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97-413: After the conclusion of World War II, the property was sold as surplus for educational purposes, eventually becoming Thunderbird School of Global Management , a post-graduate business school. In November 2018 the property was transferred to Arizona Christian University . ACU now operates its undergraduate liberal arts university on the site. Television producer Gerry Anderson named Thunderbird Field as

194-737: A 2005 CG remake of Captain Scarlet titled New Captain Scarlet . Anderson died in 2012. Gerald Alexander Abrahams was born in the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital in Bloomsbury , London, and spent the early years of his life in Kilburn , and Neasden , London. He was educated at Kingsgate Infants School in Kilburn and Braintcroft Junior and Senior schools in Neasden, prior to winning

291-451: A feature-film version of the series was proposed even before the pilot episode went to air. At this approximate time, APF was renamed Century 21 Productions. After APF was renamed Century 21 Productions, it enjoyed its greatest success with Thunderbirds , and the series made the Andersons world famous. However, it was cancelled midway through the second series because Grade was unable to sell

388-413: A few months, but the airfield at Thunderbird may have continued in operation alongside the new school for some time. Thunderbird Field was apparently closed (permanently) at some point within the next year. Thunderbird Field inspired the name of Thunderbirds , a British mid-1960s television show that used marionettes . The eldest brother of Gerry Anderson , the creator of the show had been stationed at

485-497: A groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on Thunderbird's new global headquarters facility, adjacent to ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law on the Downtown Phoenix campus. The first classes in the new building were held in the fall semester of 2021, when Thunderbird celebrated its 75th anniversary. Thunderbird presidents: Directors general (under ASU): Thunderbird's degrees have historically included

582-668: A hexagonal barracks, administrative building, mess hall and four hangars on the site, plus twin swimming pools. The US Army Air Forces signed a contract with Southwest Airways to provide instructors and facilities for a primary training school for its aviation cadets in March 1941, beginning with a class of 59 candidates. Eventually 10,000 pilots from 30 nations trained at the field before it was deactivated in June 1945. A 1942 Hollywood movie in Technicolor , Thunder Birds (directed by William Wellman ),

679-540: A library. A pilot, Peterson was known for landing his plane on Thunderbird field. William Voris (served 1971–1989) established overseas study programs in several foreign countries, including cooperative agreements with the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) and the Beijing Institute of Foreign Trade (1980). He also organized the school's first executive education programs. The Thunderbird Hot Air Balloon Classic

776-453: A new company, AP Films , for Anderson-Provis Films, with Hill and Read as their partners. Anderson continued his freelance directing work to obtain funds to maintain the fledgling company. AP Films' first television venture was produced for Granada Television . Created by Roberta Leigh , The Adventures of Twizzle (1957–1958) was a series for young children about a doll with the ability to 'twizzle' his arms and legs to greater lengths. It

873-400: A new programme format about a rescue organisation, which eventually became his most famous and popular series, Thunderbirds (1965–1966). The dramatic title was inspired by the letter Anderson's older brother Lionel had written to his family during World War II. Grade was very enthusiastic about the concept and agreed to back a series of 25-minute episodes (the same length as Stingray ), so

970-438: A new show mixing live action and puppets. The Space Police name had already been registered by another company, so Anderson's programme eventually emerged in 1995 as Space Precinct . A pilot film had previously been made with Shane Rimmer, but it took almost ten years to get the concept to the screen. In the meantime, Anderson and Burr produced the cult stop-motion animated series Dick Spanner , which enjoyed many showings on

1067-611: A petition in protest. The Thunderbird Independent Alumni Association (not to be confused with the school-managed Thunderbird Alumni Network) was formed in the midst of the controversy. There were board resignations. Although the proposal was approved by Thunderbird's board in June 2013, it was ultimately rejected by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , Thunderbird's's regional accreditor. Since Thunderbird

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1164-437: A rating of "good", which was one step down from the publication's top rating of "excellent". In its 2014 rankings, published in 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked Thunderbird as the best international business school in their annual rankings, marking the eighteenth consecutive year the school was named top international business program. In U.S. News & World Report 's 2015 rankings, published in 2014, Thunderbird

1261-473: A reedited version of a two-part Space: 1999 storyline. Some of these films were marketed in the US as part of a series of action-adventure videos featuring specially shot introductions by actress Sybil Danning . In the early 1980s, Anderson formed a new partnership, Anderson Burr Pictures Ltd, with businessman Christopher Burr. The new company's first production was based on an unrealised concept devised by Anderson in

