UVA Darden Report Summer '24 by Darden School of Business

THE DARDEN EXPERIENCE

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AT DARDEN, WE DON’T JUST SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF BUSINESS, WE INVENT IT.

Corporate giants like Costco, Walmart and Whole Foods practice inclusive stakeholder capitalism, which asserts that businesses do best when they deliver long-term value to all of their stakeholders — not just shareholders.

Darden Professor Ed Freeman first articulated stakeholder theory 40 years ago in his book, Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach (Page 28). Little did he know then that his ideas would lead to the Business Roundtable, a coalition of many of the world’s biggest businesses, changing the very definition of a corporation’s purpose in 2019 to fully align with stakeholder capitalism.

Freeman — along with countless students, business leaders and colleagues who have embraced and advanced his ideas — continues his quest to build businesses for all human beings rather than businesses for a few human beings.

In this issue of The Darden Report, we take a deep dive into what it takes to bring people together to create value for business AND society.

Stakeholder theory, effectuation and design thinking are some of the ideas nurtured at Darden that are guiding the global business world. And thank goodness, as business leaders today face a tall order. They must:

• Inspire people across and outside their enterprise.

• Cultivate partnerships that turn ideas into innovation.

• Exemplify the integrity and courage that build trust and empower people to follow them into the unknown.

• Uphold the essential humanity and creativity of an organization while reaping the rewards of artificial intelligence (AI), analytics or the next tech revolution.

• Unleash purpose to drive high performance.

“

Business as usual is over. Business must always adapt and find new ways, better ways.

In this issue, we ask three alumni CEOs to reflect on what values and traits help them navigate it all (Page 20). And as Darden grows its Artificial Intelligence Initiative, made possible by the largest gift to the School in its history from David (MBA ’78) and Kathleen LaCross, Darden professors explore the intersection of responsible leadership and AI (Page 14).

Whether it’s a shift from a shareholder to stakeholder approach or the rise of AI, one thing is clear: Business as usual is over. Business must always adapt and find new ways, better ways. That’s why Darden is not business school as usual. We educate doers with the skills, smarts, sense of purpose and ethics to forge the future.

Sincerely,

SCOTT C. BEARDSLEY Dean and Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration

WHAT ARE THE MOST VALUABLE VALUES?

Three CEOs with Darden MBAs offer insights on the organizational values, employee attributes and soft leadership skills that make the biggest positive impact.

TO LEAD IS HUMAN

AI is more than a technology. It’s a new industry. To shape it in a way that creates value for business and society will require responsible leadership. Is it already too late?

IN THE GARDEN OF GREAT AND GOOD

The Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens is a special place for learning and a sight to behold. Come see for yourself.

40 YEARS OF STAKEHOLDER THEORY

On the 40th anniversary of Professor Ed Freeman’s seminal book, business leaders and faculty assess the remarkable impact of stakeholder theory.

The Darden Report is published twice a year with private donations to the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation.

University of Virginia

Darden School of Business Office of Communication & Marketing

P. O. Box 7225 Charlottesville, Virginia 22906-7225 USA communication@darden.virginia.edu

Scott C. Beardsley

Dean and Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration

Robert Weiler

President, Darden School Foundation

Juliet K. Daum (TEP ’22)

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

EDITOR

Jay Hodgkins

ART DIRECTION & DESIGN

Hyphen

COVER AD

Yes&

WRITERS

Michael Blanding

David Buie-Moltz

Dave Hendrick

McGregor McCance

Molly Mitchell

Sally Parker

CLASS NOTES EDITOR

Egidijus Paurys

PHOTOGRAPHY

Jennifer Grissom

Stephanie Gross

Ali Johnson

Jack Looney

Jayme Okerblom

Andrew Shurtleff

Sanjay Suchak

Susan Wormington

ILLUSTRATION

Hyphen

Janis Andzans

Matt Chase

MUTI

Draughan (MBA ’84)

Silbiger (MBA ’90)

Horn (MBA ’95)

Miniter (EMBA ’16)

Debra Draughan (MBA ’84)

THE STATE OF THE SCHOOL IS STRONG

Dean Scott Beardsley projected two key themes — strength and gratitude — throughout his annual State of the School address to alumni during Darden Reunion Weekend.

“At Darden, we believe that we are not — and never have been — business school as usual,” he said. “We know that we must always adapt to find new ways, better ways. We educate doers with the skills, smarts and sense of purpose and ethics to forge the future.”

Beardsley provided progress assessments for five focus areas that align with the School’s strategic priorities:

“My goal as

your

dean

is to position

Darden

not for days of success but decades of success. And your continued support and commitment will make that happen.

LEARNERS: Darden has more than 1,200 degree-seeking students and teaches about 3,000 learners through in-person, non-degree executive education and lifelong learning programs, plus millions more online.

FACULTY AND STAFF: By this fall, Darden will have appointed 60 new faculty members since 2015 and endowed 24 chairs to support the faculty. The second milestone of the Powered by Purpose Campaign, known as Faculty Forward, will ensure that Darden attracts and keeps the best, protecting its reputation for the most dynamic learning environment in the industry.

RESEARCH AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: Beardsley said Darden’s advantage in these areas is its commitment to produce knowledge that is used in the world of real business. Ethics, stakeholder theory, design thinking, effectuation, artificial intelligence and technological innovation are signature areas for faculty research and idea generation.

INFRASTRUCTURE: The School’s master plan continues to advance, with key endorsements occurring this year for the Faculty Office Building and research building improvements as well as new student residential housing. The community’s embrace of The Forum Hotel and the expansion of programming and facilities at the Sands Family Grounds in Arlington, Virginia, combine to put Darden in its most competitive posture yet for infrastructure.

RESOURCES: Beardsley said the School’s most urgent resource need is to grow unrestricted support for priorities including financial aid, faculty and infrastructure. Since 2015, philanthropy to support the School has reached just shy of $600 million in total impact, with tangible benefits ranging from The Forum Hotel to the Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning to endowed professorships and scholarships.

THE NO. 1 PUBLIC MBA PROGRAM IN THE UNITED STATES

With strong performance across the five most influential MBA program rankings, Darden rose six places to its highest-ever position in Poets & Quants’s composite B-school ranking — No. 8 overall and No. 1 among MBA programs at public universities.

A key driver was Darden’s success in The Princeton Review, in which the School ranked in the Top 10 in more categories than any other MBA program, including No. 2 in “best campus environment,” “best classroom experience” and “best career prospects.” In September, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Darden as the No. 3 business school in the U.S.

The School jumped out to a strong start for next year’s Poets & Quants composite ranking, too, with new rankings from Financial Times and U.S. News & World Report.

In its global ranking of full-time MBA programs released in February, Financial Times named Darden the No. 1 public business school globally, up from No. 3 in 2023. Overall, Financial Times ranked Darden No. 16 globally and No. 11 in the U.S., both year-over-year increases. Darden placed No. 10 overall and No. 2 among public schools in March in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of the best graduate business programs in the United States.

HEALTH CARE INITIATIVE TO DEVELOP RESPONSIBLE LEADERS FOR INDUSTRY’S FUTURE

Through the new Darden Health Care Initiative, we’re excited to prepare students for health care leadership, to pool resources and encourage collaboration across UVA and beyond, and to generate new knowledge and insights to influence positive health outcomes.

— LECTURER MARC RUGGIANO (MBA ’96)

LED BY PROFESSOR Christoph Herpfer and Lecturer Marc Ruggiano (MBA ’96), the Darden Health Care Initiative launched in March within the School’s Institute for Business in Society. The new initiative includes a dozen participating Darden faculty, a wealth of alumni experts and supporters, and Darden students and student clubs.

It supports the development of responsible industry leaders through Darden’s degree and non-degree programs. Participating faculty members with health care industry expertise and experience include Professors Vivian Riefberg; Gabe Adams; Lili Powell, who holds a joint appointment at the UVA School of Nursing; and Dr. Paul Matherne, a Darden professor of practice with nearly 30 years of leadership experience within UVA Health.

“As the health care industry evolves and incorporates new technologies such as artificial intelligence, it urgently requires responsible leaders at the helm,” said Dean Scott Beardsley.

Darden is committed to growing its expertise in health care. In 2024, two new courses were added to the expanding set of Full-Time MBA specialized health care course offerings. More than 300 health care-related cases and technical notes will soon form part of a Health Care Collection within Darden Business Publishing and are already used across the MBA curriculum.

Professor Christoph Herpfer (left) and Lecturer Marc Ruggiano (right)

CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2024

With record-setting career results secured, the MBA Class of 2024 took part in UVA Final Exercises on the Lawn and Darden’s academic regalia ceremony on Flagler Court in May. Meet the newest members of the dynamic Darden alumni network.

342

132

21

Full-Time MBA graduates Executive MBA graduates Dual-degree graduates

FACULTY MARSHALS ELECTED BY THE CLASS OF 2024

Peter Belmi, Full-Time MBA Faculty Marshal

Marc Lipson, Full-Time MBA Faculty Marshal

Elena Loutskina, Full-Time MBA Faculty Marshal

Bobby Parmar, Full-Time MBA Faculty Marshal

Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Executive MBA Faculty Marshal

Dan Murphy, Executive MBA Faculty Marshal

Full-Time MBA graduation speaker Matt Ganyard (MBA ’24) addresses the Class of 2024 at Darden’s graduation ceremony on Flagler Court.

