Beardsley Begins Sabbatical at Oxford, Liedtka Steps in as Interim Dean

Science in business analytics; reaching the $400 million milestone of the Powered by Purpose campaign; and the opening of The Forum Hotel on the Darden Grounds.

At Oxford’s Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Beardsley will pursue graduate research and coursework in the ethics of data and artificial intelligence; privacy, research and empirical ethics; and the ethics of well-being and disability enhancement.

Dean Scott Beardsley on 1 July began a six-month sabbatical leave to pursue graduate research and coursework at Oxford University’s Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics with the faculty of philosophy at Pembroke College. Until the sabbatical ends on 1 January 2024, Professor Jeanne Liedtka will serve as Darden’s interim dean.

The sabbatical comes on the heels of eight years of outstanding leadership, marked by achievements such as establishing a strong and growing presence for Darden in Northern Virginia — home base to the Executive MBA, Part-Time MBA and Master of

A design thinking pioneer, Liedtka has been at Darden for 32 years. Stepping into the interim dean role, Liedtka brings experience as a senior leader at Darden who has served as executive director of the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation, senior associate dean for degree programs, chair of Darden’s program strategy committee and trustee of the Darden School Foundation.