1358-615: A scholarship to Willesden County Grammar School . His parents were Deborah ( née Leonoff) and Joseph Abrahams. At the start of the Second World War , Gerry Anderson's elder brother, Lionel, volunteered for service in the Royal Air Force (RAF); he was stationed in the United States for advanced training. Lionel often wrote letters to his family, and in one letter described a US Army Air Forces air base called Thunderbird Field ,

1455-455: A secret organisation defending against aliens. Terrahawks ran successfully from 1983 to 1986 in the UK but fell short of a four-year American syndication deal by one season when the show was cancelled. Terrahawks retains a cult following to this day. Anderson had claimed on record that he would rather forget the show. Anderson hoped to continue his renewed success with a series called Space Police ,

1552-458: A secretary working at the studios; they began a relationship and were married on 11 April 1981. Space: 1999 was successful enough that a second (and final) series went into production in 1976 with American producer Fred Freiberger brought in to replace Sylvia Anderson. Freiberger was known for producing the final season of the original Star Trek . Under Freiberger the series underwent a number of cast and cosmetic changes. Space: 1999 marked

1649-402: A series of UK advertisements for Swinton Insurance . In 1991 Gerry asked journalist and author Simon Archer to write his biography, following an interview by the latter for a series of articles for Century 21 magazine. In September that year in the UK, BBC2 began a repeat showing of Thunderbirds , which rivalled the success of its original run a generation before. This was also surprisingly

1746-480: A suburb of Phoenix , the airfield was built in 1941 and was used to train pilots. The school has utilized the existing buildings on the airfield and many of the school's classrooms are located in the airfield's former barracks. Arizona Christian University is the new owner and occupant of Thunderbird's former campus in Glendale. The airfield's air traffic control tower is still present on campus. Beginning in 2007,

1843-428: A supercomputer called 'BIG RAT' which can 'program' Joe with special knowledge and abilities for his missions. Its relatively poor reception made it the last of the classic Anderson marionette shows. Anderson's next project took the special effects expertise built up over previous TV projects and combined it with live action. Century 21's third feature film, Doppelgänger (1969) (released internationally as Journey to

1940-711: Is Thunderbird International Business Review, which is published six times a year. Forbes ranked Thunderbird as the 54th best business school in the U.S. in 2011, and a 2012 report released by Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Thunderbird as the top international business program. Thunderbird was also ranked as the 5th most diverse school out of 82 schools surveyed, based on student responses about students' country of origin, gender and ethnicity. In 2013, The Financial Times ranked Thunderbird's executive education program ninth overall based on corporate client feedback to The Financial Times . Also in 2013, The Economist released ratings for online programs and gave Thunderbird

2037-462: Is a global leadership, management, and business school at Arizona State University , a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area . It was founded in 1946 as an independent, private institution and acquired by Arizona State University in 2014. The school moved to ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus in 2018. The campus built a new $ 75 million building for the school in 2021. Thunderbird

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2134-713: Is a unit of the Arizona State University Enterprise. Its programs are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). As of 2018, the school had around 45,000 alumni, also referred to as "Thunderbirds.” The school derives its name from Thunderbird Field No. 1 , a decommissioned World War II -era United States Army Air Forces base, which served as its campus for more than 70 years. The American Institute for Foreign Trade

2231-584: The G.I. Bill (provision was also made for the "instruction of wives"). The first certificates were awarded June 14, 1947. The program mixed business courses with instruction in Spanish or Portuguese languages and Latin American culture, for a "tripartite curriculum" consisting of international commerce, languages, and area studies. Course offerings soon expanded to include French language and Western European and "Far Eastern" area studies. In 1951, Thunderbird began granting

2328-506: The MBA degree, and indeed emphasized the "difference of degree" in its marketing materials. In 1953, the school logo (which had been affixed to several repurposed aircraft hangars) allegedly inspired the name of the U.S. Air Force demonstration flight team, the Thunderbirds . The first foreign students enrolled in 1958, and their proportion steadily increased until 9-11 , reaching some 60% of

2425-586: The "Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management" (in 1967), and then to the "American Graduate School of International Management" (in 1973). The American Management Association entered into some sort of relationship with the school, while the North Central Association granted Thunderbird regional accreditation in 1969 and 1974. Accreditation by the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business proved more elusive (and would not be granted until 1994), since Thunderbird did not then award

