orientation, and
then went out with the company's
salesmen for two weeks to visit the
various stores with which they do
business. Kao focuses on point-
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
of-sale advertising and relies heavily
on commercials.
"The Japanese are like family with
their customers," says Tom. "I never
got the impression that the salesman
was trying to sell to his client because
he wanted to make his commission
or maintain a certain sales level.
Rather, it was a sincere interest in
seeing him satisfied. The client was
someone with whom he had estab­lished
a long- term relationship."
Stephen Tom also toured many of
Kao's subsidiary companies, like Kao
floppies. Ross and Kuehn interned
in the marketing department,
where they worked on advertising,
budgeting and sales forecasts.
"Knowing the language is key to
being successful there," says Ross, a
former tennis teacher to Japanese
who has been to Japan 14 times. "I
was able to get more involved in the
company because of my Japanese
ability. When they found out that
some of us could speak Japanese
fairly well, they used it. They
involved us in making presentations
to the managers on the floor."
Last fall's internship was Tom's
first time to Japan, unlike the other
interns. "I had only a year of
classroom study before I went to
Japan. Yet without it, I could not
have survived the internship. Some
people do speak English over there,
but I think as an interns, we should
feel that it is our responsibility
to fit into both the culture and the
company as much as possible. I did
my best to study while I was there,
and was fortunate to have the help of
Mark and Joe."
SII
Jim Loftus, an intern whose Japanese
language level is similar to Tom's, had
a very different experience. Loftus
worked for Seiko Instruments Inc. ,
known globally for its line of watches.
The company also manufactures
machine tools, robotics, fiber optics,
scientific instruments and computer
programs. As part of the Hattori
Seiko family, the company employs
10,000 people worldwide. Loftus
worked in the international sales
section of the fiber optics depart­ment,
with employees who spoke
English fairly well.
"Being married, my wife and I
lived in an apartment rather than a
company dormitory. I didn't have the
same type of day-to-day interaction
with other employees. Having a
spouse accompany an intern on a
four-month assignment is not
standard policy, but Seiko allowed
for it," he says. "My wife had no
experience overseas. Since I am
considering working in Japan in
the future, it was crucial that she,
understand life in Tokyo firsthand.
Suntory Limited is a $6 billion beer
and whiskey producer in Tokyo.
(I-r )Joel Go/eburn was placed in
Suntory's China group and Ron
Schulman interned in the firm's inter­national
planning section.
(I-r) Barbara Olson, director of
internships, and Thunderbird
Professor Akihisa Kumayama are
enthusiastic about the success of the
internship program in Japan. "It is
only possible because of the work of
Professor Kikuchi and the host
companies," says Kumayama.
IIWhen students are there as interns, the culture
Four months is barely long enough
to do that, but without it, how could
we make a decision? Now I know
that we both would be content living
and working in Tokyo."
Loftus spent the first half of his
internship in the sales division; the
second half in the product planning
department. He was involved
in creating a sales forecast for a
fiberoptic modem that Seiko is
manufacturing for the u.s. market.
Loftus, who had worked for Japanese
companies in Chicago before he
came to Thunderbird, was the only
American employee working in
Seiko's 1,OOO-employee office
building.
"M y experience with Japanese
companies in America is that they
usually separate the Japanese
management from the local hires. At
Seiko, although I was a foreigner and
was treated as such, I was still taken
in as part of the company," he says.
Dieter Haberl also worked for
Seiko. In contrast to Loftus, Haberl
transferred to various departments
throughout his internship, including
market planning, personnel, finance,
information systems and the watch
division.
"A Japan internship is different
because the language ability is
limiting. The company couldn't give
me a job with a lot of responsibility.
Instead, I was in an environment
where I could learn about the
company. I was similar to a freshman
employee, who is not given much
responsibility until he has been
with the company for a few years,"
says Haberl.
"The actual work we did at
Seiko was not as important as the
opportunity to interact with the
people. I couldn't just go to work in
the morning, and come back in the
evening," comments Haberl. "Rather,
I made an effort to integrate, to learn
how to bridge the gap and to not
look at the Japanese only from a
foreigner'S standpoint."
~ (I-r) joe Kuehn, Stephen Tom,
and Mark Ross interned with Kao
Corporation, the number one
household and toiletries company
and number one advertiser in Japan.
SUNTORY
Ron Schulman and Joel Golebum
worked together at Suntory Limited,
a $6 billion beer and whiskey
producer in Tokyo that also imports
many foreign brands. Established at
the turn of the century, Suntory has
been involved internationally for the
past 25 years and has been very
aggressive in pursuing global strategy
for the 21st century. Schulman says
they are trying to become a "major
player" in the world food industry
through mergers and acquisitions.
The company also manages 17
Suntory restaurants in Europe and
the United States.
"Most Japanese companies are
starting to get more involved in
Europe because they are afraid that if
they don't, it will soon become
Fortress Europe," says Schulman.
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
4
~
(I-r) Rebecca Baerve/dt and joanne
Abitabilo worked for Brainware K.K.,
a software development firm. They
presented a one-hour presentation on
the internship ta the firm's top
management.
'They want to get in now and make
their investments. Suntory is
interested in the Pacific Rim and
Asia, but they are also very interested
in Europe because American markets
are saturated and very competitive."
Schulman adds that Japan's
growth has flourished in past years
because of good exchange rates,
cheap labor and an open U.S.
market. Large Japanese firms reinvest
their money, perhaps more wisely
than American companies, he says,
and build up momentum for future
development.
Also, the Japanese emphasize
service. "In America, we hear that the
customer is always right, but how
many times do you go into a store
and believe it? The customer is always
right in Japan," says Schulman.
Schulman worked in Suntory's
international planning section,
creating computer graphics and
visuals for company meetings.
Goleburn worked for Suntory's
China Group, translating various
company documents and literature.
stings their skin. 11 -PROFESSORKUMAYAMA
One of his assignments involved
translating a firsthand account of the
Tiananmen Square incident.
A typical day for the intern
involved a half-hour to an hour
commute to work and then eight to
12 hours of work, followed by
socializing in a karaoke bar.
To most of the interns, bridge
building occurred after work. Joel
Goleburn spent two or three nights
out of the week going to karaoke
bars. Literally translated "empty
orchestra," a karaoke bar features a
music video machine that supplies
words and music. From a list of
popular Japanese and American hits,
participants take turns going up to a
microphone and serenading the rest
of the customers in the bar.
"We really got to know people
better after work," says Goleburn.
"Everyone has to sing. Elvis Presley
and the Beatles are really popular.
Afterward, we'd all rush to catch the
last train home, then get up early in
the morning to go to work."
But Schulman and others believe
they learned more about Japan and
the Japanese in these settings than
any other.
The interns learned that work is
the major focus in Japan. "The truth
is that Japanese employees don't
leave work, it's an in-grown concept
in Japanese society. In America, you
work to make money for your family.
In Japan, you work to make money
for the family that is your company,"
Schulman comments.
"The culture has taught, 'Don't
leave the office until your superiors
do. Work for the company. Don't take
days off.' Everyone accumulates
vacation days. Whoever has the most
days off accumulated at the end of
the year wins," he says.
Kao Corporation exemplifies this
concept, where cultural pressure
overrides company policy. The
company developed a program, Total
Cost Reduction, designed to keep
weekly work hours within the time
allotted and including a mandatory
"no overtime" day. All employees
know about the program, but
Stephen Tom says that complying
with it is only employee lip service.
Most continue to work substantial
overtime, but don't report it.
Adds Schulman, "People in Japan
work hard, but I don't think they
SPRING 1990
work any harder than Americans do.
The time they spend on their work is
longer, but it's not necessarily quality
time. It's just that priorities are
different. The Japanese might
sacrifice home life for work, as
opposed to Americans, who might
sacrifice work for home life."
Rebecca Baerveldt, who interned
with Brainware KK, agrees. "The
Japanese worker bee is a myth.
Much more so than Americans, the
Japanese use the workplace to
socialize," she says. "Work is so
much more a part of their day and
has a bigger role in their lives, at
least for the men."
Baerveldt, along with Joanne
Abitabilo, worked for Brainware
KK, a small 18-year-old software
development firm with branches
throughout Japan and one in Korea.
The company develops and sells
financial systems, software packages
and personal computer accessories.
Baerveldt worked in the marketing
and sales department and went to
several trade shows. Abitabilo
worked on a marketing project
identifying potential U.S. software
companies that could be candidates
for the Japanese market.
"When you talk about business­women
in Japan, you need to draw
the line between Japanese and
foreign women. Japan is still a
male-dominated society," remarks
Baerveldt. "I'd compare it to America
30 to 35 years ago. Being a foreign
businesswoman, I'm seen as a
foreigner first, as a woman second.
That can be an asset if you know
how to work with it.
"You do not find career
opportunities for women in Japan -
you find job opportunities, espeCially
in a Japanese corporation. A lot of
Japanese women prefer working for
foreign companies because they
aren't as structured or traditional."
In Japan, the traditional female
office worker is a "man's assistant."
She does a lot of administrative work
and serves coffee and tea. Very few
IIIn Japan, you work to make money for the family
women are on the management
track, and if they are, they're
probably not married. Motherhood is
a full-time and exclusive career, and
marriage is generally considered
women's first priority. A well-known
aphorism says once a woman turns
26, she becomes a Christmas cake,
and no one wants to buy a Christmas
cake on the 26th.
"I don't try to kid myself. There
are disadvantages," says Baerveldt,
who is planning a career exporting
products to Japan. "One of them is
that I'm not a known factor to the
Japanese, so a certain amount of risk
is involved in hiring me."
But regardless of being women,
"we were expected to contribute a lot
Interns Gregg Lafayette and Tom
Oh interned with Shiseido Co., Ltd.,
the world's third-largest cosmetic
maker and the market leader in Japan.
They studied Shiseido's marketing
and sales techniques, as well as the
distribution systems, factories, and
research facilities.
to Brainware," says Abitabilo, who,
along with Baerveldt, presented a
one-hour presentation on her
internship to Brainware's top
management. 'They demanded a lot
from us. Because I am an American
from an American graduate school, a
lot of doors were opened for me."
However, Baerveldt and Abitabilo,
as well as many of the other Japan
interns, are not planning careers in
Japan because more and more
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
6
American companies in Japan are
looking for Japanese nationals. In
addition to the differing attitudes
toward women, working in japan
also poses difficulties in quality of
housing, cost of living, hierarchical
employment structures and
simply being a minority among
predominantly all-Japanese peers.
JHIJEIDO ~
Gregg Lafayette and Tom Oh
worked for Shiseido Co., Ltd., the
world's third largest cosmetic maker
and the market leader in japan. With
$3 billion in cosmetic sales annually,
Shiseido has subsidiaries in 13 coun­tries,
as well as other international
agencies, representative offices and
factories. Because of the competitive­ness
of the japanese cosmetic market,
the company wants to expand more
fully into other product areas,
including beverages, pharmaceutical
products and accessories.
Lafayette and Oh studied Shiseido's
marketing and sales techniques, as
well as its distribution systems,
factories and research facilities. Part
of their internship included working
on the production line, where they
helped to package cosmetic boxes.
The two interns wore dark green
factory uniforms and began the day
at 7:55 doing morning exercises with
the rest of Shiseido's predominantly
female workers.
In addition, they observed the
stringent tests the company puts its
products through to determine
durability. One simulated the
shuffling inside a woman's purse,
while another determined what
happened to a product while it was
transported by truck on a highway.
"I was impressed with how
comprehensively they focus on
quality," says Lafayette. "Quality
control is a never-ending process to
the Japanese, and they never feel like
they've achieved it. In America, you
could find a bruised fruit at a
store and still buy it. The japanese
wouldn't. No matter what they
manufacture, companies are very
conscious of producing the highest
possible quality."
Like most japanese employees,
that is your company" -RON SCHULMAN
the Japan interns lived in subsidized
housing. Lafayette and Oh lived in
an older family dorm. They lived in a
sparsely-furnished apartment with
one tatami straw mat room that was
separated by a sliding door, in
addition to a kitchen and bathroom.
Together they fixed food over a gas
burner and washed clothes with the
help of their kitchen sink and an
old -fashioned wringer/washer,
hanging them over a rope strung
across the kitchen to dry.
'There were problems," says
Lafayette. "But those things were part
of what made the internship worth­while.
I discovered what I need to
work on in the future to relate to the
Japanese in a business atmosphere.
"Whether you come into a
Japanese company as a Japanese
national or as a foreigner, one of the
most important approaches to
consider is to make an effort to be
accepted as a member of the 'family'
because Japanese companies consume
much more of your daily life outside
of nine to five ," remarks Lafayette,
who joined Shiseido's softball team
to play in a tournament last fall.
