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Thunderbird awards honorary degree to Mexican educator

Thunderbird awards honorary degree to Mexican educator

Thunderbird School of Global Management awarded an honorary Doctor of International Law to the president of Mexico’s largest private university system during winter commencement Dec. 11 in Glendale, Ariz.

Rafael Rangel Sostmann, Ph.D., has been president of Tecnológico de Monterrey since 1985. The nonprofit institution, which offers a joint Global MBA with Thunderbird, serves more than 92,000 students at 33 campuses. The institution also offers distance-learning programs that reach several Latin American countries.

“This honorary degree from Thunderbird is very significant because the institution that I represent has a very close relationship with Thunderbird,” Rangel said during a keynote address following his degree presentation.

Overall, more than 190 graduate students from 26 countries received Thunderbird degrees from 11 programs during the commencement.

Rangel counseled the graduates to avoid ethical “gray zones” as they build their careers. “Do not try to negotiate these values just for a position or higher income,” he said. “In the long run this will affect your life, your family and your society.”

Read more about Rangel’s comments on the Thunderbird Knowledge Network.

As president of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Rangel has worked to make education accessible to broad sectors of society across Latin America. This concern led him to found TecMilenio University with 37 campuses, where the face-to-face and virtual teaching models are combined and vocational training is emphasized.

In addition, he has promoted the establishment of more than 1,850 Community Learning Centers in remote locations that offer residents educational and development programs via the Internet.

“Many times,” he said, “I see countries growing. But they forget to be sure that the back part of society is also moving. Access to education helps all parts of society grow together.”

Overall, Thunderbird has awarded 37 honorary degrees in 63 years since the school’s founding in 1946. Recent recipients have included publisher Steve Forbes, retired Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO Neville Isdell, and Inter-American Development Bank president Luis Alberto Moreno.