GLENDALE, AZ - October 29, 2007 - Ten teams from top business schools around the world have made the final round of an innovation competition held in conjunction with Thunderbird School of Global Management's Sustainable Innovation Summit to be held November 8-10 at Thunderbird.

The finalists were pulled from a pool of 118 teams representing 51 universities in 13 countries who competed in the first round of the competition. The finalists include two teams from Thunderbird and two teams from Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Other finalists include teams from Duke, University of California Davis, Purdue University, University at Buffalo the State University of New York, University of Rochester, and University of Maryland.

The finalists will travel to Thunderbird to present their cases during the school's Sustainable Innovation Summit November 8-10, and the winning student team will receive a cash prize of $20,000 and the title "Global Champions of Sustainable Innovation."

Business experts, thought leaders and MBA students from around the world will gather at Thunderbird for the Summit, which will showcase real-world innovative business solutions that reflect a commitment to economically, environmentally and socially sound business practices.

The Summit features a variety of events, including panels, keynote speakers and the final round of the MBA case competition, all dedicated to best practices driven by innovation and corporate social responsibility.

The Summit's highlight is the final round of the Challenge, a team competition challenging MBAs and other master's level students to develop innovative and sustainable business concept plans to address real-life challenges faced by global corporations.

"The Thunderbird Sustainable Innovation Summit is based on our belief that companies need to be in the business of creating sustainable prosperity worldwide," says Gregory Unruh, director of Thunderbird's Lincoln Center for Ethics in Global Management. "The TSIS challenges MBA teams from around the world to do just that by requiring them to square profitable business value creation with simultaneous value creation for society and the environment."

Keynote speakers during the Summit will include Deborah Burand, executive vice president of The Grameen Foundation and Josh Dorfman, founder of ModernGreenLiving.com and national talk radio show host of "Lazy Environmentalist." Other speakers who will be at Thunderbird the week of the Summit include Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and Strategies for the Global Environment, Eli Goldratt educator, author, scientist, philosopher, and business leader, and Ted Howes of IDEO. Howes leads IDEO's efforts in integrating sustainability

Current sponsorship partners of the Summit include Arizona Public Service, Johnson and Johnson, Bill Matrix, Xerox and Net Impact.

For more information on the summit, visit www.sustainableinnovation.thunderbird.edu.

About Thunderbird

In 1946, Thunderbird was founded as the first graduate management school focused exclusively on global business. It is regarded as the world's leading institution in the education of global managers and has operations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Russia and Asia. Ranked No. 1 in international business by U.S. News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal survey of corporate recruiters, and the Financial Times, Thunderbird is dedicated to educating global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide. The school's programs facilitate the development of the global mindset which is critical to managing effectively in different social, economic and political environments. More than 38,000 students have graduated from Thunderbird, and its alumni live and work in more than 140 countries. For more about Thunderbird, please visit: www.thunderbird.edu.

Thunderbird School of Global Management

Thunderbird School of Global Management

Founded in 1946, Thunderbird is the oldest graduate management school focused exclusively on global business. It is regarded as the world's leading institution in the education of global managers and has operations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Russia and Asia. Ranked No. 1 in international business by The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report and the Financial Times, Thunderbird is unique in that it is dedicated to the task of producing global leaders who contribute to sustainable prosperity worldwide. The schools curriculum is based on the principle that to do business on a global scale, executives must not only know the intricacies of business, but also understand the customs of other countries and be able to communicate with different cultures. More than 38,000 students have graduated from Thunderbird, and its alumni live and work in more than 140 countries.

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