2522-620: The APF puppet productions made the Andersons world-famous, Anderson was always unhappy about working with puppets. He used them primarily to get attention from and a good reputation with TV networks, hoping to have them serve as a stepping stone to his goal of making live-action film and TV drama. During the production of The Adventures of Twizzle , Anderson started an affair with secretary Sylvia Thamm . Following his divorce from his first wife, Anderson married Thamm in November 1960. AP Films' third series

2619-646: The Anderson shows was now worldwide and growing steadily, and Anderson found himself in demand for personal and media appearances . In response to this greater demand Anderson performed a successful one-man show in 1992, which Archer had written and constructed. Entitled An Evening with Gerry Anderson , it took the form of an illustrated lecture in which he talked about his career, and his most popular shows. He also made numerous media and personal appearances to tie in with revivals and video cassette releases of Stingray , Thunderbirds , Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 . Anderson

2716-508: The Andersons and Reg Hill), Anderson decided not to work with his wife on his next project, the ITC action series The Protectors . It was one of Anderson's few non-original projects. Lew Grade himself was heavily involved in the programme, and cast both the lead actors, Robert Vaughn and Nyree Dawn Porter . The production was difficult for Anderson, who clashed with the famously difficult Vaughn. There were also many logistical problems arising from

2813-508: The Andersons scripted a pilot episode, " Trapped in the Sky ", and began production. Anderson initially wanted actress Fenella Fielding to perform the voice of Lady Penelope , but Sylvia convinced her husband that she herself ought to play the role. Thunderbirds also marked the start of a long professional association with actor Shane Rimmer , who voiced Scott Tracy . Production on Thunderbirds had been under way for several months when Grade saw

2910-470: The Associated Television ( ATV ) boss who offered to buy the show. This began a long friendship and a very successful professional association between the two men. The new series, Supercar , (1960–61) was developed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and Reg Hill based on a story written by Sylvia Anderson and marked several important advances for APF. Sylvia took on a larger role and became a partner in

3007-689: The Bachelor of Foreign Trade (1951–1975), the Master of Foreign Trade / Master of International Management (1952–2001), an MBA in Global Management (2001–2016), and executive education programs. Since its acquisition by ASU, Thunderbird has revived the undergraduate program (the Bachelor of Global Management; its students are called "Underbirds"), phased out the MBA (which the Carey School already offered), and introduced

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3104-420: The Bachelor of Foreign Trade to students who already possessed undergraduate degrees, or at least three years of coursework, while the others continued to be awarded certificates. Thunderbird thus became one of the first tertiary institutions to offer international business degrees. A Master of Foreign Trade degree began to be offered in 1952, and required four semesters of study, in contrast to two semesters for

3201-616: The Battery Boy (1960), and Four Feather Falls (1960) followed. Supercar (1961–62) and Fireball XL5 (1962–63) came next, both series breaking into the U.S. television market in the early 1960s. In the mid-1960s Anderson produced his most successful series, Thunderbirds . Other television productions of the period included Stingray , Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Joe 90 . Anderson also wrote and produced several feature films, including Doppelgänger (aka Journey to

3298-628: The British Channel 4 in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was the final project completed by Anderson Burr. Anderson then joined the Moving Picture Company as a commercials director, and provided special effects direction for the musical comedy Return to the Forbidden Planet . The cult appeal of Thunderbirds and the other Supermarionation series grew steadily over the years and was celebrated by comedy and stage productions such as

3395-495: The Europe-wide filming of the show, but it was very successful in both the UK and America and its theme song " Avenues and Alleyways " became a hit record in the UK for singer Tony Christie . It was also the first live-action series produced by Anderson to survive to a second season. Following The Protectors , Anderson worked on several new projects, none of which he was able to take into production. A proposed second series of UFO

3492-517: The Far Side of the Sun ) was a dark, Twilight Zone -style sci-fi project about an astronaut who travels to a newly discovered planet on the opposite side of the sun, which proves to be an exact mirror-image of Earth, starring American actor Roy Thinnes . Although it was not a major commercial success, Doppelgänger was nominated for an Academy Award for its special effects. Century 21's return to television

3589-598: The Far Side of the Sun , 1969). Following a shift towards live-action productions in the 1970s, he had a long and successful association with media impresario Lew Grade and Grade's company ITC , continuing until the second series of Space: 1999 . After a lull in which a number of new series failed to materialise, Anderson began a new phase in his career the early 1980s, when nostalgia for his earlier Supermarionation series, prompted by Saturday morning re-runs in Britain and Australia, led to new commissions. Later projects included