Tom Oh, a Korean, was surprised
to find that the stereotypical Japanese
prejudice toward Koreans didn't
exist for him. "I was a guest from
Thunderbird, and perhaps I appeared
more Americanized," he says. 'The
internship confirmed to me that I
could, as a Korean, work in Japan."
WJINOMOTO"
William Amsden and Sharon
Begin worked for Ajinomoto Co. ,
Inc. Founded in 1925, the company
is extensively involved in marketing
and producing seasoning products
throughout Asia, the Americas, and
is spreading into Europe and Africa.
With 5,000 employees in Japan,
the company also manufactures
pharmaceutical products, oils and
fats, canned drinks and processed
foods. Currently Ajinomoto is
looking to acquire an American
company to act as its marketing arm
in the United States.
Begin conducted international
marketing research for frozen foods,
oils and fats. Amsden worked
with Skippy peanut butter in the
processed foods division and also
developed a prototype for an
American-style seasoning adjusted
for the Japanese market in the
company's seasoning division.
'1\ lot of how a product is
conceived in one country isn't the
same as in another. Peanut butter is a
great example. The Japanese have a
product called peanut cream that is
really much sweeter than peanut
butter," says Amsden. Ajinomoto had
problems marketing Skippy in Japan
because it wasn't sweet enough. It
doesn't match their perception of
what it should be, so the company
has to develop a campaign explain­ing
that the product isn't sweet."
Working in various departments in
divergent companies throughout
William Amsden worked with Skippy
peanut butter in the processed
foods division of Ajinomoto Co., Inc.,
a foods and pharmaceutical manufacturer.
SPRI G 1990
Tokyo, the interns noticed a common
office environment. Generally, an
entire department will be in one
room with the department head in
the middle, separate from the rest of
the employees, who form in close
groups around him. At Ajinomoto,
one group will have seven to 10
desks together with one common
phone and no secretary.
"Everyone seems to have their own
space or territory in America," states
Amsden. "It's a cultural difference.
The bigger your office or the thicker
your walls, the more important you
are. In Japan, that's not true at all.
There are no dividers and everything
is in the open."
ASSESSING THE PROGRAM
Barbara Olson, Thunderbird's
director of internships, states that
while the primary concern in
accepting interns is language ability,
she also looks for students who have
an openness and willingness to
experience a totally new culture.
'They can't expect the same kind of
internship that they would have with
an American company. It's a totally
different experience. Some of the
interns contributed by coming up
with ideas on their own so that they
could be part of the company."
Olson says Thunderbird will
continue the Japan internship pro­gram
with the same companies that
initially sponsored it. The Schtol
is also developing internships with
American companies that are doing
business in Japan. With 170 appli­cants
for summer internships, the
program is also expanding in Europe.
"The Japan internship program
succeeded," says Kumayama. "When
I interviewed these D people before
they went to the Japanese companies,
I saw students. When I saw them
after the internships, I saw business
men and women. I was shocked at
what an internship could do for them
and how much they could learn in
that time. "It is a program like this
that makes Thunderbird exceptional
ffi and is only possible because of the
2 work of Professor Kikuchi and the
I:
.~ host companies. I will always be
o extremely grateful to them."
1'
0
_ By Mary Alice Loftus
CAM PUS NEW S
ART,
ARCHITECTURE,
AND AWARDS
The Phoenix Art Museum was the
site of Thunderbird's annual spring
banquet and the Thunderbird
Alumni Association Distinguished
Alumni Awards in March. Guests
enjoyed the Frank Lloyd Wright
Drawings exhibit while visiting with
friends. A backdrop of contemporary
art and soft jazz were available as
members of the Board of Trustees,
the World Business Advisory Council
and board of directors of the
Thunderbird Alumni Association
enjoyed dinner. William Turner was
presented with a world clock in
appreciation of his services to
Thunderbird during his tenure as
chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The distinguished alumni awards
are presented each year to alumni
whose career accomplishments have
brought honor to them and the
School. George B. Murphy '73
received the award for business and
industry. Murphy is the president
and CEO of General Foods Bakery
Companies, Inc. He joined General
Foods in 1973 and was named to his
present position in 1987.
The award for entrepreneur­ship
was given to Charlotte
(I-r) Dr. James Mills, Board of
Trustee member Charles Stockholm
'56, Dr. Robert Tancer, former
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
William Turner and his wife, Cynthia,
visit during the Spring Banquet held
March I, 1990.
Kennedy-Thkahashi '76, president
of OAK Associates, K. K. The
Tokyo-based company, founded in
1980, represents 120 corporate
clients, providing bilingual staff,
cross-cultural management and
communication training.
Narce Caliva '56 is the retired
special assistant to the vice president
of human resources for the American
Red Cross and is currently a consul­tant
with Psychological Consultants,
Inc. He received the award for
public service and has provided
guidance and support to coworkers,
military personnel, and those in
need for over 30 years.
Service-to-Thunderbird awards
were presented to John C. Cook '79
and Guy Stillman '62. Cook founded
the Thunderbird Alumni Association
of Europe in 1983 and served as
president until 1987. He lives in
Frankfun and is the Abteilungsdirektor
for Security Pacific Bank. Stillman
contributes time and energy to the
School through his support of the
annual Consular Corps Ball. He also
served on the Board of Trustees for
10 years. He owns Stillman Ranch in
Scottsdale.
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
8
THUNDERBIRD
ANDYONSEI
EXCHANGE
President Roy A. Herberger, Jr. and
Young Sik Park, president of Yonsei
University, Seoul, Korea, Signed an
agreement to develop academic and
cultural exchanges in the areas of
education and research.
Dr. Marshall Geer, vice president
for administration, and Dr. Theho Kim,
professor of economics in the World
Business Department at Thunderbird,
helped to lay the groundwork for
the exchange agreement in the
spring and summer of 1989 at Dr.
Herberger's urging. When he met
with university officials, Kim said
they had an "informal under­standing"
of the academic exchange
agreement. "The overall reputation
of Yonsei University is excellent; it
is one of the best in Korea," he said.
Geer added, "Contact had been
going on with Yonsei for two years
before my trip there last year. They
(the officials at Yonsei) were a little
dubious about getting involved
with another American university,
since they have so many exchange
programs already, but I went there to
convince them of the benefits of an
exchange program with Thunderbird
and explain why we wanted to be a
part of Korea." One of the main
reasons is that, according to Kim,
Korea now ranks as the seventh
largest trading partner with the
United States.
STUDENT LOAN
PAYOFF PROGRAM
ANNOUNCED
In February, the U. S. secretary of
education announced a special
six-month grace period to allow
borrowers currently in default to
payoff their federally-guaranteed
student loans without penalty.
Under the student loan payoff
program which began on March 1,
1990, borrowers who have defaulted
on federally-guaranteed student
CAMPUS NEWS
loans may contact the guarantee
agency holding the loan and
arrange to pay the loan in full before
August 31, 1990.
Payment in full of principal and
interest due on defaulted loans will
save the borrowers the cost of
penalties, administrative charges,
and collection fees, costs that can
add up to 35 percent of the debt.
Consumer credit reporting agen­cies
will receive notice that a loan
has been paid in full. This is a
one-time opportunity for borrowers
to satisfy the legal obligation of their
defaulted student loans.
AboYe: Dave Trott '74 and Nona Niner
'Bllook on as Dr. Roy A. Herberger,Jr.
tells the audience his plans for
Thunderbird's future during dinner
at the Crescent Hotel. Below: The
Alumni Leaders Conference focused on
student-alumni relations during their
meetings in March.
SPRING 1990
9
THOMAS AND
YEARLEY ELECTED
TO BOARD
During a meeting in March, the
Board of Trustees elected two new
members. Named to the board
were Arizona business executives
William S. 'Tom" Thomas, Jr. and
Douglas C. Yearley.
Thomas is executive vice president
of Security Pacific National Bank,
San Francisco. He is also chairman
and a director of Security Pacific
Bank Nevada as well as a member of
the Management Committee of
Security Pacific Corporation.
Yearley serves as chairman and
chief executive officer of the Phelps
Dodge Corporation. His career with
the company has spanned 30 years.
Yearley is also a director of the
Valley National Bank, Phoenix, and
the Valley National Corporation,
Phoenix.
KLAUS AGTHE,
BRINGING ENERGY
TO THUNDERBIRD
Klaus Agthe remembers meeting
an eager, bright, and ambitious
young man from India working in
the London office of Continental Can
Company in the '70s. Ashok Patel '77
was one of Agthe's first introductions
to Thunderbird and Agthe was
impressed.
Now executive vice president of Asea
Brown Boveri Inc. , US. operations,
Klaus Agthe is a new member of the
World Business Advisory Council.
He also served as Thunderbird's
executive in residence in March.
While on campus, Agthe visited
classes and shared his considerable
experience with students in group
lectures as well as one-on-one.
The match between Agthe and the
School is a good one. Agthe has
spent his entire career in international
business with firms such as ITT
and Continental Can Company. His
present company, Asea Brown Boveri,
is a merger of two giant electrical
engineering companies that have
been in business for over 100 years.
The U.S. company is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the ABB Group with more
than 50 companies located here. It has
experienced phenomenal growth in
the last two years, increasing the
employee base from 6,000 to 35,000
employees through mergers and
acquistions.
Agthe says, "We are the biggest
electrical engineering company in
the world now, involved in everything
that has to do with electrical power
and generation of electrical power."
The company is also involved in
the environmental sector through its
ABB Environmental Systems Unit,
devoted to emission control systems
like scrubbers for power plants,
clean-air systems, and fans. The
recent acquisition of Combustion
Engineering brings a waste energy
and management component to ABB's
US. holdings.
'The power industry in
this country has gone through
tremendous changes and also
tremendous pressures from the
Dr. Klaus Agthe participated as a
guest lecturer in the Winterim CEO
Seminar in January.
regulatory side," says Agthe, "but it
is getting in really good shape to
address the demands of the '90s. We
need to have a very reliable and
cost-efficient electric supply in this
country, because that is closely
linked to economic growth."
The United States will be looking
at different options for electric power
as some plants are now close to
reserve capacity and others are in
need of refurbishing. Nuclear power
has been a controversial issue over
the years. It is not well known that
there are more than 100 nuclear
power plants operating in this country,
according to Agthe. The US. gets up to
20 percent of its power from nuclear
power plants. "It is a very important
factor in our industry," says Agthe.
"I think it's an important part of our
business to service and support the
industry, including nuclear power."
Asea Brown Boveri is a good example
of a truly global company. With the
globalization of businesses becoming
a reality, Agthe sees Thunderbird
as being the right school at the right
time. 'The type of education that
Thunderbird offers is really meeting
the demands of society," he says.
As a member of the World
Business Advisory Council, Agthe
serves on its curriculum committee
discussing the possibility of the
School offering different degree
program options. One of the degrees
under discussion is the executive
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
10
M.l.M. "With the world changing so
quickly, we all have to go back to
school and learn," says Agthe. "I
think an executive M.l.M. is a good
step in the area of executive educa­tion
and a tremendous opportunity
for a school like Thunderbird."
He sees the current degree being
offered, the M.l.M., as an excellent
base and says the addition of an
MBA would put the School in a very
good position as the educational
environment becomes more
competitive. Thunderbird is going to
be competing for a more limited
number of students with a
proliferation of schools offering
international business programs.
Agthe says Thunderbird is a very
special school with a very special
student body and in an excellent
position to face the future.
ALUMNI
SCHOLARS FUND
GROWS
CN.
The Thunderbird affinity card has
contributed $6,700 to the Alumni
Scholars Fund to date. The gold
MasterCard is offered to all domes­tic
alumni through Valley National
Bank. The Phoenix chapter was
instrumental in getting the program
started in cooperation with the
Thunderbird Alumni Association.
FORGING A LINK
WITH THE
SOVIET UNION
Mischa Semanitzky, assistant to the
president, traveled to the Soviet Union
in January to build a cultural bridge
between that country's educational
system and Thunderbird. The follOWing
is an interview with Dr. Semanitzky.
Q: Now that the borders have
opened in Russia, what do you see
as the prospects and difficulties of
doing business in the Soviet
Union?
A. One of the basic problems
facing commerce with Russia is the
nonconvertibility of the ruble.
Therefore, countertrade barter offset
is a way to do business in Russia.
You don't do business in Russia, you
do business through other countries,
through other agencies with Russia.
The companies and corporations
who have taken the time to do that
are doing quite well.
The other method is through joint
ventures. McDonald's is the most
dramatic evidence of the joint
venture. It is a joint venture
between Canadian McDonald's and
the City of Moscow. Until the Soviet
economy and Eastern European
economy adjust to fit the rest of the
business world, joint ventures will be
the way of the future. Now, that will
logically lead to an adjustment of the
economies so that they fit Germany,
the U.S. , Japan, so that we're all
speaking the same economic lan­guage,
and functioning the same way.
That's going to take time, and it's
going to be difficult. The two key
words are "time" and "difficult."
