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2026 Virginia Power 50 List: SCOTT BEARDSLEY
PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE
Virginia Business //March 1, 2026//
University of Virginia Darden School of Business Dean Scott C. Beardsley. Photo by Tom Daly, courtesy U.Va. Darden School
University of Virginia Darden School of Business Dean Scott C. Beardsley. Photo by Tom Daly, courtesy U.Va. Darden School
2026 Virginia Power 50 List: SCOTT BEARDSLEY
PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE
Virginia Business //March 1, 2026//
Dean of the University of Virginia‘s Darden School of Business since 2015, Beardsley was tapped in late December 2025 to become U.Va.’s 10th president — and stepped into the eye of a political hurricane.
Beardsley took office Jan. 1, six months after Jim Ryan resigned as U.Va.’s president during a Department of Justice investigation into the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Ryan was accused of slow-walking the dissolution of DEI programs ordered last spring by the university’s board of visitors, all of whom were appointed by then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
In November 2025, incoming Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger requested that the board delay naming a new president until she could fill five empty board seats, but board leaders moved ahead in hiring Beardsley. Five board members resigned upon Spanberger’s request in January, and she has appointed 10 new members.
A former McKinsey & Co. executive and graduate of Tufts University, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, Beardsley has received a cool reception from U.Va. faculty organizations and Virginia Democrats who supported postponing the hiring of a new president.
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