3686-531: The Garvin School of International Management" following a $ 60 million pledge by alumnus Sam Garvin and his wife Rita (only part of which was ultimately donated). The same year, the school hired Ángel Cabrera to serve as president. Cabrera oversaw the school's 2006 adoption of a Professional Oath of Honor. In 2007, the school again changed its name to the "Thunderbird School of Global Management." In 2012, Larry Penley became president of Thunderbird, and

3783-534: The Golden Gun , the Saltzman-Broccoli partnership dissolved. Offered £20,000 for the treatment, Anderson refused, fearing that if he accepted he would not be at the helm when it was made; the next Bond film to be made was 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me . (This film used only the title of the actual Ian Fleming novel.) Anderson started legal proceedings against Broccoli for plagiarism of story elements but withdrew

3880-471: The Master of Global Management, a non-MBA graduate degree with a number of formal concentrations. Degrees currently offered include: Undergraduate degrees: Two tracks are offered: one consisting of international business, language, and culture; and another which omits language (including all online programs). Graduate degrees: Other executive education and lifelong learning options are offered as well. The school has several journals, best known of which

3977-577: The Moon's surface (caused by the storage of nuclear waste there) projected the Moon out of orbit and into interplanetary space. The series starred the American husband-and-wife actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain , who had gained international fame in the TV series Mission: Impossible . They were cast at the insistence of Grade, and against Sylvia Anderson's strenuous objections. The Andersons' marriage broke down during

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4074-444: The action shortly after, nervous of the legal might lined up against him. He relinquished the treatment, and received £3,000 in compensation. A film version of Moonraker was eventually produced in 1979, but did not involve any of Anderson's material. By the time UFO concluded, the relationship between the Andersons had deteriorated. Although produced under the aegis of a new company, Group Three Productions (the three being both of

4171-408: The agreement, although Laureate would be given three seats on Thunderbird's board, Thunderbird would retain its academic independence and degree-granting powers. Thunderbird would continue to operate from its Glendale campus, but would sell its campus to Laureate in a leaseback agreement, and use the money from the sale to pay off its debts. (Thunderbird alumni would have the option to purchase

4268-403: The armed forces, have completed at least two years above high school, or the equivalent thereof." This last provision was interpreted to allow military or work experience to substitute for formal university study. Classes officially began on October 1, 1946, with 285 students and 18 faculty members. (Early catalogues give these figures as 296 and 22, respectively.) 98% of the students attended on

4365-467: The bachelors. (This replaced an earlier system which distinguished between Course I and Course II of the bachelor's degree, the latter being more specialized and requiring one or two additional semesters.) Over the following decades, the master's degree—renamed the Master of International Management (MIM) – came to dominate, while the undergraduate program was phased out (bachelors degrees ceased to be awarded by 1975). The school accordingly changed its name to

4462-548: The base and wrote about his experience there. Today the location of the school is known currently as Arizona Christian University . The campus still contains many original airfield buildings, including the airfield control tower (which has been restored), barracks, and one large airplane hangar. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Thunderbird School of Global Management Thunderbird School of Global Management (or simply Thunderbird )

4559-424: The campus from Laureate within two years, or the school could repurchase the campus at the end of the twenty-year lease agreement.) Also, Laureate and Thunderbird had planned to invest $ 20 million and $ 10 million respectively in campus improvements. A number of Thunderbird alumni, and several board members, opposed the proposed partnership on the grounds that it would harm the school's reputation, and circulated

4656-434: The company. The series was also the official debut of Supermarionation, the electronic system that made the marionettes more lifelike and convincing on screen. The system used the audio signal from pre-recorded tapes of the actors' voices to trigger solenoids installed in the heads of the puppets, making their lips move in synchronisation with the voices of the actors, and actresses. One of Anderson's most successful ventures

4753-411: The completed 25-minute version of "Trapped in the Sky". He was so excited by the result that he insisted that the episodes be extended to fifty minutes. With a substantial increase in budget, the production was restructured to expand episodes already filmed or in pre-production, and create new 50-minute scripts for the remainder. Grade and others were so convinced that Thunderbirds would be a success that

4850-433: The completion of Fireball XL5 , Lew Grade offered to buy AP Films. Although Anderson was initially reluctant, the deal eventually went ahead, with Grade becoming the managing director, and the Andersons, Hill, and Read becoming directors of the company. Shortly after the buy-out, APF began production on a new marionette series, Stingray (1964), the first Supermarionation-based British TV series to be filmed in colour. For