I think everybody's going to be in
for a roller-coaster ride and the
Soviets know that. You don't turn
around a 70-plus year society and
the economy on a dime.
They need help, and Thunderbird
is in a position to help. That's why
we're striking out in that direction.
We're not exclusively confining our
interest to the Soviet Union, but to
the other Eastern European coun­tries,
as well.
Mischa Semanitzky
Q: What areas of business do they,
need help in?
A. Everything. Transportation, move­ment
of materials, economics,
international finance, personnel
management. Everything. One of the
crucial areas is the field of communi­cation.
If there is a technical area
basic to the development of that part
of the world, it is communication.
It has to come first and is so basic.
It is so hard to make telephone calls,
to contact people.
One of the simple things we take
for granted is the telephone book.
There are none in Moscow. They do
have telex and FAX. Any alumni
involved in the communication
industry should probably look to
that whole development as a pretty
interesting future.
Q: What prompted your trip to
Russia?
A. My trip to the Soviet Union was
suggested by an alumnus and I
went as the guest of the u.S .-USSR
Initiative. Zoran Obradovic '79 set
up a meeting for me at the Academy
of Foreign Trade. The academy is
one of the traditional government
and educational agencies through
which most people go when aspiring
to various positions within the
Soviet structure. It is an older
establishment, and I had a very
good meeting with them. They are
very interested in almost any kind
of relationship that we can develop
that's logical for them. They need a
lot of help. The whole system is
turning around and their expertise
in many areas is lacking.
SPRING 1990
11
I visited The Plekhanov Institute,
another established educational
institution of the Soviet Union,
which has spawned a school of
business. The acronym is MIRBIS
-loosely translated - Moscow Insti­tute
of International Business School.
They have a concrete proposal
they asked me to bring back to
analyze and see if we can help them
in the training of business executives.
MIRBIS plus the other two
business schools I visited are new
entities, no more than two to three
years old. They're very aggressive,
and they're beginning to look like a
lot of business schools in this
country. They are accepting and
developing executive management
training courses for their industrial
and business people and are
charging hard dollars, not rubles, for
the companies to send people to
their schools. They have their own
bottom line, their own responsibili­ties
for developing their budgets, and
they are not government supported,
as such, so they're getting into the
free enterprise, the free marketing
system. The International School of
Business (IBIS) assistant director
and some of his staff may come to
Thunderbird both to lecture in our
courses, and to meet with us about
future developments.
Two of the schools asked me if there
was a possibility that Thunderbird
could act as a broker to find American
joint venture partners for some of
their lines.
Q: How were you received in the
Soviet Union?
A. The fact that I could speak
Russian, although not on their level,
put the relationship on a different
plane. The Soviets were aware of the
fact that I could understand what
they were saying, even though I
could not respond in kind, in
Russian. My background in the arts
as symphony conductor, and with
the ballet also helped. They have so
much respect for the cultural aspects
of who you are, and what you do.
Being able to integrate with the
Soviet culture was beneficial. What
Thunderbird has been doing for over
40 years is right. It makes every­thing
just so much easier to deal
Continued on page 32
FA CULT Y PRO F I L E
JOHN MATHIS:
IN THE
MAINSTREAM
''I'm basically doing what I want to
do and enjoying it very much," says
Professor John Mathis. That includes
teaching, research, training, and
consulting.
Mathis has more than 20 years
experience as an international
economist in both the public and
private sector. He has also published
many books and articles on
international finance, multinational
business, and international banking.
After graduating with a Ph.D. in
economics from the University of
Iowa, Mathis began teaching at the
University of Illinois, Chicago Circle.
"I decided after teaching for six years,
I needed experience in the private
sector, so I accepted a job at Chase
Manhattan Bank," says Mathis. From
there he moved on to Continental
Illinois National Bank where he was
a principal consultant to corporate
customers and correspondent banks
on the global economic environment.
Mathis made many international
contacts during this time. "I learned
much about different cultures, gave
presentations in many countries
around the world and just learned a
lot about real business practices,"
says Mathis. "I learned what
businessmen were concerned about
in different countries."
In 1985, Mathis joined The World
Bank where he directed research on
funding the Bank and developed bor­rowing
strategies focusing on liability
management, liquidity policies, and
investment risks. After the reorgan­ization
of The World Bank in 1987,
Mathis joined The World Bank!
International Finance Corporation's
portfolio operations section.
During his career outside of the
teaching profession, Mathis was a
regular guest lecturer in Jim Mill's
Winterim seminar on international
banking. 'Jim asked me a couple of
times, 'Why don't you think about
joining Thunderbird?'" says Mathis,
"and I said, 'Why don't you think
about joining my bank?'" After trying
to hire each other a few times,
Mathis decided he was tired of a very
busy schedule with too much work,
too little pay, and not much time
for fun . "That's when I decided to
leave The World Bank and join
Thunderbird," says Mathis.
At the same time, Mathis was
thinking of starting his own business
and a private consulting company,
Transnational Corporate Advisory
Services was born. A number of
other consulting jobs opened up
through different contacts and since
Mathis joined Thunderbird, he and
Jim Mills have combined forces to
offer jOint-consulting to a number of
corporations and banks, as well as
The World Bank and International
Finance Corporation. "I was
immediately told The World Bank
wanted me as a consultant," says
Mathis, "and I felt good in the sense
that I knew I could augment my
teaching income.
"What I have found out is that
consulting dovetails very closely into
what we're teaching in class," says
Mathis. "It gives us exposure to what
corporate treasurers and what
bankers are thinking about. It also
gives us some real-life case situations
that we can relate in class, and opens
the door to place our students in
these companies, either as interns or
on a permanent basis."
In addition to classroom teaching
and consulting, Mathis and Jim Mills
are conducting executive training
programs relating to how a corporate
treasurer manages foreign exchange
or interest rate risk, and how
international bankers fit certain
foreign exchange and interest rates to
solve specific corporate treasurer
problems. They are also developing a
training program with a banking
institute in the Middle East and a
Philippine Training Institute for
bankers. Mathis has also been work­ing
with Robert Morris Associates
and the Bankers Association for
Foreign Trade to set up a training
center for foreign bankers in the US.
to familiarize them with the rules,
regulations, and practices in the US.
Although Mathis misses being in
the mainstream in Washington D.C.,
he is enjoying the challenge of being
involved in the School's future.
He is involved in a plan to build an
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
12
Professor John Mathis
international banking institute at
Thunderbird. "In my wildest dreams,
I hope to see a building with an
endowment to do research, to do
training programs on developments
in the banking industry right here on
campus," says Mathis.
There will be executive programs
for bankers to train them in new
developments in banking and
financial innovations. "We're getting
good support and putting in grant
. proposals for federal funds and we'll
be talking to a number of major US.
banks to enlist their support also,"
says Mathis. "I think it's a realizable
objective. "
Another vision is an international
newsletter directed to the Arizona
community, but also applicable to
surrounding states. It would focus on
international issues and at some
point become an information source
on international activity.
Even though Mathis is once again
working a lot of hours, he says, "I
feel very satisfied in the sense that
I'm doing more of what I want
to do, and the compensation is more
directly related to the effort I put
forth ." He still finds time to explore
Arizona with his Australian wife.
They are visiting museums, attending
cultural events, and even took their
daughter to a typical western event,
the rodeo. Mathis is west of the
Mississippi now, but still in the
mainstream. CN.
T RUST E E PRO F I L E
THE CHALLENGE
IS THE REWARD
"Challenge." The word evokes a
smile from Dick Snell, chairman of
the Thunderbird Board of Trustees.
He has had more than his share of
challenges - yet he asks for more.
In his new position as chairman
and president of Pinnacle West
Capital Corporation, his task is to
orchestrate the turnaround of one
of the state's major companies. After
eight years as head of a troubled
Ramada corporation and architect of
its major restructuring process,
there is every reason to believe he
will succeed in this new venture.
His experience at Ramada should
prove helpful. He was called upon
to take over the chairmanship of that
company in 1981 after 25 years in
the practice of law. ':A,.t that time I
had really done as much in law as I
reasonably could . .. . Sure, there
were other challenges ahead but not
of the same magnitude as the
challenges I had encountered up to
that time."
One of Snell's clients had been
Ramada, and he had been elected
to its board of directors only a few
months before being chosen to head
the company. "It turned out they
were having very serious financial
difficulties, primarily rising out of the
construction of the big casino hotel
in Atlantic City," he recalled. 'The
banks strongly suggested that a
change in management might be a
good idea, and because my field of
specialization was corporate finance,
I guess it made some sense that I
would be the one that could do that."
And do it, he did, concluding with
a restructuring of the company and
a sale of many of its properties that
took more than a year of complex
negotiations. "It was critical to me to
get that done," he says. He remains
board chairman of Aztar, the successor
to Ramada's gaming division.
Now, he faces challenges of a
different kind. Pinnacle West is the
parent company of Arizona Public
Service, a major utility in Arizona.
Pinnacle had "gotten into financial
difficulties, primarily because of its
ownership of MeraBank, a sizable
Dick Snell
savings and loan in Arizona and
Texas," Snell says. Federal regulations
and related considerations "created
an immense contingent liability on
Pinnacle, relative to the MeraBank
business. That problem really heated
up starting in June of 1989, due
among other things, to the deterio­rating
real estate business in
Arizona," Snell recalls. Complicating
the problem were the financial and
legal problems of S&l.s in general,
and it was Snell who headed the
committee of the Pinnacle West
board to deal with the situation.
When the Pinnacle West chairman
announced his retirement, Snell was
the logical choice as his successor.
In his first 60 days as CEO, he has
been busy restructuring the com­pany,
selling off problem assets,
working out joint ventures, manag­ing
real estate development, fending
off a potential buyer, negotiating
MeraBank into the hands of federal
regulators, restructuring debt, deal­ing
with the problems of running a
major utility and its nuclear power
plant, and facing stockholders with
honesty and directness.
':A,. lot of people ask me why I took
on a challenge this formidable, and
I guess my answer is that having
gone through what I consider to be
a great challenge at Ramada, I have
gained some confidence that I could
do it again."
Little wonder that Snell was an
easy choice to succeed the popular
SPRING 1990
13
Bill Turner as chairman of the
Thunderbird Board of Trustees.
Snell has been familiar with
Thunderbird since his father, Frank
Snell, began working with the
School's founder, Lt. Gen. Barton
Kyle Yount, to bring his dream of an
international business school into
reality. Dick Snell was in his
mid-teens at the time.
Now, as chairman of the board of
trustees, he says, 'The things I find
attractive include, again, the challenge
- the capital campaign is certainly
a challenge - and implementing
some of the new programs and con­cepts
that Dr. Herberger has in mind."
Snell takes his Thunderbird
position as seriously as he does
everything else he undertakes, and
he has clearly given a great deal of
thought to such new proposals as
tuition increases, new degree pro­grams,
executive education, the
business park, and the capital
campaign.
"I spent a lot of time with Roy
Herberger and the rest of the staff
looking at those proposed tuition
increases, and I'm satisfied that they
make sense. I think what those
increased levels (of tuition) can do
to enable the School to offer
scholarships is extremely important."
As for the possibility of an MBA
added to the MIM degree, he is
generally in favor of the concept, but
expressed concern over its imple­mentation.
"One needs to think
about how the MBA would be
linked with the MIM to make sure
that the MIM is not tarnished, but
instead is enhanced by what they are
talking about.
'The proposed link with the
University of Arizona for a health­care
based degree makes sense. That
one almost seems to be beyond a
whole lot of debate." He's reserving
judgment, however, on the propos­als
for degrees in international public
administration and international
taxation.
As for the business park, Snell
endorses it as an "excellent idea. I
think there's a lot of competition for
that sort of thing around the
country. It's not going to be an
overnight sensation. I would not
look on that as a major source of
Continued on page 31
V lEW POI NT
REUNIFICATION:
CHANGING THE GERMAN EQUATION
An interview with Dr: Andris Trapans,
professor of International Studies,
and Thunderbird's expert on the East
European business environment and
politics, as well as international economic
development.
Q: With East German elections
deciding in favor of the reunifi­cation
of Germany, what do you
think is going to happen to the
east/west Germany concept?
A: East Germany is disappearing.
The country as an entity is evaporat­ing
and there will soon be a unified
German state. I am talking about a
one- to two-year time frame, and
sooner rather than later. East Germany
is probably not going to retain any
type of particular, separate political
identity or social order. It was at
first thought when the Berlin Wall
fell that there would be an auton­omous
form of a unified German state
with a democratic socialist order, and
perhaps its own separate govern­ment.
This expectation is gone and
basically, East Germany is joining
West Germany on West Germany's
terms because this is what the
people want.
Q: An infusion of money into East
Germany is scheduled to take
place July 1 when the West
Germans are going to exchange
marks. What impact will that have
on East Germany's economy?
