For a long list of extraordinary achievements during his six years in the job. UVA Darden Dean Scott Beardsley is the Dean of the Year for 2020
The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors today (Dec. 19) named Darden School of Business Dean Scott Beardsley the university’s new president, effective Jan. 1. He was unanimously approved by the board from among a state of four final candidates recommended by a search committee.
Named a Dean of the Year by Poets&Quants for his significant accomplishments as Darden dean since 2015, the 63-year-old Beardsley is the longest serving dean at the university. Now he will become the tenth president of the university.
His appointment will likely face a challenge from a new Democratic governor who will assume her duties in January as well. Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger had asked the board to pause the search process until she takes office next month. The board defied that request in naming Beardsley to the post.
“We are confident that Scott’s leadership, vision, and commitment to the UVA community uniquely position him to serve as president at this moment,” according to a statement from the board. “He understands the breadth of the University’s responsibilities across education, research, healthcare, athletics, and public service, and he brings a steady, unifying approach grounded in respect for shared governance and academic excellence.”
GOVERNOR ELECT HAD ASKED THE UNIVERSITY TO PAUSE THE SEARCH
The top leadership job at UVA became vacant over the summer when James E. Ryan stepped down amid pressure from the Trump administration over diversity, equity and inclusion policies. His resignation from the post along with a new Democratic governor who will assume her duties 16 days after Beardsley takes over UVA makes for a messy political situation. Faculty and some deans have publicly called for pausing or questioning the process, creating internal resistance that could complicate a straightforward appointment.
In a November letter to the board, Spanberger raised questions about the board’s validity to operate because five appointees to the 17-member board failed to gain legislative approval after state Democrats blocked the appointment of them by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. It was an unprecedented move by Democratic members in Virginia’s General Assembly. After winning election in November, Spanberger then called for a pause until her own picks are confirmed by the General Assembly.
Among those five appointees were at least two highly partisan Trump loyalists including Ken Cuccinelli, a former Republican Attorney General of Virginia who briefly served under Trump as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and also acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. His appointment was rejected by a state Senate committee and was removed by court order. Another appointee, James Donovan, a prominent Goldman Sachs banker, was nominated by Trump in 2017 to be the deputy secretary of the treasury. Donovan is currently engaged to Hope Hicks, a close, trusted aide, spokesperson, and confidant to Trump in his first term.
“The benefits of selecting a new president with a full, duly-constituted Board are clear,” wrote Spanberger in her board letter. She claimed that it was important to make the search and the decision credible by “removing any concern that the Board’s actions are illegitimate due to a lack of authority.”
ONLY DARDEN DEAN TO BE APPOINTED TO A THIRD TERM IN SCHOOL’S HISTORY
It probably won’t help that Governor Youngkin immediately congratulated Beardsley on his appointment in a post on X. “I know Dean Beardsley only by his reputation, which is stellar, and based on his accomplishments at the Darden School of Business, which is consistently ranked as the top public business school in the country.” Youngkin thanked the board and its search committee, “who conducted a robust, world-class search process.”
Dean Beardsley, a former senior partner at McKinsey & Co., was reappointed last year to a third term as Darden dean, making him the only dean of Darden since its founding in 1955 to be appointed to a third term. He has secured an unprecedented $610 million plus in gifts for the school, helped Darden post its highest rankings ever, expanded the school’s presence in the D.C. metro area, launched new academic programs including a part-time MBA in D.C., and grown student enrollment. Darden’s full-time MBA program was recently ranked fifth in the nation by Poets&Quants, earning the highest rank for any public university.
Since his arrival in 2015, Darden has increased its faculty and hired more than 60 new members and invested in significant new resources for the faculty. He also has significantly expanded the footprint of the Darden campus with the construction of a new hotel and gardens and a $150 million residential dormitory that will open next year.
Beardsley, who chose to live on grounds in one of the Pavilions near the Rotunda to be closer to students and the culture of the campus, is a strong advocate for the university, its mission and its rich history tied to Thomas Jefferson. In addition to serving as Darden dean, he is currently leading the university search for a new Provost.
Though not an academic, Beardsley earned a Doctor of Education degree in 2015 from the University of Pennsylvania to assist his transition into higher education leadership from consulting. He also studied and wrote a book on nontraditional academic leaders entitled Higher Calling: The Rise of Nontraditional Leaders in Academia published in 2017.
The book explored the shift in higher education leadership from traditional academic paths to leaders from outside academia. Beardsley argues this change is driven by intense competition and financial pressures, examining the skills needed for modern university leadership.
While dean at Darden, moreover, he has been a constant presence in the classroom, teaching MBA students in several courses on leadership and stakeholder management. During a sabbatical, he studied the ethics of artificial intelligence, earning a master’s in philosophy and ethics from the University of Oxford this year.
DON’T MISS: DEAN OF THE YEAR FOR 2020 SCOTT BEARDSLEY OF UVA DARDEN
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