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Play video: Stephanie Furman '11 - Servant Leaders (1:04)

Stephanie Fuhrman '11, United States
“Personal referrals ultimately led me to choose Thunderbird. Alumni in the Executive MBA program each said, ‘Go to Thunderbird. It will change your life.’ In my interviews with other schools, I never heard that kind of statement.”


Stephanie Fuhrman '11

When Stephanie Fuhrman ’11 began Thunderbird’s Executive MBA program, she was sure that investment real estate – pension funds, real estate investment trusts and large corporations – would continue to be a part of her professional future. Until her first week of classes.

“I anticipated staying in the same general area of business, but thought I wanted to do something just a little bit different,” says the Montana-born businesswoman who commuted to the Arizona-based program every other weekend from her Oregon residence. Thunderbird, she says, changes a student’s awareness. “It changed my exploration of what is possible and created a whole new reality of what I can do with my life.”

After just months in the program, Fuhrman says Thunderbird helped her identify not only personal characteristics that are important to her in work, but also the type of structure that’s important to her, and also the type of organization. “I went from being a partner in a firm to really wanting to be a member of an organization where I’m providing advisory services to a firm. The Executive MBA program really gave me the opportunity to become more closely aligned with who I am.”

Fuhrman says she chose Thunderbird because it was a program that she knew would stretch her as much as possible. “Having been raised in a small town in Montana, I didn’t come to the classroom with international experience,” she says.  While she admits to initially feeling intimidated by her classmates’ global experiences, she quickly realized that she brought her own geographic and occupational diversity and experience to the cohort.

“You’re dealing with people in class who are accustomed to being either the leader or the boss in their individual organizations, but there’s something in each of their personalities that, when we walked through that door, went away. We all wanted to help one another. I think that’s a common differentiator in the type of leaders that Thunderbird attracts.”

That difference in attitude, she feels, is attributable to the class cohort structure that focuses on team goals and projects. “It is set up to be very collaborative, so that you learn from not only your professors, but you learn from your team members. I think it mirrors closer to real life than a curriculum that is set up to be individualistic.”

Fuhrman also praises the diversity of the faculty – not only their countries of origin, but their viewpoints. “One of the most profound moments for me was being exposed to three different professors of global economics. We were presented with three very different and almost conflicting ideologies,” she says. The end result: “I think we learned more because of that.”

Fuhrman believes that Thunderbird’s overall approach to education – including its oath of honor and its emphasis on global mindset – sets it far apart from the competition. “I think that makes you want to have a bigger impact on the world. I think you come out of Thunderbird a much more holistic leader.”