A: There will be an exchange of
West German marks to East German
marks at a 1:1 rate, up to two or
three thousand marks. This exchange
is targeted to the poor and those who
are on fixed incomes, people with
pensions and people with smaller
savings accounts. The black market
exchange rate is something like 4:1 to
6:1, so this 1:1 exchange will not
apply to everyone. Above a certain
amount the exchange rate is going to
be higher, perhaps 1:2 or 1:3.
Q: What is going to happen to the
people who are on pensions and
the poor people who are no longer
able to work?
A: The West German government has
guaranteed to support the social
safety net and it is said that each will
endeavor to see to it that these
people are not worse off in the new
Germany, and I think this will
happen. I think the major problems
will have to do with other things
such as unemployment.
Right now the unemployment
rate in East Germany is 1 percent
which is basically nothing. Whether
this will increase to double-digit
unemployment no one knows. It is
certainly going to be increasing a lot
and the main reason is that many
companies in East Germany have
been state-subsidized, and have been
unprofitable even though money is
pumped into them.
In the new conditions each
company will become an
independent profit center and will
have to sink or swim on its own.
Basically there will be a lot of plant
clOSings. The plants and equipment
in East German industry have
become obsolete in many cases.
This will further increase the closing
of plants. This will, of course,
release people in the job market. In
other words, they will become
unemployed for the first time. East
Germany has never had a western
type of job market. The state has
always said, "We guarantee your
job." Indeed, I think even the East
German legal code says that whoever
is able-bodied, and able to work,
has a right to a job. All of this will
suddenly end. It will be a western­type
environment pretty suddenly
and, therefore, the unemployment
issue is making the East German
working population queasy. They've
never seen anything like it. They
don't know what to expect. They don't
know where it will lead to, etc.
Q: Won't they be building new
facilities just as fast as plants are
dosing?
A: Sure, and there will be lots of
new investments, so this is not a
permanent condition. It is a shock
effect that will accompany this
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
14
changeover, this restructuring, but as
time goes on, there will be lots of
new investments by West German
firms, and even foreign firms, to
soak up these unemployed and,
indeed, this is already going on.
There are approximately 1,400 joint
ventures set up since last November
in East Germany. So, it's not just a
West German business movement
into East Germany. It is literally
a stampede.
The total cost of rebuilding East
German plants, equipment,
infrastructure, housing, and eco­logical
control facilities will be
tremendous. Current estimates of
these costs are running at $600
billion plus, to be spent in the next
10 years. The money will have to
come from a combination of new
taxes, deficit finanCing, foreign aid
and private investment. I think that
in the end the final bill will be even
higher than $600 billion because
it is becoming apparent that the
East German ecological system is a
disaster, and its transportation
facilities are pretty worn out. At the
same time we can expect that there
will be a tremendous surge of
consumer demand for West German
goods and services. These people
have led drab gray lives for many
years, and now they have the chance
to buy what they have always
wanted, to buy consumer goods from
the west, and they will buy.
Q: What do you think is going to
happen to the refugees, the aid to
refugees in the emergency camps?
A: Under West German law, an
East German was also regarded as
automatically entitled to all the
benefits and welfare payments due
to West German citizens. Therefore,
the refugees who came over from
East Germany these last two years,
automatically received payments,
housing subsidies, welfare benefits,
and assistance by the government.
They are not treated like foreigners
and indeed, this fact contributed to
the flow. Now the West German
government is saying, "No more, we
will not make any of these special
payments, we will not treat these
people like refugees from a foreign
country who happen to be
German." Cutting off these these
benefits does away with the material
incentive to come from East
Germany to West Germany. This is
what's going to be happening July
1st. The expectation is that the flow
will dry up and the goal of the West
German government is to have
everybody stay put. They say, 'Just
wait a little, good times are coming
to you. You're going to be enjoying
all of the benefits of a free market,
free enterprise system of consumer
goods. Just stay put. Don't move."
Q: Some people are worried about
the free market system. Many East
Germans fear eviction or staggering
rent increases as West Germans
reclaim properties seized by the
state.
A: This is a big issue. After WWlI,
the Communist government took
over and the Soviet Union was
heavily involved with Soviet military
bases, etc. They nationalized
property, removed the former
owners frequently, and all of these
people, typically, fled west to West
Germany. If your old farm or
ancestral castle or your old family
firm is in East Germany, what do you
do about it? Do you simply say,
"Well, that's the way life is." It's all
lost and you don't do anything
about it or do you simply say, ''I'm
the rightful owner. Give it back to
me." There will be many claims for
these properties. Some will be
serious, but most will simply be
out-of-court settlements for
compensation.
Q: What are the implications for
international business from the
reunification process?
A: People are expecting lots of West
German and foreign investment in
the territory of what is now East
Germany because of cheap wages.
The labor force there is well
educated, fairly well-trained, and
wages are cheap compared to West
German standards. However,
reunification and the planned
currency reforms will bring parity to
the wage rates, the differences in
wage rates will fade out and within
a few years, wages will be equal
to those in West Germany. There
will be just one unified wage
rate. Therefore, the current wage
Dr. Andris Trapans
advantage will be gone in a few
years. For western firms looking
ahead, it is a consideration for now,
but not for the long term. There are
other things that should be taken
note of. One is Berlin. The unified
Berlin is going to be the capital of
Germany, and a world trade cross­road.
Indeed, it's likely to be the
east/west trade crossroad. Its role
will surpass that of Vienna. The
combined population of East and
West Berlin'is somewhere around 3
to 3 V2 million and in not too many
years, this will probably double.
Berlin will really be a boomtown
with many foreign companies,
foreign banks, including American
multinational firms and American
banks setting up their European
headquarters in Berlin. A logical
extension will be a boom in real
estate. As a matter of fact, right now
if anybody wants to make money,
probably the best way is to buy up
land, buy up property somewhere in
East Berlin on the outskirts of the city.
This will be sure to appreciate in
value.
Q: Do you see a unified Germany as
a threat to other countries,
becoming a world power once again
and upsetting the balance?
A: I don't think it will upset the
balance of power, but it will be
bigger. The unified Germany will
increase in population from about 61
to 77 million people and it certainly
will be the number one nation in the
world in terms of volume of foreign
trade; ahead of Japan, ahead of the
U.S., ahead of everybody else. The
West German economy is already the
most significant one in the Common
Market, but the margin will increase
and I think there's some concern
about tRis.
SPRING 1990
15
In terms of politics, these days the
definition of a super power in world
poHtics is possession of nuclear
weapons. France has nuclear
weapons and West Germany does
not. A unified Germany will not.
The West German Parliament has a
standard pledge that it will not try
to acquire nuclear weapons, and I'm
absolutely sure that the unified
Germany will not try to acquire these
either. I don't think France is
worried about potential territorial
claims of French territory, threats or
potential aggression by a united
Germany. There is some concern
about this new economic growth.
On the Polish side, there is some
concern about territory, but I think
this has been exaggerated in our
press. There are no Significant
politicians or media spokesmen that
have laid claim on Polish territories
saying, "Give us back the territory
you took in 1945." I don't think this
really exists. What does exist is that
when Poland expelled Germans
after 1945, it also nationalized and
took over a lot of property. I think
people will claim compensation for
these properties. But I don't think
there are any real claims to push the
borders back east.
Q: Will reunification have an impact
on the plans for 1992?
A: Well, it has taken people aback. I
wouldn't say it has side-tracked the
process, but the parameters are now
different because Germany's size,
Germany's potential will be different.
Also the role of potential East
European states will be different.
Will they become members of the
Common Market in the future for
instance? We already have some
publications, like the English
magazine The Economist that has
drawn up maps of the future
showing Poland and the Baltic states
as associate or partial members of the
Common Market. East Germany, of
course, will join West Germany
as a fun member of this Common
Market. Basically, I think that the
decision-makers for 1992 didn't
count on this upheaval in Eastern
Europe, and didn't count on a
reunified Germany. They have to sit
back and absorb what the
implications are. CN.
THUNDERBIRD NETWORK
ARIZONA
Thunderbird, Citibank
Arizona, and Brown &: Bain,
a local law firm, joined forces
to present a five-week series
on new business oppor­tunities
in Asia recently.
Thunderbird Professors Martin
Sours and John Frankenstein
were among the represent­atives
giving presentations.
Other speakers included
u.s. Foreign Commercial
Service officers and represent­atives
from the Arizona State
Department of Commerce
and Apple Computer.
First Tuesdays have moved
to Mother Tucker's, 32nd
Street and Lincoln, beginning
at 5:30 p.m. March's First
Tuesday paid tribute to
retired Tbirds. Bahia Gulick,
John Arthur '57, and Dr.
Craig Woodruff were
honored by the 55 alumni
who attended the event.
Hein Schoustra '83 was
elected president of the
Phoenix alumni chapter.
Other officers include Robert
Wedwick '72, vice president;
Skeet Holland '78, treasurer;
and board members Paul
Fitch '86; Charles Mannel, Jr.
'82; Ken Nelson '54; Tom A.
Peterson '77; and Celie
Camarata Schoustra '83.
CALIFORNIA
Gold Coast
The Gold Coast alumni
chapter held a day of polo
watching and lunch at the
Santa Barbara Polo &: Racquet
Club in April. Tbirds gathered
to watch the final round of
the Nixon Memorial Polo
Tournament at the third-oldest
polo club in the U.S.
A Tbird mixer was held in
May on the deck of Pacific
InterTrade Corporation
located in Westlake Village.
Contact Robert G. Lees '77 at
(805) 495-5239 or Harold
Edwards '88 at (805)
648-1382 for First Tuesday
information.
Greater Los Angeles
In February, Tbirds got
together at the Hollywood
Palladium for Carnival cele­brations.
The group danced
to four bands from Brazil.
An informal dinner/speech
on Asian Investment in the
u.s. by Donald]. Huse, Vice
President AsialUsa Area Bank
Ltd., was held in April in
Santa Monica. Huse spoke on
Asian investments in the U.S.
The international dinner for
the month of May was a
gathering at the Russian Cafe
and nightclub in Hollywood.
Martha Van Gelder '88
arranged the event.
Orange County
In March, Soviet expert
Michael Bazyler spoke on the
political situation in the
Soviet Union and Soviet­American
trade in the 1990s.
The event took place at the
new First Tuesday location,
Dante, 1701 Corinthian Way,
Newport Beach (714)
955-0622. Bazyler is a
professor at the Whittier
School of Law and an expert
on East-West trade law.
The chapter also sponsored
a weekend ski trip to
Mammoth Mountain in March.
The second annual
Temecula Wine lasting Tour
was held in early May. This
year's tour included an
optional balloon ride piloted
by club vice president Scott
Seely '85 . Three wineries
were toured and Tbirds
stayed for brunch at the
Culbertson Winery after a
tour of the facility.
Orange County chapter
officers for this year are Tim
Polland '87, president; Scott
Seely '85, vice president;
Marc Gallin '86, treasurer;
and Marty Dee '89, editor.
San Francisco
Plans are under way for
an electronic bulletin board
for the Bay Area chapter. The
board would establish ties
with local alumni chapters,
and make alliances with
professional, political, and
trade organizations.
A New Group Ventures
meeting was held in March at
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
16
jon Goodman '86, current president
of the Washington D.C. alumni
chapter, presents an award to Brian
Marshall '73 for his years of service
to the organization. The recognition
was part of the Washington D. C.'s
annual meeting during which Dr. Roy
A. Herberger, jr. gave a presentotion
on the state of the School.
The U. S. Department of Commerce,
International Trade Administration, is
a favorite employer of T'birds in
Washington D.C. A group of them
gathered for a photo recently. (I-r)
john Beck '88, Mark Wells '88, Sean
Kelly '87, Brian Nilsson '85, Kathy
Boyce '83, Gayle Longest '88, Steve
jacques '87, Sally Craig '84, Brad
Hess '86, Kate Cashion johnson '83,
Nancy Saeed '85, Paulo Mendes '88,
and jim Terpstra '86. Photo courtesy
of john Beck.
Minnesota T'birds attended a potluck
dinner recently hosted by Alison Stern
'83. Many international dishes were
presented by the more than 25
alums who enjoyed the evening.
Photo courtesy of Rich Howell '86.
Cleveland T'birds get ready for a
sailing cruise on Lake Erie. Pictured
(I-r): Henri Parren '81, Laury Taylor
'79, Kathy McKee '84, Julie Marsh
'86, Jack Janosik '82, Keith Mishne
'74, and Pat Patwardhan '79.
the Venture Capital Center,
courtesy of Mike Hahn '74
and Shearson Lehman
Hutton. Gene Hellar '61
spoke on "Opportunities in
High Tech" and the seminar
offered discussions on
entrepreneurial enterprises.
Hellar is a founder of Prima
International, a 12-year-old
computer peripheral com­pany
in Santa Clara and
Holland.
Other recent events
included a 12-course Indian
feast at Mumtaj and a
Brazilian roving dinner at
Red's Java House in March.