Graduates of the Darden Class of 2024 celebrate on the Lawn during UVA Final Exercises.

AWARDS

18 students received the C. Stewart Sheppard Award recognizing exceptional service to the School of a nonacademic nature: Salah Al-Chanati, Eboni Brown, Fernando Casarotti, Alexandra Hickey, Nelly Huamán Sotomayor, Carrie Jamison, Anika Kempe, Liza Ketcham, Saamia Noorali, Matthew Ohlson, Jong Sheng Ong, Pamela Peace, Anthony Ranghelli, Jonathon Rickords, Lisandro Sagastume, Michael Shipp, Victoria Velasquez, and Carter T. Whitelow.

Anuoluwapo Odusanya and Ryan Smith received the Frederick S. Morton Award, presented to students for excellence in leadership.

Michael Thorne-Begland received the Executive MBA Faculty Award, presented to an outstanding student in the Executive MBA program.

CLASS OF 2024 ELECTED

GRADUATION SPEAKERS

Matthew Ganyard, Full-Time MBA

“There simply is no student who could hope to capture every facet of this experience. There is no typical Darden student, just one Darden family.”

Anthony Ranghelli, Executive MBA

“Don’t forget the values Darden has instilled in you. We all have it in us to make the world a better place, and Darden has given us the tools and the network to be successful.”

MASTER PLAN FOCUSES ON STUDENT, FACULTY NEEDS

Darden’s master plan for enhancing its physical spaces to meet the evolving needs of business education has already delivered major changes to the School’s Charlottesville Grounds. Among them, The Forum Hotel, the Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens, and the renovated C. Ray Smith Alumni Hall have created cuttingedge spaces to serve Darden alumni, the entire Darden community, including alumni and Darden Executive Education & Lifelong Learning clients, and better connect Darden with the broader University of Virginia and Charlottesville communities.

Now, the master plan’s focus is squarely on student and faculty needs.

In March, the UVA Board of Visitors approved a schematic design for Darden student housing. The project includes 218 units with 350 beds between two buildings built adjacent to

Left, an architectural diagram shows the potential future of Darden Grounds upon completion of the master plan. Right, an artist’s rendering depicts a planned on-Grounds student housing project.

the Abbott Center and Darden parking garage. The units will include studio apartments and apartments with one, two and three bedrooms. Construction is expected to start later in 2024. Additionally, the Board of Visitors approved the addition of several Darden projects to the UVA Major Capital Plan, including planning and design for the renovation of the Faculty Office Building, Faculty Research Building and the Darden Global Innovation Nexus.

The planning and design of these projects will bring more focus to the form and function of these master plan upgrades and position Darden to include them in the Faculty Forward milestone of the School’s capital campaign. Work on the Faculty Office Building could begin as early as 2025.

New Books From Faculty Offer Guides to Innovation and Belonging

In their new book The Experimentation Field Book (Columbia University Press, 2024), design thinking pioneer Jeanne Liedtka, the United Technologies Corporation Professor of Business Administration at Darden, and her co-authors have created a vital toolkit for problem-solvers and innovators seeking to address today’s pressing challenges. Drawing on design thinking, as well as other practical business approaches such as agile and lean startup, the book guides readers from any background or discipline through the fundamentals of identifying testable ideas, selecting an evidence base, prototyping and testing, building users’ skill sets, and channeling creativity.

In Inclusion Unlocked: A Guide for Leaders to Act, John D. Forbes Distinguished Professor of Business Administration

Melissa Thomas-Hunt and co-authors Dev Modi and Marc Woods have created a resource for business leaders and practitioners who want a practical and easy-to-follow guide for advancing diversity initiatives. They offer solutions to the obstacles that block progress and prevent leaders from delivering on the diversity results their employees, customers and investors demand. The book provides an Inclusive Leader Scorecard model, access to an online diagnostic tool and proven strategies that enable greater belonging. In addition, it includes firsthand accounts of how well-known senior leaders have accelerated progress in their diversity initiatives.

BACHAND GIFT SUPPORTS NEW UNIVERSITY PROFESSORSHIP IN BUSINESS ETHICS

Phyllis, left, and Stephen Bachand (MBA ’63) gave $5 million to endow the Stephen E. Bachand University Professorship.

Stephen Bachand (MBA ’63) and his wife, Phyllis, this spring made a $5 million commitment to create the Stephen E. Bachand

University Professorship in support of business ethics.

The gift was matched with an additional $5 million from the University of Virginia’s Bicentennial Professorship Fund for a total investment of $10 million.

The new University Professorship is a critical step toward attracting distinguished scholars in business ethics. University Professorships are awarded to exceptionally distinguished professors who are held in the highest regard by their national and international academic peers, and whose scholarship transcends the boundaries of a particular school or is interdisciplinary in nature.

“I’m deeply grateful to Stephen and Phyllis Bachand for their generous investment in a University Professorship in business ethics,” UVA President Jim Ryan said. “Their gift will help foster vibrant teaching, learning and research in the field, which will help strengthen ethical business practices in organizations beyond Grounds.”

The new University Professorship builds on the Bachands’ previous giving to the Darden School to benefit first-generation students. The Bachands are Principal Donors to Darden.

4 RETIRING FACULTY LEGENDS LEAVE INCREDIBLE LEGACIES

Professors Mark Haskins, Lynn Isabella, Jeanne Liedtka and Barbara Millar have left enormous marks on the Darden School, developing new curricula, building consequential programs and, of course, educating thousands of students. While they came from different backgrounds and disciplines, they retired together at the end of the 2023–24 academic year.

MARK HASKINS

Professor Mark Haskins vividly remembers sitting in on the class that solidified his interest in teaching at Darden. Haskins, who was interviewing for a position, recalled students taking their seats and Professor Dick Brownlee opening the class with a question. Instead of students putting their heads down, or seeking an answer in a textbook, about 30 hands shot up.

“For the next 90 minutes, it was a high-energy conversation,” said Haskins. “A high-energy, interesting conversation in an accounting class. OK, I’ve died and gone to professor heaven. This is where I want to be.”

And it’s where Haskins would stay for 40 years, learning to teach accounting via the case method from legends like Brownlee and Dean Emeritus C. Ray Smith and developing his own style and research interests along the way. Darden allowed him the freedom to bring in his academic background in sociology and cast accounting as a broader consideration of strategic managerial decision-making with behavioral implications.

“If you are in the management space, you are going to need financial data for assessing performance,” Haskins said.

Now looking ahead to spending more time woodworking, writing and spending time with his seven granddaughters, Haskins said he preferred to think of his most important impact as having occurred where it all began, in the classroom.

“Whatever legacy I am leaving at Darden is going to be in the minds of the students who I was privileged to have in class, whether executives or MBAs,” he said.

University when she received a call from a former Harvard acquaintance, Professor Emeritus Jim Clawson, asking if she could teach at Darden while he went on sabbatical. What was to be a two-year visiting professor engagement soon resulted in a full-time offer.

Isabella worked across the School over the course of her career, teaching MBAs but also bringing creativity and innovation to curriculum design and classroom activities, helping to design and launch the Executive MBA program and the new Part-Time format, and becoming a tireless provider and creator in executive education. Isabella created Darden Executive Education’s first signature experiential program.

“Students often say, ‘I can’t believe you stayed at the same organization for 34 years.’ And I say, ‘Well, why should I leave when I can have a new job every year?’”

JEANNE LIEDTKA

latest investment in an institution that Liedtka said consistently invested in her.

“I think the secret to being really satisfied with your career is to do something that you love, which for me has always been teaching and writing and working with practitioners and contributing to management knowledge and practice,” said Liedkta. “But it’s also about being in a place you love that accepts you for who you are.”

Liedtka said few if any places would have supported the sort of mid-career reinvention she pursued, trading a more traditional strategy orientation for the then-novel idea known as design thinking.

The creative problem-solving approach would go on to become one of Darden’s best-known intellectual exports and Liedtka one of its foremost practitioners, with a trail of books, classes and massively popular Coursera courses popularizing the idea around the globe.

While blazing her path, Liedtka also held key leadership posts across the School, serving as executive director of the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology and as associate dean for MBA programs on two occasions.

“We’ve created this powerful system, and the heart of that system is the learning experience we create for people,” said Liedtka. “It’s been a remarkable journey to be part of Darden changing in so many ways, and yet demonstrating that we can retain the heart of what makes us who we are.”

The secret to being really satisfied with your career is to do something that you love ... but it’s also about being in a place you love that accepts you for who you are.

PROFESSOR JEANNE LIEDTKA, WHO SERVED AS INTERIM DEAN IN FALL 2023

Professor Barbara Millar

interested in the first job she interviewed for at Darden. It was 1987, and Millar was interviewing for associate director of admissions and director of financial aid, topics that felt removed from her interests in student development and program leadership.

Then-Dean John Rosenblum convinced Millar that she would learn everything she needed to know about the School through admissions, potentially paving the way for other opportunities. Interviews with faculty members also subdued her initial reluctance.

