UVA Darden School of Business Dean Scott Beardsley
After a highly successful run as the dean of the Darden School of Business for nearly ten years, Scott C. Beardsley has been reappointed to a third term by the University of Virginia.
The former McKinsey & Co. senior partner, who joined the school nearly a decade ago in August of 2015, will now become the only dean of Darden since its founding dean in 1955 to be appointed to a third term.
The reappointment positions Beardsley to serve Darden through 2029, including a year of research sabbatical, making him the longest serving dean at the University of Virginia. Since 2015, Darden has grown its faculty, hiring more than 60 new members, and invested heavily in expanding the school’s footprint. In 2020, Poets&Quants named him Dean of the Year.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to work with the incredible community of the Darden School of Business in pursuing our mission to improve the world by developing responsible leaders, and to my wife Claire, and family who have been critical to any success I’ve had,” Beardsley said in a statement. “I am invigorated to continue pursuing progress with all of our stakeholders to ensure that Darden cements its position as one of the best places to learn, teach, research and work in higher education. In a world in which responsible leadership remains at a premium, Darden can be a beacon of hope as we inspire and develop the leaders of today and the future.”
BEARDSLEY HAS LED DARDEN TO ITS HIGHEST RANKINGS EVER
A prodigious fundraiser, Beardsley has brought in record philanthropic gifts of more than $610 million in the past decade.
He has led the school to its highest MBA rankings in history. Only this week, Darden achieved its highest rank ever–fifth place–in Poets&Quants new MBA ranking.
Under Beardsley’s leadership, the School has expanded its reach and educational impact through program innovation and new offerings. Darden expanded its Executive MBA program, launched a new part-time MBA in the Washington, D.C. metro area, and introduced an M.S. in business analytics in partnership with Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. Darden has also innovated with new forms of educational delivery and grown its offerings in Executive Education & Lifelong Learning.
The school built a new gathering space, The Forum Hotel, operated by Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, and the accompanying with an Arboretum and the LaCross Botanical Gardens. In October, Darden broke ground on a $150 million student housing project that will further solidify the student experience with the addition of two new buildings on Darden Grounds. The combined 218 apartments, including studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units, will offer roughly 350 beds. Accompanying those additions is a major renovation of Darden’s faculty office building.
WHAT THE DEAN WILL FOCUS ON DURING HIS THIRD TERM
Beardsley said a focus of his third term will be on guiding key components of the school’s strategic plan leading into its 75th anniversary in 2030, including increasing affordability and access through student scholarships and financial aid, advancing Darden’s impact on the world through new research and thought leadership resources for the faculty, curricular and programmatic innovations, raising funds for endowed professorships and bringing Darden’s facilities master plan to fruition.
“The Darden School of Business is in a strong position,” he added in his statement. “Our challenge is to not only protect that position but strengthen it and build sustained excellence to ensure Darden, and its students, faculty, staff, and alumni, remain at the leading edge in promoting the good of society for future generations. Serving as dean at Darden and UVA and living and teaching at Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village in Pavilion I is the honor of my life, and I look forward to continuing to partner with this wonderful community to meet this challenge.”
The announcement of his reappointment was made by UVA Provost Ian Baucom. “In this season of gratitude, President Ryan and I are pleased to share that Dean Scott Beardsley will begin a third term starting August 1, 2025,” said Baucom in a statement. “Dean Beardsley has taken crucial steps to build upon Darden’s solid foundation. The work has drawn recognition from business leaders, peer institutions, alumni and donors, and has achieved the highest rankings in Darden’s history.”