San Diego
San Diego T'birds got
together for another
international dining experi­ence
at the French Side of
the West in Hillcrest in
March. They also partici­pated
in a planning meeting
to schedule activities for the
remainder of the year,
including a seminar on
opportunities within the
maquiladora industry to be
jointly sponsored by the
Economic Development
Council.
The San Diego chapter is
offering a membership
directory as part of their
membership drive this
spring. The directory will be
a useful networking tool for
area T'birds.
COLORADO
Denver
'~ Night In Beijing Square"
was the topic of a recent
speech by Mr. Zhou, project
manager for the People's
Bank of China, who
discussed changes in China
and their impact on the
world business arena. Zhou
was accompanied by Mr.
Shen, also of the People's
Bank of China. The event
was held at the new location
for First Tuesdays, La
Coupole in the old Paris
Hotel, 2191 Arapaho (comer
of 22nd and Arapaho),
(303)297-2288, beginning at
6p.m.
SPRING 1990
17
FLORIDA
South Florida
A wild game dinner was
held as part of First Tuesday
in March at Place St. Michelle.
The chapter is planning an
active 1990 schedule includ­ing
several ethnic and exotic
dinners, special guests at First
Tuesdays, a spring picnic,
and a chapter sponsored
seminar or conference.
Vincent S. Daniels '74 is
president of the South
Florida chapter and J. Paul
Simons '70 serves as vice
preSident.
ILLINOIS
Chicagoland
The Chicagoland executive
board has reached an agree­ment
with the International
Trade Club of Chicago to
share responsibility and
administration of the Global
Job Bank. The change will
provide a higher degree of
service to the base of sub­scribers
and the bank expects
to see the number of sub­scribers
double in the next
few months.
NEW ENGLAND
Dr. Roy A. Herberger, J r.
was the featured speaker as
the Thunderbird Club of
New England celebrated its
tenth anniversary in April.
The Bank of Boston was the
location and T'birds listened
to Dr. Herberger outline
plans for the School. Stephen
Hall '69 and Fred Cefalo '83
were acknowledged for their
long-term support of the
chapter.
The club has a new slate
of officers for 1990. They
are Bryan Manning '76,
president; Patty Knight '86,
vice preSident; Peter Moon
'89, treasurer; and Gretchen
Sohl '88, secretary.
THUNDERBIRD NETWORK
NEW YORK
New York City T'birds get
together once a month for
their "ethnopigging" series.
Recent dinners included
Moroccan, Cuban/Chinese,
and Ethiopan food at
restaurants in the City.
The chapter recently held
a speaker dinner featuring
Sandy London '77, director
of international operations,
Cybex. London shared her
views on global exporting to
small businesses. She had
the dream opportunity of
building an export program
from scratch and Cybex's
distribution network now
covers 40 countries and the
company has won several
export awards.
OREGON
Portland area
First Tuesdays have been
changed to the Red Lion
Portland Center, 310 SW
Lincoln, downtown Portland.
from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
TEXAS
Houston
A T'bird Great Decisions
1990 group is now being
formed in Houston. Great
Decisions is a nonpartisan
study, discussion, and action
program in the United
States on contemporary
foreign policy issues and is
sponsored by the nonpartisan
Foreign Policy Association.
For detailed information,
come to First Tuesdays at
Cody's, 3400 Montrose,
(713) 522-974 7.
UTAH
Utah T'birds have changed
the location of their First
Tuesdays to Don Antonio's
Restaurant in Sugarhouse.
1049 East 2100 South at 6:30
p.m. Contact person is Greg
Gullett ' 77.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
President Roy Herberger
addressed the Washington
D.C. alumni chapter in
February in conjunction with
its election of officers and
board. The event was
coordinated by Barrett Travis
'88. Dr. Herberger spoke on
the School's plans for the
future telling the audience, "I
need you . I need this
organization just like I do
everyone throughout this
country and overseas. We're
going to do a better and
better job of supporting you
from our operations in
Glendale. We're working on
building an information
system that will allow you to
do things like update your
resumes, and keep data on
who you are and what your
skill base is." He continued,
"I literally want to be the first
graduate school of business
anywhere in the world that
offers a worldwide network
along those lines. I want to
capitalize on the technologies,
and on the unique way you
relate to each other. You are
vital to our success."
CLASS OF 1980 -
CELEBRATE YOUR
TEN-YEAR
REUNION IN
NEW YORK
Jeanine Hartnett '80 and
Bobbie Jacobs '80 are
organizing a Thunderbird
reunion for the class of
1980 to be held on Friday,
June 15. 1990. 7:00 p.m., in
New York City. The site will
be an elegant loft with a
great view of the city and the
$75 per person charge will
include an open bar. gourmet
buffet dinner. music, and
dancing. To reserve space
now, please send a check
made payable to Thunder­bird
Reunion, clo Bobbie
Jacobs, 27 West 88th, New
York, NY 10024.
Madrid was the scene of a holiday
party attended by alums representing
a variety of graduating years. In
attendance were: Alf Johnson '57,
Duane Bellmore '61 and '87, Jerry
Greene '66, Mike Hopkins '72. James
Dodson '74, Vicente Martinez '76,
Jan O. Skybak '78, Jurgen Brueckner
'80. Willem Sioot '81, Gary Luhrman
'82, Dwight Mutchler '82, Becky
Monson Prieto '83, Darlene Drapkin
'84, Dave McClellan '84, Enrique
Borderia '87, Jose Fernandez '87,
Jose Garcia '87, Svante Borjeson '88,
and Mike Brown '88.
800 Line Put on Hold
...
During a recent trip to Argentina.
International Studies Chairman
Shoshana rancer and Professor
Dennis Guthery, chairman of the
Latin American Committee, met with
Lawrence Bocci '48, Patricio Seidel
'74, Robert Garrison '6/, Glenn
Glad '63, and Hugh Pace '75 (not
pictured) to discuss the pOSSibility of
a teleconference between Argentine
T'birds and students interested in the
realities of doing business in Latin
America.
Due to the increased demand on Thunderbird's
800 number, the School has decided to reserve
the 800 line for prospective students to contact
the Admissions Office.
In the future, T'bird alumni should contact
the School using the main number (602)
978- 7011 or Alumni Relations, (602) 978-7135.
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
18
Doing Business in China
Southern California Tbirds and the School sponsored
the China Business Forum in January. The forum drew
an audience of approximately 120 people who heard
leaders in business, government, academia, and law speak
on Chinese business opportunities.
Dr. Roy A. Herberger, Jr. gave the opening address and
voiced sentiments that eventually economic considera­tions
in China will outweigh political considerations.
The mood of the forum was upbeat and the consensus
was that economics will force China to keep its door
open in the intermediate and long term, even if political
considerations cause short-term setbacks.
Panel discussions during the forum ranged from
general background to practical business issues to
firsthand accounts of doing business with China and
featured several Tbird participants. Professor John
Frankenstein took part in a discussion on political,
social and economic trends in China and said politics
and economics are rapidly recentralizing although some
regions are resisting more than others. He mentioned
there are "whispers" of agricultural recollectivization but
"no army is big enough to force this."
Robert Courtney '88, director, project development and
management, King International Group, gave practical
advice on how to get deals through the current regulatory
environment. Issues included legal changes, regional
differences in economic activity, and how to resolve
difficulties, espeCially those involving foreign exchange.
Sherrie Baldwin '87, president, Baldwin Sai Bei Co.,
and Robert G. Lees '77, conference sponsor, and
president and CEO, Pacific InterTrade Corp. gave their
views from the trenches. They participated in discussion
on the status of current ventures in China. Lees said the
provinces are resisting recentralization. They are forced
to employ excess workers despite lower sales. The
REUNION i6\. :t-:,
Make plans now for alumni
homecoming November 9-11,
1990, on campus in con­junction
with the Thunder­bird
Balloon Race. Featured
reunion classes include
1960, 1965, 1970, 1980, and
1985. Additional details will
be forwarded in a mailing
this fall.
~ More than 90 alumni welcomed
President Roy A. Herberger, jr. and
Kathryn Vegso, director of career
services, to Tokyo. The reception was
arranged by Peter Carmichael '86,
president of the japan alumni
chapter, and Katsuo Takeda '86 who
offered his office at Citibank's
Aoyama branch. Photo courtesy of
joyce Bultman Takeda '86.
central government is worried about the debt they are
incurring and must find a solution. He offered this
advice, "You don't sell to China, they buy from you." He
also said that personal relationships are the joy of
business in China.
Other speakers included one of the foremost interpreters/
translators of Chinese, a political science professor
from UClA, several lawyers specializing in China, and
representatives from major corporations in southern
California.
Tbird volunteers who helped make the event a
success included Robert Courtney '88 and Martha Van
Gelder '88, conference cochairs, Errol Van Stralen '83,
Diane Carter '86, and Jonathan Mudge '88. Information
for this article was prOvided by Caroline Miller '86 and
David Eckstein.
(I-r) Panel members Art Torel/as,
Diagnostic Systems; Edward Hsia,
Fluor Daniel China, Inc.; Sherrie
Baldwin '87, Baldwin Sai Bei Co.;
Robert G. Lees 77, Pacifrc InterTrade
Corp.; and Richard Chen, Occidental
Petroleum, discuss the "View From
the Trenches" during the China
Business Forum.
CN.
SPRING 1990
19
ALUMNI UPDATES
1947 -1949
Charles W. Edmiston '47 retired from the FBI
in 1969 and worked at various occupations
including insurance agent, personnel officer, and
public relations. Since retiring, he and his wife
enjoy traveling, golf, and grandchildren. They
bought a home on the Rainbow River Golf and
Country Club in Dunnellon, Flo Lindsey P.
Henderson, Jr. '47 is a retired U.s. Army
colonel and is working as a freelance writer. He
lives in Savannah, GA. John H. Moynahan '47
is retired and will be going on a world tour this
spring. He lives in Coconut Grove, FL. Clifford
W. Cole '48 is president of Multinational
Consultants, Inc. in Dallas, TX. George W
Austin '49 is enjoying retirement and travel. He
lives in Bakersfield, CA. Leon A. Demee '49 is
area sales manager of the Americas and Africa for
Philco International Division of White Consoli­dated
Industries in Pittsburgh. He lives in
McMurray, PA. William H. Ross '49 has retired
from First Alabama Bancshares and lives in
Montgomery, AL. Kenneth D. Winter '49 is
retired from the State of Michigan Department of
Highways. He lives in Lansing, MI.
REUNION
1950 iii\
NOVEMBER 9-11, 1990
James W. Clarke '50 has retired and lives in
Ocala, Flo William B. DeSmith '50 is complet­ing
40 years with Armour Foods, where he is a
zone manager He lives in Placentia, CA. Sherman
Jerry Olson '50 is with International Insurance
Consultants and lives in San Marcos, California.
He and his wife, Edith, hope to visit Thunderbird
on their 40th anniversary. Jack H. "Wolrren
'50 has retired and lives in Port Angeles, WA.
1953 -1955
Edward C. Campeau '53 has retired and lives in
Pittsburgh, PA. John H. Eikenberry '53 has
retired as superintendent of Wilcox Unified
School District. He lives in Tucson, AZ. Ted
Johnson '54 is a vice president of trade finance
at Standard Chartered Bank Ltd. He lives in
Santa Monica, CA.
1956 -1959
Robert P. Churidis '56 has retired from his
position as president for PL. Chemicals Inc. He
lives in Long Beach, CA. Arthur Mastoras '57 is
president of Consulting International, Inc. He
lives and works in New Canaan, CT. Richard L.
McIntosh '57 is retiring from his position as an
instructor at the American River College. He
lives in Citrus Heights, CA. James R. Rogers
'57 is retired and is living in Huntington Beach,
CA. John C. Robinson '58 is an employment
counselor for Snelling & Snelling. He lives in
Placitas, NM. L. "Wolrren Townsend '58 retired
from Chase Manhattan Bank after 21 years at the
end of 1987. He has accepted a pOSition as
finance officer, specializing in the capital access
program, with the Oregon Department of
Economic Development in Salem, Oregon. He
has twO grown children, Matthew and Tracie,
and he and his wife, Valerie, live in Keizer, OR.
Donald A. Bronson '59 is retired and lives in
La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is planning a trip to
Europe for an anniversary and to renew
relations with old business contacts.
REUNION
1960 Ii NOVEMBER 9-11, 1990
William Nystrom '60 is manager/travel advisor
for American Express Travel Management
Services. He lives and works in Arlington, VA.
Elwood Schneider '60 has retired and lives
with his wife, Lynne, in Naples, FL. Robert R.
Stanger '60 is a copy editor for the Tribune
Chronicle in Warren, Ohio. He lives in
Boardman, OH.