“I probably interviewed with 10 different faculty members, and I asked every one, ‘What’s one word to describe the Darden culture?’” said Millar. “Every single faculty member used the same word: community. I thought, either they are coordinating with each other or this really is a special place.”

Millar took a leap, and the initial position led to a rich leadership career across Darden programs, including director of student affairs, leading international advising, and helping to build and lead the Executive MBA program. When Millar was offered the opportunity to move from administration to a faculty position, she saw it as a “career invigorator” and made the move in 2019.

“More than a little disconcerted” at first, Millar found her experience translated to the front of the classroom, providing a new avenue for the student development she had spent a career focusing on.

Having helped build pillars of Darden from the ground up, Millar said she’d like to be remembered as an advocate for students and someone who brought joy and a can-do attitude to the job — whatever it was.

PROFESSOR MARC LIPSON TELLING THE STORIES BEHIND HUMAN DECISIONS

BY SALLY PARKER

Professor Marc Lipson was scanning the course catalog as a University of Virginia undergraduate when two subjects leapt out at him: anthropology and archeology.

“Anthropology is about what makes us human, and archeology is about understanding humans through what they build. These things were always on my mind,” said Lipson, the Darden Finance professor who earned a bachelor’s in anthropology. “This is at the heart of what interests me — people and what they do.”

Lipson is an expert in equity market trading and institutional investing and is the Robert F. Vandell Professor of Business Administration. With a math professor father (with whom Lipson co-wrote math textbooks) and a mother who owned a business renovating and building houses, Lipson’s interest in finance might be expected. But he says it started with that early fascination with people and how they make things.

“If you really love how things are created and how people make decisions about their world, one path is to understand how this is done through organizations, like businesses,” he said.

That connection started shortly after college. He completed a master’s degree in accounting at UVA, but he wanted to know more — the why and how of business decisions.

“The next step for me, then, was understanding how to analyze the decisions that led to something being done,” said Lipson, who earned a Ph.D. in finance at the University of Michigan.

Dissecting the How and Why Behind Market Moves

Lipson has published widely in market microstructure research — how a market’s design and organization affect price forma -

Marc Lipson, the Robert F. Vandell Professor of Business Administration at Darden, has held a number of senior leadership positions at the School and with prestigious research journals.

“There’s a magic to the first moment of encountering an idea. You can take something that looks confusing, intimidating, random, and, suddenly, you can make sense of it.”

tion and liquidity. He spent a year as a visiting scholar at the New York Stock Exchange, served on the NASDAQ Economic Advisory Board and is a former editor in chief of the journal Financial Management. His most recent research paper, with Professor Davide Tomio and former Darden postdoc Jiang Zhang, showed that stock prices become more volatile when retail investors start trading options on those stocks.

“When we make it very cheap for retail traders to move from the stock market to the option market, we’ve created far more leveraged pressure on the underlying stock market,” he said.

It’s a prime example of what Lipson finds fascinating about finance: how the characteristics of people influence the decisions they make and the course of world events.

“I’m interested in the latest thing that Lululemon is doing and the latest thing that Elon Musk is doing. These are the businesses and people I’m interested in — their stories, their activities, how they think about the world, what they’re trying to do, the strategies, the new products. This is like a play-by-play of how the world is being created.”

Inspiring New Ideas and Art

Lipson tips his hat to the innovators who introduce new ways of living, thinking and experiencing the world. His own foray into that world as a teacher was a one-week course he created with Professor Raul Chao. It was a fast-paced innovation challenge (inspired by the Adrenaline Film Project that was part of the Virginia Film Festival) in which students worked off a prompt to develop, build, test, receive feedback on and formulate a new-product business plan. He also was on the teaching team for IDEA, an experiential, innovation-focused course that paired

companies with teams of First Year students who came up with plans to tackle specific challenges.

Lipson has been recognized nearly every year for outstanding teaching since his earliest days as a teacher. What he loves about teaching is guiding people to and through their first experiences with an idea.

“There’s a magic to the first moment of encountering an idea. You can take something that looks confusing, intimidating, random, and, suddenly, you can make sense of it.”

Not surprisingly for someone who loves the magic of a new idea, Lipson likes to create. He has played bass in area bands for years, most of which featured original music. He recently joined a new band, Midnight Buzz, that plays classic rock at Charlottesville-area venues like Durty Nelly’s and the Glass House Winery.

Skilled primarily at bass, with some ability on guitar, drums and saxophone, he also fills in wherever needed in the Darden faculty-student band Blues Jam. He says the instantaneous creative process of improvisation is a nice balance to the longer-term development of a research paper or institutional goals, which Lipson compares to nurturing a garden, a passion he shares with his wife, Ellen Climo.

Lipson and Climo also collect art with a focus on photography, primarily current artists, Southern artists, and the New York school of the 1940s and ’50s. Many of the artists are people they know and love.

“IF YOU REALLY LOVE HOW THINGS ARE CREATED AND HOW PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THEIR WORLD, ONE PATH IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS IS DONE THROUGH ORGANIZATIONS, LIKE BUSINESSES.”

“Art is that very self-conscious action where you try to describe what it means to you to be a human living in the world. In no way is our humanness better expressed than through our art,” he said. “If you’re interested in humans and the world, then I think art becomes almost a necessary passion.”

As a senior faculty member, Lipson is now more involved at the institution level. He enjoys the creative process of bringing great ideas into practical reality for Darden’s future.

“We spend a great deal of time and energy mentoring faculty to do, extraordinarily well, the special thing that we do at Darden,” Lipson said. “I believe we do something unique, and I’m very focused on how Darden can continue to be the best at what we do.”

TO LEAD IS

BY MICHAEL BLANDING

“You have people on one side saying, ‘Go faster, faster, faster. This could really solve some of the world’s greatest problems,’ and people on the other saying, ‘This could get out of control, we need to put in some limitations and guardrails to ensure it doesn’t hurt people.’”

— Dean Scott Beardsley

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) came upon us slowly and then all at once. The rapidity with which generative AI has entered the workplace has led some to reflexively resist its incursion, while others have grappled with new ethical issues that surfaced seemingly overnight.

“Whenever a new technology comes along, it has the opportunity to do good things, but also to potentially create problems,” says Dean Scott Beardsley. “Leadership is needed at several different levels, including management, engineers, shareholders and even users of the technology, who have to figure out just what it is they are playing with.” Beardsley is fresh off a sabbatical at Oxford University’s Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, examining the connections between AI, ethics and human wellbeing.

The first lesson for those looking to lead in an AI-powered world is to confront the reality that AI is here to stay, says Professor Yael Grushka-Cockayne. She helped convene a conference on AI leadership at UVA Darden DC Metro last winter.

“There was a lot of conversation around learning to embrace AI and engage with it,” she says. “If you shut yourself off and say, ‘We’re definitely not going to use it,’ that’s irresponsible, because then you are not building the competency to understand where the dangers are.” The best thing leaders can do is to educate themselves in the technology and show they know what they are talking about. “That way you gain credibility and trust in the eyes of your clients, your employees and your investors,” says Grushka-Cockayne, “at the same time being able to put boundaries and limitations on it.”

Professor Yael GrushkaCockayne

A

I Without Str

ategy: Like the Titanic Hitting

the Iceberg With a More Efficient Engine

FROM A STRATEGY perspective, responsible leadership is about more than just ethics, says Professor Mike Lenox, author of the new book Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation (Stanford Business Books, 2023). AI can transform businesses in many different ways, from making operations more efficient to totally changing the way they interact with customers. A company like Spotify, for example, leverages AI to constantly measure the listening habits of its users, along with their immediate social network and other similar users to deliver custom music content. “Businesses used to have just episodic interactions with customers, maybe when they had a point of sale. Now they are constantly in contact with them,” Lenox says. That, in turn, can create new business models, leading companies to transform themselves from selling a product to managing a network or platform.

As exciting as that is, however, Lenox warns that leaders’ efforts to incorporate AI responsibly require serious advance thinking about the big picture. “Instead of falling into the trap of immediately adopting AI, you need to think about why you are adopting it, how is it helping you and what do you want it to do.” Lenox says. “If you apply AI without thinking strategically, it’s like improving the efficiency of the engines on the Titanic — all you are going to do is hit the iceberg more quickly.”

Lenox suggests leaders think about what their unique value is to their customers, and how the advanced capabilities of AI will help them better provide it. It also means considering “whether you should build, buy or buddy,” in Lenox’s alliterative words. That is, create a model yourself, purchase an existing AI model or partner with an AI company to create one together.

A Responsible Mindset: Managing AI to Be a Means to a Beneficial End

IT’S IMPORTANT TO remember that AI is “a means to an end, and not an end unto itself,” says Ben Leiner (MBA ’19), an adjunct lecturer at Darden teaching the course “Technology and Ethics.” The development of AI creates some dangerous incentives to cut corners at the expense of customers, says Leiner, who is also a marketing lead at SmartNews, a global news aggregator that uses AI to personalize news for users. “There’s often a desire to push for short-term financial gain without considering long-term societal consequences or other systemic issues that may be at play.”