4947-549: The death toll ranged between twelve and 20 people. On another occasion, a Spitfire was coming in to land. It was only about 50 feet (15 m) above the ground before the runway controller alerted the pilot to the fact the plane's undercarriage hadn't lowered. The pilot opened up the throttle and climbed away. As this was a moment Anderson always remembered, he found it all too easy to write about aircraft when he devised stories for Thunderbirds . After completing his military service, he returned to Gainsborough, where he worked until

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5044-573: The end of Anderson's association with ATV. By the late 1970s, Anderson's life and career were at a low point: he was in financial difficulty, found it hard to get work, and he experienced family difficulties. By December 1980, Gerry and Sylvia's marriage was officially over, and they divorced. In 1981, episodes of many of Anderson's Supermarionation series were edited together as films, aired as Super Space Theatre . A number of similarly reedited feature-length productions were also syndicated and released on home video, such as Destination: Moonbase Alpha ,

5141-603: The end of World War II, Thunderbird Field was declared surplus by the War Assets Administration in 1946. That same year, Thunderbird was purchased for $ 1 from the federal government by Lt. General Barton K. Yount , retired commander of the Army Air Forces Training Command . He established the American Institute for Foreign Trade and became its first president. Classes began on the site within

5238-534: The feature film Thunderbirds Are GO surprisingly flopped. In later interviews, Anderson said that he considered divorce, but this was halted when Sylvia announced that she was pregnant. Their son, Gerry Anderson Jr., was born in July 1967. By that time, production had started on a new series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967), which saw the advent of more realistic marionette characters which, thanks to improvements in electronics which allowed miniaturisation of

5335-807: The first series of Space: 1999 in 1975; Gerry announced his intention to separate on the evening of the wrap party. Sylvia severed her ties with Group Three , and, to alleviate his financial plight, Anderson sold his share of the profits from the APF/Century 21 shows and their holiday home in Portugal to Lew Grade . Between making the two series of Space: 1999 , Anderson produced a one-off television special, The Day After Tomorrow (also known as Into Infinity ), about two spacefaring families en route to Alpha Centauri , for an NBC series of programmes illustrating current scientific theory for popular consumption. While making this project, Anderson met Mary Robins (b. 1949),

5432-506: The hangars its wings, and the gardens its head. The installation was situated on the southeast corner of what is now West Greenway Road and North 59th Avenue. To the southeast, adjacent to its single-story sage , cream , and terra cotta -colored buildings of Spanish Colonial rancheria design, was a square 2,800-square-foot (260 m) ramp area. Across West Greenway Road to the south was the airfield itself with three 3,500-foot (1,100 m) runways. Contractor Del Webb Construction built

5529-526: The hit two-man stage revue Thunderbirds FAB . In the early 1990s, ITC began releasing home video versions of the Supermarionation shows, and the profile of the shows was further enhanced by productions such as the Dire Straits music video for their single " Calling Elvis ", which was made as an affectionate Thunderbirds pastiche (with Anderson co-producing), and by Lady Penelope and Parker appearing in

5626-535: The inspiration for the naming of the television show Thunderbirds as his brother, Lionel, was once stationed there. Thunderbird Field began in 1939 as a collaborative project by Hollywood agent and producer Leland Hayward , former Air Service pilot John H. "Jack" Connelly , and Life magazine photographer John Swope, founders of Southwest Airways . Backed by investors who included James Stewart , singer-actor Hoagy Carmichael , Cary Grant , Henry Fonda , Robert Taylor , and Margaret Sullavan , construction of

5723-473: The late 1970s for a Japanese cartoon series. Terrahawks marked Anderson's return to working with puppets, but rather than marionettes this series used a new system dubbed 'Supermacromation' which used highly sophisticated glove puppets—an approach inspired by the advances in this form of marionation made by Jim Henson and his colleagues. It featured another reuse of the Captain Scarlet / UFO formula of

5820-616: The late 1990s. At the same time, Thunderbird began to experience competition from other American (and ultimately, foreign) business schools as international business increasingly became a mainstream subject. Thunderbird's relative poverty, and lack of affiliation with a full-fledged university, proved significant disadvantages, even as interest in business education skyrocketed during the Reagan administration. After 1992 Thunderbird's enrollment began to decline, dropping below 600 in 2003, and necessitating faculty and staff cuts in 2001 and 2004. This trend

5917-420: The lip-sync mechanisms, could now be built closer to normal human proportions. Century 21's second feature film, Thunderbird 6 , was also unsuccessful, and the problems were compounded by their next (and penultimate) Supermarionation series, Joe 90 (1968). This series returned to more 'kid-friendly' territory, depicting the adventures of a young boy who is also a secret agent and whose scientist father uses

