At TPEC, we believe in the restorative economic power of global private equity investing.

Who We Are

The Thunderbird Global Private Equity Center (TPEC) is supported by a 15 person Advisory Board, its Board of Fellows, and key faculty and staff at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  Its leadership is held by a Managing Director, Academic Director, and Program Manager.   

Supporting Faculty Members

The Managing Director is supported by several Thunderbird faculty members who have the expertise and are interested in the pursuit of knowledge in the private equity field. They provide research and advance knowledge of private equity to students, alumni, and business professionals.

Career Management Coordinator

The Thunderbird Career Management Center works closely with the Thunderbird Private Equity Center to coordinate and create opportunities for students interested in pursuing a career in private equity.

  • Chas Brennen  - Associate Director, Career Management Center

Corporate Philanthropy Team

These individuals help raise funds for student scholarships, faculty teaching and research, and curriculum development in the area of private equity. Their effort helps ensure that Thunderbird will develop and maintain its reputation as the world's leader in global private equity.

TPEC FACULTY AND STAFF

Gary Gibbons, Ph.D.

Gary Gibbons, Ph.D.
Academic Director, Thunderbird Global Private Equity Center

Gary Gibbons, Ph.D., visiting professor of entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management, is an expert in investing and corporate finance with extensive experience in portfolio management, securities valuation, financial modeling, and financial planning and evaluation in entrepreneurial firms.  

Dr. Gibbons is a Principal with The Coleridge Group, an Investment Advisory Firm in Phoenix, Arizona. He has accumulated a diverse range of experience, including his management at various times of stock portfolios for Physician’s Mutual Insurance Co., Home Federal Bank and the Painwebber Equity Trust; for the Baker and Kellogg families; in addition to numerous individuals in the sports and entertainment industries.

Additionally, Dr. Gibbons has managed fixed-income portfolios organizations including the Bank of Bermuda, the Agyros Foundation and Imperial Mortgage. His extensive corporate background includes work with Houlihan Lokey Howard and Zukin Investment Management Inc.; Uni-Net Inc.; Pacific Midwest Gas Co; Richmark Corp.; Century Technology and US Sports Co. 

Among his other business-related activities, Dr. Gibbons has served as an expert witness or expert consultant in numerous legal proceedings. He has been engaged by well-known national and regional law firms, public agencies, and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) trusts and their boards of trustees, as well as securities-brokerage firms and their clients. His legal engagements have been applied in support of specific tax or regulatory positions, in civil litigation and in support of arbitration or mediation proceedings. Dr. Gibbons earned his Ph.D. in business administration – with emphasis in strategy and finance – at Claremont Graduate School of the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management.  He received his MS in business administration from California State University, and he earned his BS in business administration at the University of Arizona.

He is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, a scholastic honor society for collegiate schools of business, Phi Beta Delta, a scholastic honor society for international scholars, the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts, the Phoenix Society of Financial Analysts and the National Federation of Municipal Analysts.

Katherine C. HuttonKatherine C. Hutton
Managing Director, Thunderbird Global Private Equity Center (TPEC)
Email: katherine.hutton@thunderbird.edu

Katherine Hutton is the former Managing Director of the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship (WCGE) at Thunderbird. She was responsible for managing the Center's activities in global entrepreneurship including the Thunderbird Global Incubator, Sustainable Innovation Summit, Global Business Plan Competition and the development of the Veterans Entrepreneurship Certificate Program. She is the Executive Director of the Thunderbird Angel Network. Ms Hutton's professional background includes a 20 year career in economic development and public policy most recently as the Director of Economic Vitality for the city of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Ms. Hutton earned her BS from the University of Arizona and her MBA from Arizona State University. Ms. Hutton is a Certified Economic Developer as designated by the International Economic Development Council and is a graduate of Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma. She serves as a peer reviewer for Harvard Business Press and has been published in the IEDC Economic Development Journal. She was awarded Economic Developer of the Year for Arizona in 2006. She is a member of the Angel Capital Association and the National Business Incubator Association. Ms. Hutton is an alumna of Valley Leadership and Scottsdale Leadership.

Jessica TartellJessica Tartell
Trade Mission Director
Email: jessica.tartell@thunderbird.edu

Jessica Tartell is the owner and founder of several businesses focused on import/export trade and investment advisory services. With her first startup, Jessica was based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where she concentrated on building a network of manufacturers in addition to working with The Thunderbird Private Equity Center on their Southeast Asian Private Equity Conferences. Jessica also worked for CORFO/InvestChile, the Chilean Economic Development Agency in investment promotion and FDI activities. Previously she worked in the development office at The Juilliard School in New York. Jessica also mentors young entrepreneurs in the development and implementation of their own enterprises in the United States, Latin America, and Asia through various organizations including Amigos de las Américas and the Hagia Sophia Foundation.

Jessica has lived and worked throughout Latin America including in Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Mexico and Argentina. Currently her business requires her to travel extensively between New York, South America, and Asia.  Jessica earned her MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Global Finance and Entrepreneurship and her BA in history and economic development from Regis College.  Jessica is fluent in Spanish.