The power of the technology, combined with a lagging regulatory framework in the United States where most of the leading AI companies are located, means companies may be tempted to aggregate data for models that may create a better product or service but may also violate user privacy or copyright law. When dealing with large language models, such as ChatGPT, managers may also overlook underlying data biases that can, in turn, cause models to produce results that have negative impacts on marginalized communities.

While companies can install safeguards in the way they train models, Leiner says, they can never completely overcome all biases, due to the simple fact that the Internet itself reflects the biases of our larger society. “We’re never going to remove all the bias from these machines,” Leiner says. “But it’s the obligation of generative AI companies to understand the models they are deploying so that they can be used in contexts where they don’t create unintended harm or perpetuate inequality.”

For leaders to navigate AI’s pitfalls, it requires a clear ethical framework that goes beyond existing regulatory or legal frameworks. “Regulation is where the conversation starts, not

where the conversation ends,” Leiner says. “It’s, frankly, sort of sociopathic to think you should be entitled to do whatever you want whenever the law doesn’t have something explicit to say.”

Take, for example, a theoretical instance in which a company is rolling out a new AI model that can identify depression in users. However, the product manager in charge discovers the model has a tendency to diagnose an unusual number of false positives for women.

The manager could roll out the product anyway to grab market share, hoping the company could fix the app before it suffers reputational damage. Truly responsible leadership, however, means a guiding star that looks beyond the financial.

“In class, we teach our students to ask, ‘If I launched my product now, what are the worst things that could happen across a variety of stakeholders, and how do I deal with those eventualities?’” Leiner says. “In this case, you can modify your objective and say, ‘It’s not going to be just about making the most money in the short term, but about finding opportunities to make money and do so without these false positives.’”

Who Is

R

esponsible, and

What Are They

Responsible for?

DARDEN AI INITIATIVE

Last year, Darden officially launched its Artificial Intelligence Initiative, powered by a record gift from David (MBA ’78) and Kathleen LaCross.

WITH ANY NEW technology, there is a race to roll it out quickly, before it can be adequately vetted, says Beardsley. “You have people on one side saying, ‘Go faster, faster, faster. This could really solve some of the world’s greatest problems,’” he says, “and people on the other saying, ‘This could get out of control, we need to put in some limitations and guardrails to ensure it doesn’t hurt people.’” In finding the right balance, he says, leaders need to ask themselves in advance who is responsible, and what they are responsible for, with regard to immediate impacts and potentially unforeseen consequences in the future.

In cases where outcomes are uncertain, he adds, companies can slow down and implement new applications on a smaller scale by running pilots or beta tests that can minimize the impact if something goes wrong. University researchers can play a vital role in this process by helping to test applications of AI before they are rolled out on a large scale, says Grushka-Cockayne — especially in highrisk realms of health, education or finance. “Although it feels like the world is rushing along at a million miles an hour, traditional old-fashioned experimentation in a controlled setting is still valid and helpful.”

Darden is poised to help advance the field of AI ethics and leadership head-on, thanks to a gift of more than $100 million from David LaCross (MBA ’78) and his wife, Kathleen LaCross — the largest in the School’s history — much of which will support Darden’s AI-focused initiatives. The funds will be used to support faculty research, develop courses, write cases and convene forums to examine the challenges and opportunities of AI in business. “AI is a huge business in its own right, as well as a productivity and intelligence tool in so many existing industries, including drug discovery, technology, health care and education,” Beardsley says. “It’s highly relevant to learning and to teaching the next generation what it means to be responsible leaders for the future.”

The new gift bolsters Darden’s reputation as a leader in business ethics. Many faculty members are widely recognized thought leaders examining the implications of AI and other disruptive technologies.

At the end of the day, Darden might have the most impact by educating students on the uniquely thorny issues that can come with the technology and establishing the School as a trusted place where companies can recruit the next generation of responsible AI leaders at any level in the field.

“The way our case method is set up encourages students to be leaders and raise their hands in any context they encounter in business,” Leiner says. “The question is, how do you exercise the power you have?”

Professor Mike Lenox

Lecturer

Ben Leiner (MBA ’19)

From Leadership to the Front Line: AI is a Disruptive Force in Workforce Development

Convening attendees from the education, private, and government and public policy sectors, Darden’s Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning examined how artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating the evolving landscape of lifelong learning and workforce development at its inaugural The Future of Learning at Work Summit in April.

“What does AI mean for human intelligence? It is being called into question. Humans need to keep learning. The lifelong learning ecosystem must evolve to meet cultural, political and technological catalysts,” Dean Scott Beardsley said during his opening address at the event.

Darden faculty members Anton Korinek, Roshni Raveendhran, Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Beardsley shared their thoughts and findings on how AI will shape the future of work — from what jobs will be left for people to how AI impacts human behavior on the job to the new skills lifelong learning will need to prioritize to help workers thrive in the age of AI.

Korinek said there has been a reliable relationship between the investment to bring more computing power to generative AI models and the capabilities of generative AI. Given that the computing power behind generative AI models has doubled every six months for more than a decade, a trend he expects to continue for years, “the complexity of these models is quickly catching the complexity of our brains.”

Attendees

at the Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning's inaugural The Future of Learning at Work Summit discussed the challenges of hiring and workforce development as AI disrupts the nature of work.

The development curve puts generative AI on a path to bring massive increases in productivity throughout the economy, mostly in cognitive work, Korinek said, forcing humans “to the tail end of the curve” to the highest value work.

RAPID CHANGE IN TALENT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Talent and workforce development has entered an era of rapid change, event attendees agreed. Lifelong learning providers of all shapes and sizes will need to quickly adapt to the needs of employers and learners.

Investor and entrepreneur Lou Pugliese, speaking during a panel on edtech investing, said he had recent conversations with leaders at large tech companies during which the executives said they planned to solve their talent and skill development crisis by taking matters into their own hands. He expects tech giants will try to acquire lifelong learning providers and adapt them to their own needs, putting them in direct competition with traditional education providers.

Big tech isn’t alone in facing a critical talent gap. Leaders from the airline, hotel and other industries at the Sands Institute event reiterated that finding the right talent quickly and efficiently was their most significant challenge, and that lifelong learning providers weren’t adapting fast enough to meet their evolving needs.

Given how technologies like AI have rapidly shifted the workforce skills organizations need to succeed, many event attendees working in the education sector concluded they must do a better job creating pathways for workers to connect with employers on new opportunities.

“We need a way to validate what people have learned through lifelong learning so employers can properly value it,” said The Burning Glass Institute Managing Director of Education Insights Carlo Salerno.

What Are the Most Valuable Values?

BY MCGREGOR MCCANCE

CURIOSITY

HONEST DRIVEN

WILLINGNESS

LISTENING

RELIABILITY

What makes one successful in business? In leadership? What lessons lead someone to greater opportunities — and help them stay there? Why are the best employees the way they are? Ask a leader these questions today and you’ll get priceless insights drawn from the well of experience.

The Darden Report did just that, checking in with three Darden alumni who are serving as chief executives, leading teams and operations that span the globe.

Diem Nguyen (MBA ’01)

CEO and director for SIGA Technologies Inc., a public, commercial-stage pharmaceutical company focused on global health and infectious diseases.

Mike McDermott (EMBA ’16)

President and CEO of Mary Washington Healthcare, a fully integrated regional nonprofit health care system serving more than 60 facilities, including two hospitals.

Pablo Ciano (MBA ’00)

Member of the Board of Management for DHL Group and CEO of DHL’s eCommerce division. DHL is a leading global logistics company with a presence in 220 countries.

What are the values, practices or traits that have led to success and created opportunity throughout your career?

NGUYEN: I’ve taken less obvious paths throughout my career, seizing every opportunity to learn — some in classrooms but most not. I’ve been a scientist, led drug discovery teams, crafted brand strategies and built businesses. I’ve even dived into the deep end with private equity and venture capital firms. Each step has helped me grow as a leader and develop a broad skillset. Now, as a CEO, I see how all these experiences connect and influence how I lead, make decisions and envision the future for our company. My advice is to stay curious, embrace the journey and never stop learning.

CIANO: I have always done the best I could with the opportunity at hand, avoiding spending too much time and energy thinking about the past, future or all other hypothetical scenarios the mind creates. If you do the best you can in any cir-

MCDERMOTT

I don’t think you can overstate the importance of integrity and reliability. Being honest, with a foundation of good moral principles, and allowing others to depend on your words and actions will, drop by drop, fill your cup of credibility.

Keep a growth mindset driven by curiosity and willingness to learn at any stage in your career. We are never a finished product, and if we embrace that we will always find ways to grow and progress.

NGUYEN

I would never ask my team to do something I’m not willing to do myself. This approach fosters unity, strengthens our team bond and motivates everyone to achieve their best, knowing they are supported, appreciated and valued.

CIANO

cumstance and you throw your mind and body into the task at hand, it is guaranteed that new and better opportunities will open for you. The other [practice] is keeping a growth mindset driven by curiosity and willingness to learn at any stage in your career. We are never a finished product, and if we embrace that we will always find ways to grow and progress.