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6014-639: The name of which stayed in his younger brother's memory. Lionel was killed in action on 27 April 1944 when his de Havilland Mosquito was shot down over the Netherlands. On 16 October 1952, Anderson married Betty Wrightman (1929–2021). They had two daughters. Anderson began his career in photography, earning a traineeship with the British Colonial Film Unit after the war. He developed an interest in film editing and moved on to Gainsborough Pictures , where he gained further experience. In 1947, he

6111-646: The new production APF moved to new studios in Slough . The new and bigger facilities allowed them to make major improvements in special effects, notably in the underwater sequences, as well as advances in marionette technology, with the use of a variety of interchangeable heads for each character to convey different expressions. APF's next project for ATV was inspired by a mining disaster that occurred in West Germany in October 1963. This real-life drama inspired Anderson to create

6208-401: The next few years with a goal to have a global network of 20 satellite hubs by the year 2025. The hubs will support professional English education, recruiting, alumni and community engagement, and executive education. All the hubs will be connected to the global headquarters facility in downtown Phoenix. The goal is for the headquarters to function as a digital and physical space that will connect

6305-433: The offer to direct a film for Anglo-Amalgamated Studios. Crossroads to Crime was a low-budget B-grade crime thriller, and although Anderson hoped that its success might enable him to move into mainstream film-making, it failed at the box office. By this time, APF was in financial trouble and the company was struggling to find a buyer for their new puppet series. They were rescued by a fortuitous meeting with Lew Grade ,

6402-408: The pilot training facility near Glendale, Arizona , began on 2 January 1941, and was completed in three months. The site, 25 miles (40 km) from central Phoenix , was laid out by artist Millard Sheets to resemble (from the air) an etching of a mythical Ancestral Puebloan Thunderbird . The control tower formed the feathered tail of the bird, the administration buildings and barracks its body,

6499-461: The project by two AAF colonels, Finley Peter Dunne, Jr. and W. Stouder Thompson, who considered that the United States was (in Dunne's words) "notoriously short of personnel trained for foreign trade." Yount agreed that "the young men who were going to foreign countries to represent American business were, in many cases, entirely untrained and unfit to represent their firms and their government." The school

6596-425: The publishers to collect one of the first print run to present to Anderson, and the book later had to be withdrawn from sale and thousands of copies destroyed as a result of a copyright dispute with ITC America. The renewed interest enabled Anderson to return to television production, but several projects including GFI (an animated update of Thunderbirds ) did not make it into production. Finally, in 1994, Anderson

6693-622: The school will be moved to a facility in downtown Phoenix. As part of the move, the City of Phoenix agreed to invest $ 13.5M in the new building, a record investment for Thunderbird. ASU and Thunderbird are covering the remaining cost of the $ 75 million facility using funds from fundraising, including the old Glendale campus and another parcel in nearby Scottsdale . The old campus in Glendale has since become Arizona Christian University . Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson MBE ( né   Abrahams ; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012)

6790-549: The school's global network of 45,000 alumni with students, faculty, and staff. Other buildings on the original campus included the International Business Information Centre (IBIC), which was Thunderbird's library, and a dining hall for students. The school's campus also featured a Welcome Wall, which was built in 1992, and displayed greetings in different languages. On December 12, 2017 ASU announced that Thunderbird's historical campus will be closed and

6887-464: The secret defence organisation SHADO, set up to counter an alien invasion. UFO was more adult in tone than any of Anderson's puppet series, and mixed Century 21's signature futuristic action-adventure and special effects with serious dramatic elements. UFO was the last series made under the Century 21 Productions banner. During production of UFO, Anderson was approached directly by Harry Saltzman (at

6984-527: The series was cancelled before its first screening; Lew Grade considered that it would be incomprehensible to American audiences, and thus unsellable. In 1969 the Andersons began production of a new TV series, UFO , Century 21's first full live-action television series. This sci-fi action-adventure series starred American-born actor Ed Bishop (who had also provided the voice of Captain Blue in Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons ) as Commander Edward Straker, head of

7081-459: The series' network television premiere, having never been shown nationally by ITV . It became so popular in Britain that toy manufacturers Matchbox were unable to keep up with the demand for the Tracy Island playset, leading children's show Blue Peter to broadcast a segment showing children how to construct their own for a second time, the first being during the original run. The fan base for

