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Patrick Chang '08
United States
"Reputations, rankings and accreditation are equally important. Thunderbird and Indiana University are only a handful of online programs that are accredited by the AACSB, which was important to me.”


Patrick Chang '08

Patrick Chang’s global curiosity started early in life. Born in Taiwan and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, he was exposed to places like Johannesburg, South Africa, and Frankfurt, Germany, through his father’s international assignments as an airline executive.

An avid stock investor today, Chang still has his finger on the pulse of the global world. “I’m often glued to Bloomberg Financial news that covers Asia in the evening and CNBC news that covers the U.S. financial market in the morning,” he says.

Professionally, he’s also involved with projects of international scope and size. As General Manager, US Bank - Advent Business Unit, Chang regularly works with business partners in the United Kingdom and Canada.

“I implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for the global cardlock fueling business,” explains Chang. In this role, he designs and programs integrated system software that allows fuel distributors to process transactions and perform business analytics. Chang also works closely with clients who are migrating from multiple software platforms to US Bank’s integrated solution, plans new IT projects and interfaces with senior management.

When he was considering an MBA program, Chang didn’t need to look far. A graduate of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business with a BS in accounting and finance, he was already familiar with his alma mater’s dual degree partnership with Thunderbird - a unique program that allows students to simultaneously earn an MBA from IU's Kelley Direct and a Master of Global Management from Thunderbird. 

“I liked the fact that it was not an entirely online-based program,” explains Chang. “There are three global residencies and a cohort setting. I thoroughly enjoyed spending face-to-face time with classmates and faculty. The format also allowed me to work ahead with my studies so that I could spend time with my wife and boys on the weekends.”

Chang, 36, says that he was able to apply knowledge from the program’s employment law class directly to his job as he interviewed applicants. “I was also able to utilize the skills acquired in my cross-cultural negotiation class to effectively work with clients in the software industry.”
  
As the labor market becomes more and more cutthroat, Chang believes the global mindset students develop as a part of the Thunderbird/IU dual degree creates a competitive advantage. “It was helpful that the majority of faculty and many students in my cohort spoke a second language and that they often shared their insights through their own cultural lenses.”