MCDERMOTT: I don’t think you can overstate the importance of integrity and reliability. Being honest, with a foundation of good moral principles, and allowing others to depend on your words and actions will, drop by drop, fill your cup of credibility. It is the cup filled with credibility that creates your influence as a leader. Cherish and protect your “credibility cup,” and you will create opportunity and success throughout your career.

2What are the common characteristics of the best employees and colleagues you have encountered over your career?

CIANO: I like to look for three core traits: Intensity (energy, daily passion), intelligence (good intellect to solve complex problems and deal with difficult people), and integrity (ethical and respectful mindset). Of course, if the last “I” is not there, don’t bother looking for the other two.

MCDERMOTT: Positivity and resilience are important. Attitude and effort are choices, and the colleagues I have most enjoyed working with have had the ability to maintain positivity during difficult times as well as the ability to bounce back and persevere through adversity. I feel these characteristics create the ability to achieve successful outcomes from even the most challenging circumstances.

NGUYEN: Colleagues who love what they do — who are purpose-driven — truly stand out. I’ve seen firsthand the magic that happens when people are in it because they genu-

inely care and want to make a difference. This commitment transcends industries and not only positively impacts lives, but also inspires and uplifts everyone to do their best work.

3 What is the most important “soft skill” for leaders today?

MCDERMOTT: Current workplace environments are full of distraction, with seemingly infinite issues and worries to consume a leader’s time. The best leaders possess a shrewd filter, a natural ability to separate the signal from the noise, avoid distraction and focus their organization on what is truly important.

NGUYEN: The ability to assemble and nurture high-performing teams is critical. Leaders must trust in the capabilities of their teams and empower them to deliver outstanding results. This approach enhances a team’s performance and fosters a culture of excellence and innovation, paving the way for continued success.

CIANO: By far, listening. I wish I had paid more attention to that early in my career. I put a lot of focus now on “understanding before being understood.” It is amazing how much I learn when I postpone judgment and listen with curiosity and an open mind.

What tactics do you rely on to effectively lead in such demanding and complex positions?

NGUYEN: There’s one principle I hold above all: I would never ask my team to do something I’m not willing to do myself. Whether it’s burning the midnight oil to meet a deadline or navigating through tough challenges, I’m alongside them in the trenches. This approach fosters unity, strengthens our team bond and motivates everyone to achieve their best, knowing they are supported, appreciated and valued.

CIANO: “Put your own mask on first” is my mantra. Just as it is explained during the safety briefing before a flight takes off that you need to put your own mask on first before helping others, the same applies to the workplace at all levels. If I don’t take care of my own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual being, I will not be at my best at work to help the organization. I encourage all my team members to do the same. It is amazing to see how much traction this simple concept gets and how colleagues appreciate the environment we create to foster that mindset.

MCDERMOTT: I like to characterize my leadership philosophy as: Nice, provocable, forgiving and clear. In ongoing business relationships, this tit-for-tat approach assumes positive intent, drives accountability, avoids grudges and is grounded in reliability. I have found this approach to be valuable in navigating volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments like those often seen in the modern workplace.

The Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens combine constructed and natural systems to create an environment that features diverse regional and global plants. Throughout, Honor Trees recognize faculty, alumni and other members of the Darden community.

IN THE GARDEN OF GREAT AND GOOD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MELODY ROBBINS ILLUSTRATIONS BY HYPHEN

The University of Virginia embraces a vision to be “great and good” — both great as an institution of higher learning and a force for good in the world. The recently named Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens located on the Goodwin Family Grounds in Charlottesville advance both aims with flying — often vibrant — colors.

Opening in April 2023, this expansive green space showcases Darden's commitment to environmental stewardship and aligns with the School's mission to improve the world by inspiring responsible leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. It also contributed to Darden’s No. 2 ranking for Carbon Footprint in The Financial Times' 2024 global business school rankings, tops in the U.S. in this category.

Designed by Waterstreet Studio, the arboretum and gardens boast a living library of 130 different kinds of trees and 170 different kinds of shrubs (and around 114,000 plants in total). The biodiverse habitat spreads across 10.66 meticulously landscaped acres that include an outdoor amphitheater and classroom; learning and event spaces for Darden students, alumni and others; themed gardens; water features and bridges; walking trails; and connections to the UVA School of Law and popular Rivanna Trail.

The Duffy Leahy Japanese Garden, funded by Charles G. Duffy III (MBA ’87), reflects Japanese aesthetic and philosophical principles. It includes 17 species of Japanese Maples and features a Torii, an iconic arch traditionally marking the entrance to Shinto shrines.

The Class of 1987 Amphitheater & Outdoor Classroom features tiered seating suitable for everything from lectures to concerts and was funded by the class’s collective efforts with a lead gift from Robert W. Smith (MBA ’87).

“COME OUTSIDE, GO FOR A WALK WITH A FRIEND, HAVE A GOOD TIME, HAVE A DISCUSSION, BE IN CONTACT WITH NATURE. WE THINK IT WILL BUILD COMMUNITY HERE AT DARDEN.”

— DEAN SCOTT BEARDSLEY

The Carl Mason Franklin Footbridge — a gift of the Morris S. Smith Foundation, led by Sterling, Larry and Mei Kwong Franklin — is a visual centerpiece of the Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens for visitors to The Forum Hotel.

The Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens boast 300 distinct tree and shrub varieties. Overall, the nearly 11-acre greenspaces include about 114,000 plants, including trees, shrubs, perennials, vines and bulbs, showcasing Darden’s commitment to biodiversity and sustainability.

The Chinese Garden was inspired by the experience of viewing Chinese scroll art. It encourages visitors to meander slowly as emblematic garden elements, such as the moon gate, the dry stream bed representing water (Yin) and boulders representing mountains (Yang), emerge during their stroll.

GET TO KNOW the Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens by visiting them in person or explore them in incredible detail online at Drdn.mba/gardens

YEARS OF STAKEHOLDER THEORY

MCGREGOR MCCANCE

ILLUSTRATION BY MUTI

In 1983, Ed Freeman was a young university researcher and lecturer barely off the starting line in his academic career. Though he had produced plenty of papers about business issues, that summer would see the publication of his first book: Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach.

He didn’t exactly expect it to set the world on fire.

“My expectations were, ‘Look, I’m just trying to write something that says I really think companies are better off if they run their businesses for their stakeholders, not just their shareholders,’” Freeman said in an interview in his office at Darden, the school where he’s taught the principles of stakeholder theory, ethics, leadership and related topics for more than three decades.

Stakeholder theory holds that businesses exist to do more than just make money for shareholders. Instead, they function best and serve the greater good when their actions reflect what’s best for all stakeholders — employees, suppliers, local communities, partners and, of course, shareholders.

“It’s a business for human beings rather than business for a few human beings,” Freeman said. “I think that’s a better way to think about business.”

Freeman hoped the book would help him get tenure one day. He thought it might be useful for academics and corporate managers. He never expected to make money from it. Forty years later, what’s broadly known as stakeholder theory or stakeholder capitalism carries more weight than anyone might have imagined.

HIGH-LEVEL IMPACT

Embraced by some of the world’s biggest corporations and many influential leaders, the concepts articulated in Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach — and refined and expanded in subsequent writings by Freeman and his colleagues — enjoy global acceptance. Leaders at corporate giants like Costco, Walmart and Whole Foods endorse them.

The original cover for Professor Ed Freeman’s book, Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach

Professor Ed Freeman

Professor Bobby Parmar

“All of us are called to a hero’s journey. Most people don’t answer that call. Ed answered it, and he’s a hero. He’s made a big difference in the world, and he’s a remarkable human being.”

In 2019, more than 200 CEOs affiliated with the Business Roundtable officially adopted a new “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.”

In it, the Business Roundtable officially moved away from the long-held narrative that the purpose of a business is to generate economic returns for its shareholders and instead embraced the stakeholder approach. The CEOs declared: “Companies should deliver long-term value to all of their stakeholders.”

Over the years, probably no economic idea has become more synonymous with Darden or its guiding values. “Stakeholder” has become part of the School’s cultural fabric. While the term has a specific definition, it also has become shorthand for Darden’s teaching philosophy based on responsible business management and ethically grounded leadership.

“The success of stakeholder theory and Darden’s distinctive competitive advantage are tied together,” said Professor Bobby Parmar, who has known Freeman for nearly 30 years. “Ed has had a huge impact at Darden and helped us become a place that is unique and attracts students, faculty and recruiters who care about this set of ideals.”

THE ‘HERO’S JOURNEY’

If Freeman’s humility prevents him from accepting much credit, others are happy to assign it.

“All of us are called to a hero’s journey,” said John Mackey, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market, the natural and organic grocer that grew from a single store to 540 stores with more than 105,000 employees. “Most people don’t answer that call. Ed answered it, and he’s a hero. He’s made a big difference in the world, and he’s a remarkable human being.”

Mackey’s journey through entrepreneurship and business leadership began in the mid-1970s, when he was living in a vegetarian housing co-operative. Those in the food co-op line of work didn’t focus much on profits. In fact, they were essentially antiprofit and mostly wanted low prices and broad access. But any notion to serve more people eventually ran into their aversion to profits. There simply was no money to invest in expanding the business.

Mackey took note. A business couldn’t truly flourish with just one objective or one group in mind.