1961-1964
Seth V Brumley,Jr. '61 owns a carpet cleaning
business, A&S Chern-Dry. He and his wife,
Angela, live in Edmond, OK. George E
Norwood '61 has been named a parmer and
managing director for The Winton Group, a
specialist in leveraged buy-outs in Miami, Flo
Patrick E. O'Sullivan '61 is the CEO and
president of Maxon Electronics, Inc., a
marketing and sales firm of communication
products. He works and lives in Kansas City,
MO. Allyn l. Freeman '62 is director of strategic
planning for KRC, a research and consulting
firm . He lives and works in New York, NY
"WolUis R. Sanborn, Sr. '62 is the owner of the
laylor Recycling Center. He lives in laylor, TX.
Fred Shields, Jr. '62 is the secretary of Shield's
Office Products in Basco, WA. He lives in
Richland, WA. Henry Uyehara '62 is a housing
management assistant at Kilauea Military Camp,
a military resort in Hawaii. He and his wife,
jane, live in Hilo, HI. Shirley \\bod Hartley '62
is a project coordinator for the Association for
Retarded Citizens. She lives in Boca Raton, FL.
Bruce M. Listerman '64 works in the sales and
marketing department of Bedford Lithograph
Corp. He lives in Shaker Heights, OH.
REUNION
1965 t...... 'i\' ,)
NOVEMBER 9-11, 1990
Douglas Cool '65 works in customer service at
Aluminum Filter Co, a producer of air filters.
He lives and works in Carpinteria, CA. George
M. Dykes '65 is director of humanitarian
assitance for the U.S. Department of Defense. He
lives in Alexandria, VA. l. Conrad Schwab '65
is general manager of the ground power division
at Hobart Brothers Co., a power conversion
technology firm for aircrafts. He lives in Tipp
City,OH.
1966 -1969
Joseph E Burke '66 is starting a company to
develop and market materials for perfecting
English as a second language. He has finished
four years of small enterprise development
contracts in Kenya, and has traveled extenSively
through the Far East, Pacific and Europe. He
lives in Washington D.C. Stephen Jeffery '66 is
the vice president of Consultative Business
Sales, a firm buying and selling small businesses.
He and his wife, Nancy, live in Brookline, MA.
Peter A. Moog '66 is the president of AIS
Corredores de Seguros, an insurance brokerage
in Bogota, Colombia. His home is in Reddick,
FL.James T. Delahunty '67 is self-employed at
Mandy's Hallmark Shop. He lives in Novato, CA.
Edward K. Kimmel '67 is an export promotion
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
20
Patrick O'Sullivan '6/ John /. Costa '7/
officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce. He
lives in Arlington, VA. Frederick H. Newton
'67 is with Kula Bay Tropical Clothing Company
Corporate Offices. He lives in Honolulu ,
Hawaii. Kurt W Reiswig '67 is a broker with
Coldwell Banker and Co. He lives in Byron,
CA. John L. Stoody '67 completed his MBA in
computer resource management at Webster
University He lives in Colorado Springs, CO.
Howard K. Trilling '67 is the vice president of
advertising and sales at Swingster. He lives in
Shawnee Mission, KS. George Bauer '68 is an
executive director and a managing partner of
Sports Club· Las Vegas, a premier executive
club. He lives in Pacific Palisades, CA. Vincent
B. Fagin '68 is a bilingual family therapist at
The Bridge Youth Services and lives in Villa Park,
IL. James A. Laughlin '68 is the director of
health services for the Illinois Migrant Council.
He lives in Chicago, IL. James P. Lemon '68 is
the owner of Patrick's 1911 tavern in downtown
Seattle. He lives in Seattle, WA. BTanger Miller
'68 is the major gifts officer of development for
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He
lives in Cambridge, MA' Alexander M. Roberts,
Jr. '68 is the South American sunglass manager
for Bausch and Lomb Inc. He lives in Hialeah,
FL. Brent]. Sanford '68 is a partner at The
Cumberland Group. He bought the company
from Armco in june, 1988. He lives in Spring
Valley, OH. William M. Vaught '68 is an
administrator and paralegal coordinator for
Artera Hadden Attorneys. He lives and works in
Austin, TX. John J. Verity '68 is owner/manager
of Pacific Steel Fabricators, Inc. in Boise, Idaho.
He has twO daughters, Alyssa, a college
student, and Wendy, a junior in high school. Bill
Marr '69 is a loan officer at Mission Viejo
Bank. He lives in Irvine, CA. Ted Mullennix '69
is the owner of TNT Equity Partners Inc., a real
estate investment firm. He lives with his wife,
jacqueline, in Playa del Rey, CA. Ron Rowland
'69 is a territory manager for Timberline
International, a producer of heavy-duty trucks
and equipment. He lives in Benton, AR. Jason P.
Smith '69 is assistant treasurer for Cabot
Corporation, a specialty chemicals and energy
firm. He and his wife, Susan, live in Boston,
MA. Paul R. Stabler,Jr. '69 is in charge of
international investment sales of large office
buildings and other investment properties to
Pacific Basin and European investors at Metro
Brokers commercial real estate. He lives in
Atlanta, GA. Gary "Wollcott '69 is owner of
Walcott & Associates, a business consultant/trainer
firm . He lives and works in Bellevue, WA.
Mark C. Wilson '69 works in investment sales
for Coldwell Banker Co., a real estate service
firm . He lives in Houston, TX.
ALUMNI UPDATES
REUNION
1970 ii NOVEMBER 9-11, 1990
Ned P. Armentor is the international insurance
manager of CIGNA Corp. He lives in Plano,
TX. Stephen Bull is a paralegal with Eskanos &
Adler. He lives in Dublin, CA. Beverly Chan is
president of International Home, Inc. , a realty
service firm in Manhattan , which deals in
management, brokerage, and consulting. She
lives in New York City, is married, and has a
7-year-old daughter, Leslie. Steven R. Chapman
is assistant supervisor for national appeals staff
at Farmers Home Administration. He lives in
Indianapolis. Danai H. Dennison is a
program analyst with the U.S. Department of
Defense. He lives in Arlington, VA. A.R.
Erickson is the president of Aspen Resort
Accommodations. He lives in Aspen, Colorado,
and has a daughter, Alexandra Elisabeth, born
last May. \¥.iyne B. Fulcher is a group director
at ChiatlDay, Inc. He lives in Orinda, CA.
Robert C. Gilman is a self-employed
management consultant in Scottsdale, AZ. Dan
Henderson is a commercial real estate broker
with Re/Max of Santa Fe. He lives in Santa Fe,
NM. Peter H. Kingman is executive vice
president at Channel One Communications,
Inc. He lives in La Grange, IL. Bruce W.
MacKinnon is a consultant for Chittagong Port
Authority, Bangladesh. He lives in Agrabad,
Chittagong in Bangladesh. Fred Montano is
self-employed as president of Fremont
Associates, an executive search firm in Castle
Rock, CO. David Morehouse is a community
reinvestment coordinator at Mitsui
Manufacturers Bank in Los Angeles, CA.
Werner O. Prochaska is the owner of Tower
Overseas. He lives in Charlotte, Vermont, with
his family including his daughter Farah, born in
September. James E Sells is the vice president
and general manager for Matson Intermodal
System in San Francisco, CA. Robert B.
Stevens is the rnanaging director for Stevens
International Corporation, a financial firm . He
lives in Grosse Pointe, MI.
1971
Louis C. Bergman is the executive director and
vice president of The Citco Group Ltd., a bank
and trust company. He lives with his wife, Jenny,
in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. John I.
Costa is the senior vice president, international,
in charge of developing and operating
worldwide business outside the u.s. and Canada
with Thompson Medical Company, Inc. He
lives in Ringwood, NJ. James M. Folsom has
become president of California Investment
Group. He lives in San Diego, CA. Charles J.
Koenig III is a proposals manager for Brown &
Root USA, Inc. , an engineering and construction
firm . He and his wife, Linda, live in Houston,
TX. Mark O'Malley and Carolyn Polson
O'Malley, '70, were married in November,
1989. Mark is with the O'Malley Lumber Co.
and Carolyn is a volunteer coordinator with the
Volunteer Center. They live in Phoenix, AZ. Jerry
Seay is president and chairman of the board at
Flint Resources Company. He lives and works in
Tulsa, OK. Herbert L. Steed is the vice
president of Howard Energy Co. Inc. He lives in
Traverse City, MI.
1972 Anselmo, CA. Dan P. Murphy is an international
group supervisor at Bader-Rutter & Associates,
Kris W. Anderson is the vice president of
Quality Home Video Library, a distributor of
special-interest videos on a national basis. He
works on international distribution projects.
He lives in Kirkland, Washington, and has a
16-year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son.
William G. Broadfoot has his own promotional
printing business, Minute Man Press, in Miami.
He also lives in Miami. Gary Buckingham is the
president of AIU (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., an
insurance company. He lives with his wife, Elsje,
in the Republic of Singapore. Carl Carlsson is
the managing director for Prime Sites USA, a
firm involved with international acquisitions
a service/advertising agency. He lives in
Delafield, WI. Jerome Petin has left the
cosmetic and couture world to concentrate on
art buying and expertise. He lives in Paris,
France. Richard A. Thomson is general
manager of Bucyrus-Erie Co. He lives in
Racine, WI.
1973
and development. He lives in Spotsylvania, VA.
William R. Grant is vice president of sales for
the Golden Peanut Company in Atlanta. He lives
with his wife, Nancy, in Norcross, GA. Peter
Griffen is the president of Howmedica Corp. He
lives in Sandy, UT George Hiller is in his
second year of law school, specializing in
international law, in Richmond , VA. Richard
laBrie is a trader at Cana, Inc., a computer
components firm. He lives in Portland, OR.
Roger L. Larsen is a national depOSit manager
with First Nationwide Bank. He lives in San
David W. Christensen has been promoted to
manager of market research for Bechtel Power
Corporation, at the Gaithersburg office. He lives
in Gaithersburg, MD. Richard M. Greenwood
was named executive vice president and chief
financial officer of Calfed, Inc., a financial
service firm in Los Angeles, CA. James S. Love
is the preSident of Carmel Consultants. He lives
in Carmel, CA. Brian L. Marshall is a director of
the U.5.lMexico Chamber of Commerce in
\¥.ishington, D.C. He was listed in Who's Who for
the Eastern Area, 1989190. He ran and
completed the 26-mile Marine Corps Marathon
in November, 1989. John K. Moorhead is
president of USAPAQ International, an interna­tional
packaging company. He lives in San
A L U M NIP RO F I L E
MICROORGANISMS
PROVIDE FORMULA
FOR BIG BUSINESS
In 1982, Eric Fable '69
says he realized that "the
environment was going to,
in some point in time,
become one of the biggest
industries in the western
world." Now, he believes
environmental clean-up
ranks as the most impor­tant
business in the world
and he is just beginning
to reap the benefits of the
business he began eight
years ago.
Formula Group Umited,
based in Scottsdale,
Arizona, began with a
scientific focus by
employing biologists and
chemists who researched
and developed the
"Toxigon System." Now,
the company manufac­tures
the bio-remediation
system which uses micro­organisms
grown in the
company's state-of-the-art
laboratory to eat waste
and contaminants in soil
and water, and ultimately
clean up toxic waste spills.
Fable, founder and
CEO, says their technology
has been applied though-
SPRING 1990
21
out the United States
and Europe. The com­pany's
presence in Europe
stems from setting up a
wholly-owned subsidiary,
Formula Group Europe
Umited, in London,
England. Through the
London office, Fable says
he recently signed a
contract with a major
West German environ­mental
clean-up company.
Formula Group will pro­vide
the technology and
equipment which the
West Germans will apply
to toxic waste siteS.
Fable says Formula
Group works closely
with several environmen­tal
consulting firms who
use his company's 45
different species of
microorganisms, designed
to break down organic
toxins in 30 to 75 days, in
soil and groundwater
clean-up projects.
As a graduate of
Thunderbird, Fable says
he is "obsessed with being
international." He says
that "even when it was
ludicrous to fly to London
every month," he insisted
on remaining international.
"I feel very comfortable
in the international
arena," he says, crediting
Thunderbird with this
focus. Within the next
year, he hopes to open
an office in Frankfurt,
West Germany.
Stateside, his company
was involved in the clean­up
of a river in Pittsburgh
a few years ago. Ashland
Oil Co. called in Formula
Group to clean up the
banks of the Mononga­hela
River after a diesel
fuel spill. The process
took 26 days.
Fable says he is 80
percent sure that Exxon
will ask his company to
apply the Toxigon
System on Alaska's shore­line
this Mayas part of
the "repeat project."
by Pam R. Selthun
ALUMNI UPDATES
Antonio, TX. James A. Shields is an account
manager with the Acacia Group, a financial
services firm . He and his wife, Rebecca, live in
Houston, TX. James W. Smart is a neet
manager for the State of Utah , department of
natural resources. He recently became a
grandfather and lives in West Valley City, UI
Arthur E Wehrmeister is the county
counsel/chief deputy district attorney in the Nye
Counry District Attorney's Office. He lives and
works in Tonopah, NV
1974
Lorraine Abell Bishop is a partner with AROS
Financial Planners. She lives with her husband,
Randall '73 and their four children, Melissa,
lauren, Lee, and Nathalie, in Pasadena, CA.
