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Alice Peng '08
Taiwan
Alice once interned at the Taipei Zoo and considered a future as a veterinarian, says finding a way to merge business and science in the global marketplace is her ultimate goal.


Alice Peng '08

When Alice Peng ’08 says she applied scientific principles to the study of business, she’s not tossing around creative corporate jargon. She’s stating the facts.

“Science has a straight way of thinking,” says Peng, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Pepperdine University before enrolling in Thunderbird’s Master of Science in Global Management program. “In science, everything has to follow logic – and facts are the basis of it all. I definitely integrated this scientific way of thinking into my studies at Thunderbird.”

For Peng, that meant using the same data analysis skills and intensive study habits she developed as an undergraduate to enhance her global business education. Her ultimate goal was to find an international career in which she could merge her business and science backgrounds with her passion for the global marketplace. Preferably, she says, in the consumer products or cosmetics industry.

And her unique approach began paying off while she was still enrolled.

Peng, who was born in Taiwan but came to the United States to attend high school and college, landed an internship the summer before her December 2008 graduation with Amway as a project manager for the global corporation’s E. FUNKHOUSER fall 2009 collection of luxury cosmetics.

“It was the perfect place for me to start my first job,” says Peng. “The cosmetics industry is my particular interest – and being a project manager gave me a big picture of the entire business operation because I touched base with so many different functional areas.”

This broad-stroke immersion into global business operations tied in perfectly with the broad-based business education of Thunderbird’s Master of Science program. In fact, Peng says her academic and social experiences at Thunderbird more than prepared her for the demands of her “ideal” internship – particularly the appreciation for diversity and the intimate understanding of corporate globalization.

“When I decided to switch from science to business, I knew immediately that I wanted to have an international focus because of my multi-cultural background – and Thunderbird is the most famous school in international business, so it was no doubt the best choice for me,” says Peng, who opted for the school’s MS program because it’s specifically designed for individuals with a non-business undergraduate background. This choice, she says, was right in every way.

“I was looking for a general management degree that could give me a broad understanding of the business world and the ability to pursue my international interests,” says Peng. “The Master of Science program fit my background perfectly.”