In 1980, Mackey and his girlfriend, Renee Lawson, merged a natural foods store they started together in Texas with another local store to establish Whole Foods Market. The company struggled after a disastrous flood nearly wiped it out in 1981. It survived because a banker personally guaranteed an emergency loan after the institution declined Mackey’s application. Whole Foods employees worked without pay for a month until payroll could get back on track. Suppliers fronted the company inventory to restock shelves.

“I began to realize, we are in this network of relationships, and they love us and care about us, and we owe them,” Mackey recalled. “We need to pay back the generosity they’ve shown us.”

By the early ’90s, Mackey grew more interested in the concept that a business could improve itself and the world by focusing on more than just profits. Soon, Mackey began devouring anything Freeman had written on the topic.

The common thread connecting Mackey’s own experience, his business strategies and his personal values finally had a name: stakeholder theory.

— JOHN MACKEY, CO-FOUNDER, WHOLE FOODS MARKET

“I got excited about it because I realized, ‘Well, that’s it!’ That’s the term I’ve been looking for, what we’ve been doing at Whole Foods,” he said. “The brilliance of what Ed did is that he saw the interdependencies. He saw it as a system, and it wasn’t seen that way before Ed came along.”

GROWING A MOVEMENT

The release of Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach “was a watershed moment because it helped turn the tide and helped us see business as a deeply

human institution,” Parmar said.

Not that it immediately changed things. That would take time.

Professor Andy Wicks, academic director of the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at Darden, witnessed the evolution. He met Freeman in the late ’80s, soon after learning about stakeholder theory.

Wicks recalled having students in a 2002 class read an article by Milton Friedman, proclaiming companies exist to create shareholder profits, and another by Ed Freeman, arguing that all stakeholders are integral. In a class of 70, only one student raised a hand to indicate alignment with stakeholder theory.

“When I teach that material today in a Darden classroom, I will get anywhere from 60 to 80 percent of the students who raise their hand for Ed,” Wicks said.

In a report published in 2021, the Conference Board said its research and surveys showed that nearly 90% of C-suite executives surveyed around the world believed that “there is a shift underway from stockholder to stakeholder capitalism, and almost 80% say the shift is occurring at their firm.”

Spreading the word has proven to be a

lifelong passion for Freeman.

During his career, Freeman has written and co-authored hundreds of books, articles, commentaries and essays about stakeholder concepts and the importance of business ethics. He’s taught thousands of students, accepted honorary degrees across the world and provided countless media interviews. He travels frequently to deliver guest lectures at business schools, participate in conferences about responsible business practices and management, and consult directly with corporations.

A ‘MOST AWESOME FEELING’

Stakeholder concepts have come a long way since Freeman first was exposed to the idea of business “stakeholders” at the Wharton School of Business in the 1970s. Even before then, Freeman has stressed over the years, researchers at the Stanford Research Institute and a Swedish theorist were analyzing how different groups affiliated with or interacting with businesses could affect a company.

But stakeholders at that time predominantly were considered disparate elements that could influence the operations or success

of the company, rather than integral components or partners whose shared interests could enable them all to flourish.

That bigger idea “was in the air,” Freeman said. During one Wharton gathering of economists and academics, the chalkboard featured a diagram of different stakeholders. Freeman remembered one person suggesting that it wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss the interests of those other stakeholders in the context of the corporation’s fortunes because their issues were matters of “justice” rather than strict business considerations.

“I’m just sitting there like a fly on the wall, probably 25 or 26, and I thought, ‘Well, wait a minute. I don’t know why you can’t say anything about justice.’”

Freeman didn’t voice his thoughts in that setting. But he and his boss at the time, Jim Emshoff, were thinking and writing together along those lines. Emshoff encouraged Freeman to further explore the idea of a stakeholder approach, to try to answer the question: “Can you run a business this way?”

Published in summer 1983 with a 1984 copyright date, only 2,000 copies comprised the initial run. Freeman remembers holding

%

of C-suite executives surveyed around the world believe that “there is a shift underway from stockholder to stakeholder capitalism.”

the book in his hands for the first time.

“It was, at that time, the most awesome feeling I had had professionally,” he said.

The book has been updated and reissued, and with contributions from Wicks, Parmar and others, complementary volumes build on the original themes. Evidence of stakeholder capitalism’s enduring influence abounds — whether it reflects Freeman’s specific contributions or the continued general recognition of the value of businesses that account for the wellbeing and success of their full sets of participants.

CHALLENGES TO PROGRESS

It’s not time to declare victory for stakeholder theory by any stretch. Almost any edition today of The Wall Street Journal will remind one that unethical or selfish corporate behavior comes with the territory.

Mackey, though optimistic overall, said stakeholder theory faces threats on multiple fronts. On one hand, he said, a growing number of people argue that focusing exclusively on creating shareholder returns is the best way to help all stakeholders in the end. On the other extreme, he sees growing antibusiness sentiment in some quarters, with groups seeking control of corporate boards to advance narrow agendas reflecting political priorities of the few, rather than the good of all stakeholders.

Mackey said both approaches are flawed and limiting.

“Stakeholder theory is being challenged on these different fronts,” he said. “But it works. If it didn’t lead to competitive advantage, it would disappear.”

Freeman, too, conveys optimism. However, he identifies authoritarian political movements as a threat to approaches like stakeholder capitalism because they can lead to crony capitalism, in which the government skews a functioning competitive marketplace by getting involved in ways that favor specific businesses or industries.

“If you pay attention to stakeholders, and you have a high purpose, you’re basically going to beat the hell out of companies that don’t, unless these companies get a leg up from government. So that worries me.”

“We desperately need to hasten the transition to a more inclusive stakeholder capitalism. That is a worthy task for our generations, and one to which I am committed.”

— PROFESSOR ED FREEMAN

A TASK NOT YET FINISHED

His continued experience in the classroom heartens Freeman. Many choose Darden today because of its reputation for teaching and emphasizing business ethics.

“They come in with a stronger sense that they want to do something that has meaning,” he said. “They want to do something that makes the world better. There’s no question about that.”

Two years ago, as his book was nearing 40, Freeman reassessed how well it has stood the test of time in “My Own Book Review. Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach,” published by the International Association of Strategic Management.

One of the book’s enduring strengths is that “it is based on real business situations, and it does not shy away from prescribing how business can improve,” he wrote. Among the weaknesses: a chapter focusing on internal stakeholders, which Freeman later recognized as a potential distraction from his goal of making businesses more cognizant of external stakeholders.

He also linked the heart of the theory and practice to core values, such as those he earned and learned growing up on a Georgia farm — especially the truth that “one needed to be responsible for the effects of one’s action on others.”

“I get far too much credit for a very small role that I played in developing the stakeholder idea,” Freeman concluded in his humble and self-critical review. “But the task is not yet finished. We desperately need to hasten the transition to a more inclusive stakeholder capitalism. That is a worthy task for our generations, and one to which I am committed.”

I20 QUESTIONS

DEBRA DRAUGHAN (MBA ’84)

n the 40 years since Debra Draughan (MBA ’84) graduated from Darden, she’s built a thriving career as an investment industry leader in institutional sales and private equity. She is responsible for fundraising and investor relations at Atlantic Street Capital, a private equity firm that she has worked for in multiple capacities since 2008. Draughan has put that experience to great use as a member of the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees and in support of Darden’s efforts to advance student interest in alternative investing careers. Read more about what makes this industry leader tick in this edition of 20 Questions.

“ OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE IS TO

WHAT

IS, FOR ME, THE RIGHT THING, IN THE RIGHT WAY, AT THE RIGHT TIME, WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE. WHENEVER I CAN CREATE THAT ALIGNMENT, MY LIFE SEEMS TO MOVE IN ALMOST MAGICAL WAYS.”

1. What was your first job?

European American Bank, which was a consortium of six European banks. I was in the bank lending training program, from which I was assigned to a line lending office in Los Angeles, California.

2. What’s the best advice you have ever received?

The best piece of advice that I ever received came from a hedge fund manager who did business with Salomon Brothers. They encouraged me to understand I worked in a volatile industry and to manage accordingly. Even though the advice was given to me in the fall of 1984, I have never forgotten it.

3. Whom do you most admire?

Collectively speaking, I have tremendous admiration for my parents and their friends. They grew up in challenging times with limited opportunities, but they managed to build careers, buy homes, build strong families and be leaders in the community. It could not have been easy, yet they persevered in dignified fashion and were excellent role models. I have relied upon their strength and drawn upon their wisdom throughout my life. To say that I stand on their shoulders is an understatement.

4. What motivates you?

As the daughter of two public school teachers, I have always been motivated to do the best job possible.

Debra Draughan (MBA ’84) brings 30 years of private equity experience to the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees.

5. What’s a lesson experience has taught you?

Not every effort in this life will result in a win. However, at the end of the day, if you know you gave the best that you had, you can still find real satisfaction. More importantly, today’s defeat may in fact turn out to be tomorrow’s victory.

6. What is your “superpower”?

I believe my superpower is to help people find the best in themselves and then adapt their communication skills to help the world understand the value that they bring to the table. I believe that my second superpower is bringing together complete strangers and helping them start a conversation that might not have occurred otherwise.