Michael E. Bixler is president of his own
consulting company, MarketLink, Inc. , a
strategic marketing services finn . He lives in
Thomasville, GA. Hal Q. Coggins is a
self-employed computer consultant. He lives in
Key West, FL. David Deming is international
director for Egan Machine Company in Oconto
Falls. He lives in Green Bay, WI. Donald T.
Farrell, Jr. is a sales representative for Bradley
Printing Co. He lives in Glenview, lIIinois
and his three children, Emily, 10, Colleen, 8,
and Donnie, S all play soccer. Nathaniel
B. Frothingham is a vice president of
Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. in New York
City. He and his wife, Soledad, live in Stamford,
CI James A. Halderman is a project manager
for Wayne Stoops & Associates, a real estate
development company. He lives and works in
Sacramento, CA. James M. Howard is vice
president of Tri-Central Oil Trading Co. He
lives in Houston , TX. William E. Lawrence is
the director of construction for landmark
Development. He lives in Duarte, CA. Glenn R.
Lodge is the director of operations for Allico
Marketing. He lives in Des Plaines, IL. Chris T.
Long is a cost analyst for Electronic Data
Systems. He lives in Fort Worth, TX. Andrew M.
Merkel is a marketing and sales consultant
with Lord and Andrews International. He was
married to Li -Li Lin on February 4, 1989 in
Rosemead , California, and on December 25,
1989 the couple's first boy was born, joshua Lo
Merkel. The family lives in Rowland Heights,
CA. Lori Mills Foster and Kenneth Foster
'74 announce that they are back home in San
Francisco. Kenneth Foster has sta rted his own
company, AMFIN, an investment firm with
activities in Mexico. Lori has her own
company, Gifts a la Carte, which is in its third
year and growing rapidly. They live in Mill
Valley, CA. Larry Mueller is the di rector of
international sales for the power systems group
of Kohler Co. He and his wife, Kathy, live in
Kohler, WI. Alfred Pick is employed by
ElectTOscan, a scientific research group. He lives
in Plano, TX. Patricio Seidel and his wife,
Patricia, had a boy, Patricio Martin, on November
27, 1989. The family lives in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Frank E Suchan is director of
international sales for Glasstech, Inc. He and
his wife, Diane, live in Perrysburg, OH. Eric R.
Weaver is a regional manager for the u.s.
Department of Commerce, office of international
operation. He lives in Arlington, VA. Bernie
Wegert is an international marketing manager
for Amway Corp., home technology houseware~.
He and his wife, KarenJohnson, '74, live in
Grand Rapids, MI.
Michael Hennessey 76 P. Barnes Ricks 76
1975
David C. Barnett is a vice president of Garnac
Grain Co. Inc., an import and export firm of
agricultural commodities. He lives in Overland
Park, KA. Michael]. Bluth is director of
business development, Southeast Asia, for
Helene Curtis, Inc., a cosmetics firm . He lives
and works in Chicago, IL. Louis C. Chittenden
is a franchise district manager for Dunkin'
Donuts, Inc. He lives in Chicago, IL. Ole Dam
has recently joined Bell & Howell Company as
director of materials at their Allentown,
Pennsylvania manufacturing faciliry. This
organization makes mail insertion machines and
sorting equipment. George Fronske is manager
of export compliance for I.e.!. Composites, Inc.
in Tempe, Arizona. He lives in Phoenix with his
wife, Nonglak. Christine Laning is an
investment relations manager for Helling
Investment Company. He lives in Orlando, FL.
Michael G. Lindsley is an independent real
estate broker and developer. He lives in San
Ramon, CA. Richard B. Lohman is working at
Channel Technologies and G & H Technologies,
Inc. in Camarillo, CA, where he teaches
courses and does consulting. He lives in Goleta,
CA. Sally McKey-Dry lives in Falls Church,
Virginia and recently had her third child, a boy
named Converse. John H. Miesel is area
manager of latin America for Steelcase, Inc. He
lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and his son,
Daniel, was born injune, 1989. Seyed Moosavi
is an adjunct facu lty member of National
University and lives in Woodland Hills, CA.
Alan G. Nixon is an administrator of support
services for Emergency Medical Services
Associates, Inc. in Ft. lauderdale, FL. Sara
Ochs is a project coordinator for First National
Bank. She lives in Dayton, OH. Herbert E
Radford is the international inside sales manager
for Augat Inc., a manufacturer of electronic
components. He lives in Westwood , MA. Simon
M. Solomon has been promoted to general
manager for Thomasville Furniture Industries.
He lives in Greensboro, Ne. Emmett D. Steed
is the vice president and operations controller
for Red Lion Hotels & Inns. He was featured in
the january 1990 issue of Money Magazine and
lives in Vancouver, WA. Gregory B. Vf.llker is
director of sales, international division , at Sun
Microsystems, Inc. He lives in Los Gatos, CA.
Raymond 0. Westbrook has his own consulting
firm, Westbrook & Associates. He and his wife,
Terri, live in Sarasota, FL.
1976
Barbara Ackley Crofts is a self-employed
practicing CPA. She lives in Huntington Beach,
CA. Patricia Barnes Ricks is self-employed,
THUNDERBIRD MAGAZINE
22
Marvin Huth 76 Diane Clauss Huth 76
writing novels under the name of Patricia
Wynn. She has two new books due out in 1990,
Lord Tom, and Jack on the Box. Her last book
was translated into German and is available in all
German speaking markets. Patricia lives in
Austin, TX. Terry M. Baxter is director of sales
and marketing at Benjamin-Cummings Co. He
lives in San Carlos, CA. William Clements
has assumed the newly-created position of
real estate finance director for Dial Co.'s
Omaha-based shopping center developer. He
lives in Omaha, NE. David R. Cralle is an
insurance officer of political risks, latin
America, for Overseas Private Investment
Corporation, a political risk insurance
company He lives and works in Washington,
D. e. David G. Dowell is the first vice
president atle. Bradford & Co., an investment
firm in Kentucky. He and his wife, Melanie, live
in Bowling Green, KY. Carol A. Ewing is a
marketing manager for ConAgra, Inc. She lives
in Omaha, NE. Ian V. Gladding is director of
the international division of marketing and
business development for the Iowa Department
of Economic Development in Des Moines. He
lives in johnston, 1A. Laura Hendrick Kegel is a
project manager at Inte~ Systems, Inc. Her
husband, Paul Kegel 76, is president of Kegel &
Stilli, Inc. They live in Palm Ciry, Florida and
have a new daughter, Brigid. Michael D.
Hennessey has been promoted to general sales
managerlinternational and LPG markets by
Blackner Pump, a Dover Resources Co. located
in Grand Rapids. His new responsibilities
include marketing and sales for Blackmer's
liquefied petroleum gas handling equipment in
Canada and the U.S.A. and Blackmer products
lines in over 50 countries. Michael and his wife,
Ellie, had a baby boy, Eryn Michael Hennessey,
injuly 1989. Reelana Hunter Peden is a teacher
at Fort Worth Independent Schools. She lives
in Weatherford, TX. Marvin Huth and his wife,
Diane Clauss '76, have a new son, Alexander
Tyler. Diane continues as vice president of
marketing for Mission Foods Corp. and Marvin
is president of The Penny Stretcher, a novelty
souvenir manufacturer. They live in Pomona,
CA. Richard G. McNeill is an assistant
professor, teaching marketing and international
operations at Northern Arizona University,
school of hotel and restaurant management. He
lives in Sedona, AZ. Edward R. Newill is the
director of sales for Seabrook Medical Systems
Inc. He lives in Lebanon, OH. James 0 , Roos is
the president of Roos Group International. He
lives with his IlJ2-year-old son, john Alexander,
in Littleton, CO. Edward A. Rubalcava is a
substitute teacher at Glendale Unified School
District. He lives in Burbank, CA. Linda Russ
had her first child, Pamela Russ Perlstein, in
October 1989. She is currently on leave from
Manufacturers Hanover Corporation, where she
ALUMNI UPDATES
Jim Lilly 77 Mary Lubin Ross 77
is a vice president. She lives with her husband,
Tom Perlstein , in Brooklyn, NY Frank W. Snell
is an export manufacturing representative for
james Hardie Irrigation. He lives in El Cajon ,
CA. John D. Stevenson is assistant to the
president, director of special projects, with
jockey International. He and his wife, Annick
Stevenson-Kerrest '76, live in Kenosha, WI.
Timothy W. Sullivan is manager of mining
shovels for Bucyrus-Erie Co. He lives in
Greendale, WI. Gregory B. Weier was recently
appointed vice president in loan review at Old
Kent Bank and Trust Co. in Grand Rapids, MN.
1977
Annette Armstrong Bertanzetti is the executive
director for Southeast Texas Arts Council, a
private nonprofit arts council, umbrella agency
to 100 artslhumanities groups in a three-county
region. She lives in Beaumont, TX. William D.
Bennett has been promoted to general manager
of Steiner Corp. He lives in Layton , UT Jane
Carey Long is starting a doctoral program in
public administration at George Mason
University in Fairfax, Virginia. She lives in
'MIrrenton, VA. David B. Compton is the
director of international compensation and
benefits for Premark International Inc. In March,
1989 he became the filther of rwin boys,
Benjamin and Zachary, and the family lives in
Palatine, IL. John B. Cypher is an account
executive with Dan Miller Advertising. He lives
in Long Beach, CA. Peter G. Dannerbeck is
channel resources marketing manager at IBM
Corp. He lives in Bellevue, WA. EJ.
Dombroski is a manager of industrial!
manufacturing and engineering for McDonnell
Douglas Corp. in Culver City. He lives in
Redondo Beach, CA. John L Draheim is the
group treasurer at ASTEC PLC. He and his wife,
Bonnie, live in Hong Kong. Marilyn Fairley
Kolesar recently gave birth to her first child,
Timothy james. She and her husband, Steve,
live in Tucson, AZ. Sidony Feldman-Stone is a
sales/marketing manager for the Rolm Division
of IBM in Dallas, Texas. She lives with her
husband, Brent Stone, in Plano, TX. Laura
Freedman Pedric is a managing broker at Kirby
Real Estate. Her son Benjamin was born in
November, 1988. She lives in Newport, RI. Kurt
R. Grimm and Rhonda Viney Grimm '77 live
in Arlington, Texas. Kurt has been promoted to
assistant general counsel at Alcon Laboratories,
Inc. Joseph J . Gross, Jr. is president of jefferson
Davis Associate~, a marketing research firm
located in Cedar Rapids, 1A. Robin Gurovitsch
is director of market promotions at Via
Merropolitan Transit. She lives in San Antonio,
Texas, and had a baby girl named Cassidy in
September. Robert J. Holmes is a marketing
specialist for General Electric Co. He lives in
Flower Mound, TX. Charles L Irby is the
president of Irby Construction Co. He lives in
j ackson , MS. Jimmy E. Lilly has been promoted
to vice president for Unisys Corp. He lives in
Lower Gwynedd , PA. Mary Lubin Ross is vice
president, general manager of the direct
marketing division of Colle & McVoy, a large
advertising agency based in Minneapolis. The
agency serves national clients in agribusiness,
industry and the public sector. She has a
daughter, Emily Elisabeth Ross, born in February,
1988. Her husband, Neil, has his own direct
marketing firm and they live on Lake
Minnetonka, near Minneapolis. Donald E.
Matthews is a sales engineer for Vinings
Industries, Inc. , a specialty chemicals company.
He and his wife, Cathy, live in West Bloomfield ,
MI. Robert S. McEnroe is a distribution
manager with Ameron, Inc. He lives in Pomona,
CA. Lizanne McGlasson is an area sales
manager for TRW Inc. She lives in Quincy, MA.
Meredith B. Nowak had a son, Keven Nowak,
in june, 1989. She lives in Cranston, RI. Joyce
Popp is an employee assistance counselor for
Control Data Corp. She lives in Minneapolis,
MN. Kelly R. Sauer is the director of fin ancial
services for Bulan Inc. He lives in Phoenix, AZ.
Mark]. Scott is a senior vice preSident and
management representative for Grey Advertising
Inc. He lives in Los Angeles, CA. David A.
Stephens is a territory sales manager for Baxter
Health Care Corp. He lives in San Clemente,
CA. Steve B. Stevenson works for E. Boyd
Trading Co. He lives in Cary, North Carolina,
and reports that the first statewide Thunderbird
event took place when 12 people met at the
state zoo recently. Karen Stromberg Arutt is a
self-employed consultant. She lives in Paradise
Valley, Arizona and has a son, Charles, born in
October. Sheldon Sturgis is chairman at
Procurement Technologies, a distributor of
operating supplies for small and medium-size
manufilcturing companies in tooling. He and his
wife, Ellen, live in Minneapolis, MN. John A.