7178-404: The show to an American network. Despite being wildly popular in the UK and abroad, Grade felt that without an American buyer, a full second series would fail to recoup its cost. It would later find moderate success in the United States through syndication . During the production of Thunderbirds the Andersons' marriage began to come under increasing strain, and the company also had a setback when

7275-722: The spirit of the iconic original. In 2011, one of the then-70-year-old airplane hangars on campus was removed. The building, named the Thunderbird Activity Center by the school, had been used for special events and exams, but was determined to no longer meet safety standards following an inspection of the campus. Thunderbird also has satellite Centers for Excellence in Dubai, UAE; Geneva, Switzerland; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Tokyo, Japan, among several others. The school currently has 15 worldwide campuses and has plans to open several new satellite Centers for Excellence (hub offices) in

7372-531: The student body. In 1965, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded the school the President's "E" Certificate for Export Service (later upgraded to an "E-star" ranking). A small flag signifying this flew in front of the school for decades. Under the presidency of Arthur L. Peterson (served 1966-69), Thunderbird received regional accreditation ; the size of the student body doubled (to 503 in 1967); and several significant building projects were undertaken, including

7469-414: The studio was closed in 1950. He then worked freelance on a series of feature films. In the mid-1950s, Anderson joined the independent television production company Polytechnic Studios as a director, where he met cameraman Arthur Provis . After Polytechnic collapsed, Anderson, Provis, Reg Hill and John Read formed Pentagon Films in 1955. Pentagon was wound up soon after and Anderson and Provis formed

7566-601: The time co-producer of the James Bond film series with Albert "Cubby" Broccoli ), and was invited to write and produce the next film in the series, which was to be Moonraker . Collaborating with Tony Barwick to provide the characterisation, whilst he himself focused on the action sequences, Anderson wrote and delivered a treatment to Saltzman. Nothing ultimately came of it, and Broccoli and Saltzman proceeded to make Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Live and Let Die (1973) and, after co-producing 1974's Bond film, The Man with

7663-427: The time it was the company's biggest success, garnering the honour of being the only Anderson series sold to an American TV network, NBC . Around this time, Anderson also saw his Supermarionation style attract imitators—most notably Space Patrol (US title: Planet Patrol) which used similar techniques and was made by several former employees and associates of Anderson, including Arthur Provis and Roberta Leigh. After

7760-493: The tower underwent a restoration project at the urging of three Thunderbird students who raised $ 2.5 million for the project. The school was awarded the Ruth Bryne Historic Preservation Award by the city of Glendale for the renovation. The tower was occupied by the campus store, student lounges and a pub until the school relocated to Phoenix. Thunderbird's new building will feature a rooftop pub designed in

7857-416: Was Anderson's first work with puppets, and the start of his long and successful collaborations with puppeteer Christine Glanville , special effects technician Derek Meddings and composer/arranger Barry Gray . It was Anderson's desire to move into live-action television. The Adventures of Twizzle was followed by another low-budget puppet series with Leigh, Torchy the Battery Boy (1958–1959). Although

7954-406: Was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist, who is known for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s productions filmed with " Supermarionation " ( marionette puppets containing electric moving parts). Anderson's first television production was the 1957 Roberta Leigh children's series The Adventures of Twizzle (1957–58). Torchy

8051-419: Was chartered as a nonprofit Arizona corporation on April 8, 1946. Over the next six months, Yount and Dunne (Thompson having departed the project) prepared the Glendale location, arranged financing, remodeled the physical plant (which included several airplane hangars and a control tower), and recruited faculty and students. Students were required to be "at least twenty years of age who, through study in college or

8148-527: Was conscripted for national service with the RAF, and was based at RAF Manston , an airfield near Margate. He served part of his time in air-traffic control. Two incidents in his final year with the RAF had a profound effect on Anderson. The first occurred during an aircraft display on 18 September 1948 commemorating the Battle of Britain , when a Mosquito aircraft crashed on a road crowded with occupied cars; reports on

8245-464: Was decided to phase out the Thunderbird MBA in favor of a Master of Global Management, a one-year program similar to the school's former Master of International Management degree (offered prior to 2001). Also, an undergraduate program (not offered since 1975) was recreated. In 2018, ASU appointed Sanjeev Khagram as director general and dean of Thunderbird. In October 2019, ASU and Thunderbird held

8342-593: Was exacerbated by the September 11 attacks , which led to stricter visa rules for foreign students; by the decline in the popularity of MBA study during the dot-com bubble ; and by the Great Recession . In 2001, Thunderbird began to offer an MBA in International Management, replacing the previously offered Master of International Management (MIM) degree. In 2004, the school changed its name to "Thunderbird,