7. When and where do you do your best thinking?

Over the years, I have found that a plane flight or drive can be great opportunities to think through problems and find workable solutions.

8. What are you reading these days?

I have just begun reading The Warmth of the Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. The book speaks to the stories of African-Americans who were part of the great migration from the South to more progressive parts of the U.S. In the mid-1950s, my own parents moved from the Dallas, Texas, area to Los Angeles in search of better employment opportunities. Because of that move, I am a native Angeleno, which is something that brings me great pride.

9. How do you recharge?

I love to spend time with family and close friends to get a break from the hustle and bustle of the work week. Warm, loving and supportive conversation always brings me back to the goodness of the life that I have had.

10. What’s your motto?

Starting in my 20s, my motto has been: patience, persistence and perseverance. In my 40s, I came to understand that of equal importance is to do what is, for me, the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, with the right people. Whenever I can create that alignment, my life seems to move in almost magical ways.

11. How do you deal with conflict?

I am a firm believer that dealing with conflict requires a great deal of patience and thoughtfulness. My life experience has shown me that many conflicts resolve themselves, and often much

sooner than one might think, thereby eliminating the need to engage in battle royale. My goal is to understand the conflict, even if I may not personally agree with the source of the conflict or disagreement, and then look for productive solutions that keep people moving forward.

12. What characteristics do you look for in people?

We all need to make a commitment to our continued growth, both professionally and personally. When I think of people whom I have known and worked with, those who have exceeded expectations are those who want to be better today than they were the day before, and better tomorrow than they were today.

13. What makes you feel hopeful?

I find hope in my family and friends. I find hope in my everyday life. I find hope in my faith. I find hope in the idea that we can be better tomorrow than we were today.

14. What is your favorite cause?

My favorite cause is the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP). NASP is focused on supporting people of color and women in the securities, finance and investment industries. Each chapter has what is called a FAST TRACK program designed to introduce inner city youth to these industries. The Southern California chapter, in which I am active, has built a program that supports students from both Crenshaw High School and LA High School through a structured environment that is focused on academic achievement. Over the years, it has been heartwarming to watch the students gain confidence and reach for goals.

15. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Forced to pick one, it would be my hometown of Los Angeles. LA provides a great mix of weather and lifestyle that makes it a wonderful place to be in my book.

16. What do you lose sleep over?

It is only in the last year that I have learned not to lose sleep. Quality sleep is one of the most important sources of regeneration that puts me in the position to make the best possible decisions during the day.

17. Which class at Darden impacted you the most?

Although I graduated from Darden 40 years ago,

the subject matter that I have used the most is organizational behavior. On an almost daily basis, I draw upon the insights gained from those classes. I have worked with multiple private equity funds that have experienced OB issues either within senior management, between senior management and employees, or between the firm and its investors. Good OB can allow teams at fledging firms to become truly successful. Bad OB can lead to the demise of even the most storied of franchises.

18. What’s your favorite Darden memory?

My favorite Darden memory is completing my job search in late January of Second Year, at which time I had received offers from all of my top choices. I had set a personal goal of being finished by January 15, which I missed only by a week or so. In those days, Darden was not necessarily associated with securities sales and trading, so I started my search early, worked intensively and got done early. It was a huge relief that put me in the position to enjoy the remainder of the school year. My other favorite memory is my now late father asking me during graduation if I was thinking about getting a doctorate, to which I answered: “Other than some cooking or language classes, I am done with school.”

19. Looking back at your career, what stands out?

I have spent a tremendous amount of time on the road over the last 40 years, whether building new investor relationships or strengthening existing relationships. The onset of COVID-19 upended my historical approach to meeting with people in person and required a pivot to virtual interactions. I found that virtual meetings actually slowed the pace of interactions and created more time to strengthen relationships.

20. What’s are you most passionate about in your role on the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees?

Since I graduated in 1984, the School has evolved in ways that I could not have imagined. Similarly, the investment industry has evolved in ways that I could not have imagined. I have done enough work in the venture arena to understand that the pace of innovation and change will only continue. I see being a trustee as an opportunity for me to make my contribution to Darden’s ongoing success, which includes helping existing or prospective students understand the value that a Darden MBA represents.

HUND-MEJEAN RECEIVES ABBOTT AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO DARDEN

Former Mastercard CFO Martina Hund-Mejean (MBA ’88) was honored with the Charles C. Abbott Award during Darden Reunion Weekend. The Darden Alumni Association Board of Directors presents the Abbott Award each year to an alumnus or alumna who has made exceptional contributions to the Darden School.

“I wouldn’t be here without the great work Darden does with its students,” said Hund-Mejean when she accepted the award. She credited the School’s faculty for their role in her education and recounted her experience as one of the few international students in her class.

Hund-Mejean has served for 13 years on the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees, including as chair. She is a dedicated volunteer, serving as a classroom guest lectur-

er, leadership speaker and reunion committee member.

She and her husband, Bruno Mejean, are Principal Donors to Darden at the Monroe Level and are members of the Cornerstone Society, Darden Society and Hickory Club.

Hund-Mejean has been a key leader in Darden’s effort to increase access for European students through the Hund-Mejean Family Scholarship Fund. She has also supported faculty through the Robert F. Bruner Dean’s Fund for Faculty Excellence and supported creation of The Frank M. Sands Sr. (MBA ’63) and Marjorie R. Sands Hotel at Darden and Conference Center for Lifelong Learning.

CLASS NOTES

Conley Ricker conleyricker@yahoo.com

At our 65th Darden Class of 1959 reunion, the Class of 1959 was honored to have been represented by three graduates: Jim Daniel and his wife, Colleen; Bill Marburg; and the undersigned class secretary, Conley Ricker. On this special occasion, billed as our “Last Hurrah,” we were particularly honored to have been hosted by the Darden School of Business in a private room in The Forum Hotel. In addition to our three graduates, Bill Marburg’s daughter, Chandler Marburg, had brought along several of Bill’s family. These included Bill’s daughter,

Cameron Marburg, and her fiancée, David Burroughs, and Bill’s son, Tad Marburg, who arrived from California for this special occasion.

The dinner was a complete and renowned success, the final tally of which was financed by the Darden School, and included: a creative salad, chateaubriand cooked to perfection, a wide assortment of braised vegetables and an unbelievable dessert of chocolate cheesecake. Before, during and after the dinner, gracious and attentive waiters provided cocktails by order, an assortment of aged wine and a generous after-dinner liquor, Courvoisier.

Undated photo of students and faculty in front of the old Sponsors Hall.

STORIED 498 ACRE EQUESTRIAN, HUNTING, AND FARMING ESTATE GREENFIELDS FARM

$4,250,000

Greenfields is an historic Southern Albemarle farming and hunting estate ideally suited for outdoor enthusiasts including equestrians, wing shooters (plenty of released quail, dove and ducks), deer hunters and anyone who might want to take advantage of the fertile croplands. The centerpiece of this historic and storied property is a c. 1905 manor home offering 11ft ceilings, incredible woodwork throughout, endless fireplaces and also modern luxuries including his and her primary suite bathrooms and an expansive, modern kitchen. There are multiple modern apartments for staff. In an area of noted farms and estates 25 minutes from Charlottesville. 2 division rights. An additional 258 acres is available. MLS# 650686

EXCEPTIONAL DOWNTOWN LIVING

218 W. WATER STREET #601 • $1,645,000

Located a block from the Historic Pedestrian Mall, this 2 bed, 2.5 bath residence offers 2,600+ sq ft of refined living space. Garage parking & elevator access ensure a hassle-free lifestyle. Chef’s kitchen boasts top-of-the-line appliances complemented by a spacious center island. Primary suite w/ cozy sitting area or office & primary bath features walk-in shower & deep soaking tub. Sunroom, stone terrace & expansive views from every room. Lindsay Milby (434) 962-9148. MLS# 651436

6385 INDIAN RIDGE DRIVE • $2,495,000

Grand elegance in Indian Springs: Stately home w/ elevator & 2-car garage offers 1-level living w/ timeless appeal & luxurious amenities. High ceilings, ornate trim details, dramatic staircase & built-in cabinetry throughout. Seamless flow from living areas to screened porch. Kitchen is the heart of the home w/ plenty of counterspace. Multiple auxiliary rooms, incl’ home gym. Tommy Brannock (434) 981-1486. MLS# 650968

12 EDNAM VILLAGE STREET • $1,150,000

Luxury meets convenience near Boar’s Head Resort in this traditional, attached home w/ 2 spacious bedrooms & 2 full baths. Renovated kitchen w/ exquisite finishes& wet bar, dedicated home office, sunroom surrounded by vibrant landscaping, formal dining rm w/ built-ins, & living room w/ wood burning fireplace. Convenient 1-car garage & plenty of storage. Close to tennis, golf, spa, restaurants, & hiking trails Tommy Brannock (434) 981-1486. MLS# 652092