Taflan is vice president of corporate banking for
Cole Thylor Bank in Skokie, Illinois. He lives
with his wife, Eileen , in Elmhurst, IL. Ann Teat
Gallant is the marketing director of The
Baltimore Sun. She and her husband, Philip,
visited her classmate Karnasuta in Bangkok,
Thailand last March. They live in Bal timore, MD.
Martha H. \¥.thoski is the director of indusrry
information for the National Office Products
Association . She lives in Alexandria, VA. Curtis
S. \¥.trd is an automation filctory manager for
Motorola Inc. He lives in Gilbert, AZ. Craig D.
Weber is a sales manager for Sears Mortgage
Corporation. He lives in Lake Worth , FL.Jane
Wells is a self-employed consultant in
marketing, research and qualitative
moderating. She lives with her husband, Lynn,
in New York, NY W. David Wilson has a new
position as director of marketing for GEON,
vinyl division, B.E Goodrich. He lives in
Hudson, Ohio with his wife, Barbara.
1978
Paul G. Beal is manager of Far East operations
for Deere & Co. He lives in Moline, IL. Gail P.
Beske is manager of budget and financial
analysis for Northgate Computer Systems, Inc.
She lives in Minneapolis, MN. Daniel]. Bittner
is a senior information center analyst for
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in
Beverly Hills, California. He lives in West Hills,
CA. Douglas E. Blom is manager of
international sales at Bucyrus-Erie Co. He lives
SPRING 1990
23
in Whitefish Bay, WI. Phillip R. Cabrera is a
partner with Exeter Management Inc., an
affiliate of the Merchants Group, a clearing firm
at the Chicago Board of Trade. He is in charge
of marketing an offshore financial futures fund
throughout Asia and Europe. He lives in
Naperville, IL. Dennis W. Casper is an area
controller at 'MIng Laboratories. He married
Marjorie Casper in 1987 and they live in a
two-year-old home which Dennis built himself
in Thkoma Park, MD. He will be se lf-employed
in accounting as of February, 1990. Constance
Chapman Dil is owner of Laser Express and
lives in Scottsdale, AZ. Michael T. Dillon is a
senior vice president of Chase Bank of Arizona.
He lives in Scottsdale, AZ. Kenneth A.
Erickson is the controller of Rajala Lumber Co.
in Grand Rapids, MN. Jeffery M. Ferm is an
asset manager of Greyhound Leasing & Finance.
He lives in Mesa, AZ. Stephen R. Fones is a
sales representative at Clarklift of Cleveland. He
lives in Cleveland, OH. George Foose is the
corporate director of marketing and development
manager Thailand for Club Corporation of Asia
Ltd. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand . Thomas G.
Goudie was recently promoted to customer
service manager at C. R. England & Sons Inc. He
works and lives in Salt Lake City, UT James N.
Hanson is a sales representative for Sun
Microsystems Inc. He lives in Grosse Pointe
Woods, MI. Ralph M. Hartman is chief
operating offi cer of Indian River Community
Mental Health. He lives in Port St. Lucie, FL. Ted
O. Kloehn is an account executive with Pacific
Bell. He lives in Berkeley, CA. Joy A. Kovaleski
is vice president of new product development
for Applause. She was recently married to Bruce
Blunt '78, who works for Scher-Voit as a
commercial real estate broker of hotels. They live
in Los Angeles, CA. Timothy C. Lavelle is
sales manager of the western region for AMPRO
Computers, Sunnyvale. He lives in San j ose,
CA. Gregory L Linker is the manager of
international sales for Amphenol Corporation,
an electronics firm . He lives in Fairfield , CT
Margaret A. McNiel is a product manager,
food service, for Southland Corp. She lives in
Irving, TX. Ruben M. Mendez is the president
of EEB Inc., a consulting firm serving the airline
industry He lives in Manhattan Beach, CA.
Hanni K. Von Metzger is the assistant vice
president of Uoyds Bank Pic. She lives in
Miami, FL. Cynthia \¥.tlton Tse is a claim
representative for Allstate Insurance Co. She
lives in Auburn, WA. Albert]. \¥.tszok is an
assistant regional manager for American
International Group Inc. He has a new son,
Alexander Pierre, and lives in Wheaton, IL.
Richard A. Whritenour is a business unit
manager for the inspection systems group with
Philips Electronic Instrument. He lives in
Alpharetta, Georgia, and has a daughter,
Morgan Ashley, born in 1988. Windsor S.
Wilhelmsen is a tax partner at ML & R. His
wife, Lorie, gave birth to their first son, Windsor
Scott Wilhelmsen, on j anuary 25, 1990. They
live in Prescott, AZ. C. Scott Wilson is vice
president for the Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce. He and his wife, jan, live in
Houston, TX.
1979
Farhad]. Arfa has a new pOSition with Dean
Witter Reynolds, Inc. as an account executive.
He lives in Houston, TX. Melody Ball Bivens is
self-employed. She and her husband, Bob
Bivens, had a baby boy, Trace, in December. They
ALUMNI UPDATES
live in Dallas, TX. Brian L. Ballard is a
technical recruiter for Snelling & Snelling. He
lives in Wichita Falls, TX. Joan E. Bevans is
the director of finanCing planning systems for
Smith Kline Beckman. She lives in Philadelphia,
PA. Celeste M. Edwards is a special education
teacher with Cherry Creek School District in
Denver, CO. Mark G. ELliott is an export
manager at Viskase Corporation, a company
that makes packaging material for food
companies. He lives in Bolingbrook, IL. Nancy
Fuhrman Martin is home with her three
children, Sally, Andrew, and Maggie. Her
husband, Peter Martin '79, is the assistant
manager/textiles, Mitsubishi International
Corp. They live in Stone Mountain, GA.
Deborah L Haas is a liquidation assistant for
the ED.I.e. She lives and works in Midland, TX.
Mohammed Anwar Mefleh Hamdan has
resigned from the Bank of jordan and is now
working for the Cairo Amman Bank as assistant
deputy general manager, in Amman, jordan.
Michael D. Harris is the owner of Molly Maid.
He lives in Fullerton, CA. Mark C. Haslam is
director of ionic and electronic devices at
Ceramatec, Inc. He lives in Centerville, UI
Robert H. Hetherington is owner/president of
Alpine Wood Products in Republic, MD. Nancy
]. Irwin is a compensation coordinator
for the Lutheran Medical Center. She lives in
Westminster, CO. David K. Kastner is the
manager of pricing and quotation for Garrett
Automotive Products Co. He lives in Torrance,
CA. Mark K. Langenbacher is the vice president
and manager of the international department of
First Interstate Bank of Hawaii. He lives in Aiea,
Hawaii. Jeffrey S. Limes is a tax manager for
Price Waterhouse & Co. He lives and works in
New York, NY Donald Lyon is a trial atto rney
for the U.S. Department of justice, antitrust
division. He and his wife, janet, live in
Cleveland Heights, OH. Bruce Maioriello­Gallus
is assistant director of financial audits
for the u.s. Department of Labor. His third child,
Isabel, arrived one year ago. He lives in lilkoma
Park, MD. Philip A. Mekrut is an account
executive for Pacific Bell. He and his wife,
Susan, have a 3 II2·year-old son, Adam, and a
5-month-old daughter, julia. They live in
Capistrano Beach, CA. R. Keith O'Connell has
moved from Syracuse, New York to Richmond,
Virginia. He has joined Robertshaw Controls
Company - International Operations, as
regional sales manager for Latin America and the
Caribbean. J . A. Resley is a product manager
for Braun, Inc. He lives in Windham, NH.
A LU M NIP RO F I L E
A TASTE OF JAPAN
IN KENTUCKY
Pat Voss '79 was working
in Louisville, Kentucky
for Coopers &: Lybrand,
one of the nation's leading
accounting firms, when
a client approached
her with a job offer in
1984. She accepted and
became director of
corporate budgeting for
the Brown-Forman
Beverage Company,
whose corporate head­quarters
are based in
Louisville.
Brown-Forman produces
and markets more than
20 brands of wines and
distilled spirits, including
Korbel California Cham­pagnes,
jack Daniel's
Tennessee Whiskey,
Canadian Mist and
Southern Comfort. One
of the fou nders of the
company, William L.
Lyons Brown , is a lso a
Thunderbird alumnus,
from the class of 1960.
Recently, the company
promoted Voss to
director of production
administration and
business analysis and in
December, 1989, the
Pat Voss '79
company's management
committee appointed
her a vice president of the
company.
Her new responsibili­ties
include budgeting
and financial reporting for
all nine Brown-Forman
production facilities ,
including distilleries in
Ireland, Canada and St.
Croix, the Virgin Islands.
She also oversees capital
expenditures, order pro­cessing,
distribution and
traffic, and customer
service for these facilities.
She has traveled to
the company's distillery
in Ontario, Canada,
where Canadian Mist is
produced, and in a few
months, she plans to
visit the Ireland facility,
where Southern Comfort
is produced and marketed
for the European market.
While at Thunderbird,
Voss studied interna­tional
finance and
japanese. At Brown­Forman,
she says she has
been asked to use her
Japanese to read labels on
bottles as well as to greet
japanese guests.
'Jack Daniel's is
quite popular in japan,"
Voss says, adding that
Brown-Forman has
a joint venture with
Suntory Limited, a
Japanese company that
markets some of their
products in Japan.
"1 would be hard ­pressed
to find a better
company than Brown­Forman
to work for,"
Voss says. "It's a small
enough company so that
you can deal well with
management, but still
large enough to have an
international presence."
Currently, she is learning
more about the production
end of the business and
eventually would like to
manage a Brown-Forman
plant or division .
by Pam R. Selthun
THU DERBIRD MAGAZINE
24
Judith D. Robinson is a captain in the U.s.
Army working in medical services corps
administration in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
She lives in Fayetteville, Ne. Steven A. Rosco is
a real estate agent at Paul Kott Realtors. He lives
in Anaheim, CA. Mark T. Seryak is the vice
president of corporate banking for National
City Bank. He lives in Rocky River, OH. Brian
M. Stangle is a manager for Citibank/MIS. He
lives in Woodridge, IL. S. ~st Stewart is
preSident of Silk Roads Limi ted in San
Francisco. The company does consulting in Far
Eastern business and technologies. Kathy
Sweany is a district leaSing manager for Easnnan
Kodak Credit Corporation, a leasing and
finanCing firm for Kodak products. She lives in
Phoenix, AZ.. Sally L Tischler is an account
manager for Sun Micro Systems. She lives in
Woodside, CA. Jennifer Woody Dietz is a
senior vice president of Financial Statement
Services. She lives in Irvine, CA.
1980 REUNION
ji
NOVEMBER 9-11, 1990
Scott Ashton-BLair is president of Scott
Ashton-Blair, Ltd. a law firm in Phoenix, AZ..
Sharon Ber! Robinson is a project consultant for
NCNB Texas. She lives in Houston, TX. Moha
Bouacha is a business manager at the Kellogg
School of Management at Northwestern
University. He lives in Evanston, IL. Stanley L.
Brotherton is a regional risk manager for
Pepsico, Inc. He lives in Lake Dallas, TX.
Edward J . Carson has been promoted to
assistant vice president of Marsh & McLennan
Inc. He lives in Alexandria, VA. David D.
Chapman is a sales representative at Alpha
Scientific. He lives in Irvine, CA. Christian
Charette recently joined Union Partners Realty
Group as an asset manager. He lives in San
Francisco, CA. Janice Charlton Hopkins is
senior director of advertising and marketing for
Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays, the largest travel
company for the Hawaiian Islands. She lives in
Westlake Village, CA. Anita Sur Claricoates is
manager of the energy group at FNB of
Chicago. She lives in Western Springs, Illinois
and her third child, Emily, was born in
December, 1988. Lynda]. Clugston is the
director of marketing for Four Seasons Hotel.
She lives in Boston, MA. Carlos Del Nero is a
regional director of the Caribbean and Latin
He lives in Coral Springs, FL. Randy E. Edler
is now the manager of Latin America for
Kentucky Fried Chicken. He lives in Pembroke
Pines, FL. Desiree Finn Mannel is an assistant
vice president at Security Pacific Bank of
Arizona. Her husband, Charles H. Mannel, Jr.
'82, is an investment broker with A.G. Edwards
& Sons, Inc. They live in Glendale, AZ.. Sue A.
Flury is an assistant vice president operations
for American International Group, Inc., an
insurance company in New York City. She lives
in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, David
Dougherty. P.]. Garrido is a vice president!
senior credit officer for Bank of America NT &
SA in Beverly Hills and lives in South
Pasadena, CA. Andres Hernandez is an
international