U.Va. Darden School dean reappointed to third term

Scott C. Beardsley, dean of the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, has been reappointed to his third term as dean, which starts Aug. 1, 2025, and extends through August 2029, U.Va. announced Wednesday.

Named dean in 2015, Beardsley is now the university’s longest serving current dean and has raised more than $610 million for the school over the past decade, as well as opening a satellite campus in Arlington County; hiring more than 60 faculty members; hitting application and enrollment records among women, military veterans, underrepresented minorities, international and first-generation students; and launching the $150 million student housing project on the business school’s grounds. During his tenure, Darden also has been named the top public MBA program in Bloomberg Businessweek (2022-24) and Poets & Quants (2023 and 2024). Beardsley was named U.Va.’s Dean of the Year in 2020.

“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 added that his focus over the next five years will be on marking the Darden School’s 75th anniversary in 2030, as well as increasing scholarship funding and accessibility, and shepherding the school’s facilities master plan to completion.

Also the Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business, Beardsley holds a degree in electrical engineering from Tufts University, an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. Beardsley worked for McKinsey & Co. for 26 years in New York City and in Brussels, Belgium. As of this year, he is finishing a part-time master’s in practical ethics at the University of Oxford’s Pembroke College.