8439-518: Was filmed on location at the field in the spring of 1942. Aerial shots clearly show the original Thunderbird design. Four unpaved satellite airfields were operated by Thunderbird Field between 1942 and 1944: Southwest Airways expanded the training complex with the building of two other airfields, Falcon Field at Mesa in September 1941, and Thunderbird Field#2 in Scottsdale in June 1942. Following

8536-454: Was first held in 1975, on the Thunderbird campus itself (which had been designed as an airfield). The event became an annual festival featuring student-run food-booths and the like. It was moved off-campus in 1989 and cancelled after 2006. Enrollments steadily rose to a peak of about 1,600 in 1992. Meanwhile Thunderbird's endowment also grew, reaching US$ 1 million in 1982, and $ 20 million in

8633-617: Was forced to make further faculty and staff reductions. The following year, the school announced a planned partnership with Laureate Education, Inc. As part of the planned partnership, Thunderbird would remain a nonprofit organization, exempt from income tax as a 501(c)(3) , but would establish a joint educational service company with Laureate, a for-profit company. This joint company would launch an undergraduate program and expand online programs. The planned partnership would allow Thunderbird to host events at Laureate campuses worldwide and establish Thunderbird campuses abroad. According to

8730-510: Was founded by Lt. Gen. Barton Kyle Yount , a US Army Air Forces (AAF) officer who purchased the former Thunderbird Field from the War Assets Administration for one dollar, subject to the condition that the property be used for educational purposes for a minimum of 10 years. This led to short-lived controversy as journalists questioned the propriety of the transaction. As head of the Army Air Training Command, Yount had been recruited to

8827-445: Was inaugurated during the production of Supercar . The establishment of AP Films (Merchandising) Ltd, a separate company set up to handle the licensing of merchandising rights for APF properties, was headed by Keith Shackleton (not the wildlife artist and TV presenter of the same name), a longtime friend of Anderson's from their National Service days. The next series by APF was the futuristic space adventure Fireball XL5 (1962). At

8924-517: Was interviewed for the BBC's 1993 Doctor Who documentary, Thirty Years in the TARDIS . He joked that, despite his career of making children's programming, the "real tragedy of my life" was that his own son Jamie (appearing with him) was a Doctor Who fanatic. By 1993 Archer published the trivia book Gerry Anderson's FAB Facts . Archer was killed in a car crash on London's orbital M25 motorway on his way to

9021-418: Was not undertaken, and a return to marionettes in the television pilot for a series called The Investigator failed to find a buyer. Elements of the abandoned second series of UFO were eventually turned into what became the most expensive television series ever made at that time, Space: 1999 . Another futuristic science-fiction adventure, it was based on the premise that a huge thermonuclear explosion on

9118-623: Was ranked 85th for best business school, and second in the overall rankings for international business school. According to a 2019 Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal report, Thunderbird was ranked number 1 in the world in Masters in Management programs for its specialized Masters in Global Management (MGM) degree. The original Thunderbird campus was located on the former World War II airfield Thunderbird Field No. 1 . Located in Glendale, Arizona ,

9215-412: Was the abortive series The Secret Service , which this time mixed live action with Supermarionation. The series was inspired by Anderson's love of British comedian Stanley Unwin , who was known for his nonsense language, 'Unwinese', which he created and used on radio, in film and most famously on the 1968 Small Faces LP Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake . Despite Anderson's track record and Unwin's popularity,

9312-464: Was the children's western fantasy-adventure series Four Feather Falls (1959–60). Provis left the partnership, but the company retained the name AP Films for several more years. Four Feather Falls was the first Anderson series to use an early version of the so-called Supermarionation process, though this term had yet to be used. Despite APF's success with Four Feather Falls , Granada did not commission another series from them, so Anderson took up

9409-811: Was then in an advanced state of financial exigency, attention naturally focused on acquisition by ASU, which expressed willingness to proceed. Negotiations with ASU president Michael M. Crow concluded within months, with the new plan winning swift approval from both boards as well as the Higher Learning Commission. Under the plan, finalized in December 2014, ASU assumed Thunderbird's debts of $ 22 million, and received $ 20 million from Thunderbird's operating fund to stabilize its finances. ASU also acquired Thunderbird's Glendale campus (then estimated to be worth $ 20 million). In 2015, ASU appointed Allen J. Morrison as CEO and Director General of Thunderbird. Since ASU already had an MBA program (the W. P. Carey School of Business ), it

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