OAKLEIGH • $3,950,000

Circa 1856, Oakleigh is a renovated, turn-key estate incl’ 149 manicured acres w/ 2 ponds in the heart of the Green Springs Historic District. The home enjoys total tranquility w/ no road exposure & has been carefully modernized & renovated to incl’ 3 beds, 2.5 baths & endless charm. Other structures incl’ smokehouse, barn, chicken coop & equipment shed. All dependencies have water & electricity. Under Conservation easement w/ 1 division right. Fiber optic! MLS# 649582

12046 SPICERS MILL ROAD • $1,875,000

Farm offers custom home & equestrian amenities. Floor plan w/ flow & privacy has wings for huge master suite & guest quarters bracketing living, dining, great rm that opens to kitchen & deck, home office, & laundry. 2 ensuite bedrms upstairs & oversized att’d garage. 32 acres of open land, centeraisle barn w/ 12x12 stalls w/ auto waterers, board fenced pastures w/ run-in sheds, ample arena w/ excellent footing, & jumping field. Julia Parker Lyman (540) 748-1497. MLS# 646253

JAW DROPPING CONTEMPORARY ESTATE ON 42 ACRES 12 MINUTES TO TOWN

1414 WALDEMAR DRIVE

$5,950,000

Sited beautifully amongst massive oak trees, this dazzling home enjoys incredible views of rolling hills and mountains beyond. The centerpiece is a great room that soars to 31’ with walls of glass to take in the views. 1st floor master plus additional 1st floor suite that doubles as an office. 3 bedroom suites up & guest suite in the basement. Large, covered rear porch and horizon pool. Features incl’ wide plank oak flooring, geothermal HVAC, home gym, and butler’s pantry. Comprised of two 21 acre parcels, the property enjoys 2 entrances and can be subdivided. Large, multi-purpose barn with half bath, devoted septic. Horse friendly land with creek. Fiber optic internet. 12 minutes to town, Boar’s Head, Farmington et al. MLS# 649482

c. 1856 TREASURE IN GREEN SPRINGS

1-LEVEL LUXURY LIVING WITH ELEVATOR

TURN-KEY COTTAGE IN EDNAM VILLAGE

STUNNING MODERN FARMHOUSE IN THE HEART OF KESWICK ESTATE COUNTRY

4680 LONGHORN

$3,775,000

DRIVE

Comprised of 3 parcels & 3 accessory dwellings in the heart of Keswick Estate Country, this stunning farmhouse offers modern design & warm character on 35 acres. Features incl’ great room with 10’ ceilings, wooden beams & custom-made barn doors to frame the views, 1st flr primary, Miele chef’s kitchen, geothermal HVAC & 42K generator, terrace level w/ 11’ ceilings, custom bar & movie theater. Resort-style lawn w/ heated saltwater pool & covered cabana. 6-stall barn w/ attached 3-bed residence, 4 paddocks w/ run-in sheds & 150’ x 255’ riding ring. Not under easement. Fiber internet. Privacy & serenity just mins from Keswick Club amenities, UVA & Downtown. Rebecca White (434) 531-5097. MLS# 651580

1-LEVEL LIVING EDNAM TOWNHOME

542 WORTHINGTON DRIVE • $825,000

Rare opportunity: 1-level living townhome in the sought after Ednam neighborhood. Walk to Boar’s Head Inn and mins from Farmington, UVA & Sentara. Frst floor foyer, living room w/ gas fireplace & dining area, eat-in kitchen, and private bedrm suite w/ 2 closets & full bath. Lower level has 2nd bedrm, full bath, large family rm, bonus rm & laundry. Private backyard w/ terrace. Punkie Feil (434) 962-5222 or Elizabeth Feil Matthews (434) 284-2105.

METICULOUSLY RENOVATED DOWNTOWN

107 PERRY DRIVE • $875,000

Urban sophistication & tranquility in this meticulously renovated home moments from the Pedestrian Mall. This residence boasts serene rear yard oasis w/ tiered gardens, Japanese terraces & 3 outdoor entertaining spaces. Inside, a gourmet kitchen w/ custom cabinetry, Italian honed marble counters & center island complemented by wood burning fireplace in the great room. Primary bedroom retreat w/ floor-to-ceiling windows & spa-like bath. Lindsay Milby (434) 962-1948. MLS# 650878

0 GREENFIELD FARM • $1,995,000

This stunning & storied tract offers unparalleled privacy & tranquility w/ multiple strong building sites w/ commanding, panoramic views of the countryside. Long frontage on bold Ballenger Creek, the land is rife w/ wildlife incl’ deer, quail, turkey, dove & ducks. Along Ballenger Creek sits the remains of Boiling Springs Grist Mill, which has been owned or visited by many prominent Virginians. 25 mins from Downtown. Under conservation easement w/ 2 division rights. MLS# 650901

CHARACTER IN MEADOWBROOK HILLS

1335 HILLTOP ROAD • $1,495,000

Storybook cottage located on one of Charlottesville’s loveliest streets often admired for its charm & curb appeal. Hardwood floors, built-ins, sun-filled rooms, fireplace, & multiple outdoor living areas. Upstairs are 3 beds, 2 full baths, ample closets & lots of windows! Main floor boasts spacious living & dining rms, 4th bedrm, kitchen, full bath & screened porch. Terrace level offers add’l bath, laundry rm, & home office. Tommy Brannock (434) 981-1486. MLS# 650962

LIGHT-DRENCHED 5-6 BEDROOM IN IVY

3585 MORGANTOWN ROAD • $1,345,000

Welcoming 5-6 bedrm home sited on 2+ private acres in the Western School District. Semi-open floor plan w/ plenty of casual living spaces plus formal dining, foyer & living rm. Inlaid hardwood floors in kitchen & vaulted family rm w/ exposed beams, built-ins & fireplace. Custom built-ins throughout. Lower level w/ fireplace & mini-kitchen/wet bar. Multiple outdoor entertaining areas. Winter Blue Ridge and Ragged Mountain views. In the heart of Ivy, quick access to both C’ville & Crozet. MLS# 652260

1075 E WATER STREET

$1,869,000

Completed in 2017 to the highest standards, this sleek Downtown home is your key to a completely walkable city lifestyle. Located within a few blocks of the Downtown Mall, Belmont & Midtown, this pristine 3 bed, 2 full plus 2 half bath home offers a 4th floor w/TV room or den, half bath & 2nd kitchen for ease of entertaining on the adjacent terrace. To maximize enjoyment of the urban & mountain views, primary living spaces are all located on the 3rd floor (as opposed to the 1st). An elevator accesses all levels of the home, from the garage to the rooftop terrace. 2 garage parking spaces plus plenty of private parking behind the home. Other features incl’ gas fireplace in the living/dining/open kitchen area as well as on the rooftop terrace. Deck off the kitchen for convenient grilling & view enjoyment. MLS# 651026

245 ACRE PARCEL ON BALLENGER CREEK

PRISTINE C&O ROW TOWNHOME WITH CITY AND MOUNTAIN VIEWS

During the dinner, Shaele Culbreath, assistant vice president of Darden Advancement and Engagement, introduced the University’s glee club group, The Virginia Gentlemen, who entertained us with a creative selection of tunes, many of which were of the modern variety. The final selection, however, was a reminder and a sentimental throwback to an era in our early lives. The tune was “Fly me to the Moon.”

After the dinner, it was my pleasure, as class secretary, to introduce everyone and have each of us present a comment or two. After this, it was my pleasure to present two gifts, the first of which was a gift to Bill Marburg, which was a copy of Chapter 8, “My MBA Experience,” taken from my recently printed memoir, A Memoir: Grandeur Unexpected. In Chapter 8, Bill is cited as one of the three most distinguished alumni of the Class of 1959. An Olympian figure in the world of Bluegrass music, and under his stage name of Bill Clifton, Bill was indicted, in 2008, into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Chapter 8 in the memoir also covers a portion of the history of the legendary and iconic Professor John D. Forbes (1910–2018), who was our invited guest speaker at many of our class reunions over the years. In addition, Chapter 8 contains the infamous list of 75 words (prepared each year for 26 years) that Professor Forbes handed to us on the very first day of his “Humanities” class with the opening statement: “Hello, I am Professor Forbes and this is your opening examination — Identify.”

The next gift was to Jim Daniel and was a copy of Professor Forbes’s autobiography, entitled Imagination Building. The book was in progress when Professor Forbes passed away, and

it was completed posthumously by his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth E. Forbes. Mrs. Forbes was very eager to attend our reunion but was unable to do so because of a medical condition.

The gift was given to Jim for his assistance in the editing of the MBA chapter in my memoir, and for his contribution in particular to have included in the MBA chapter the daily 10 a.m. “coffee hour” in which class members intermingled with the faculty for discussions and exchange of ideas.

At this point, it fell to me to review those of our class who were contacted and who were unable to join us in the “Last Hurrah.” The following were contacted and explained in detail their regret that for one reason or another, they just could not travel to the event. Included were Bob and Ginger Blanchard, Ned and Ellen Hardison, Theo and Theresa Herbert, Jeff and Nancy Robertson, Rich Ruedi, Dick and Fleming Rutledge, Bill and Jean Smith, Wally and Winkie Stettinius, and Howie and Susan Ulfelder

The dinner ended with a songfest led by the now famous Bill Marburg and accompanied by our guest, David Burroughs, who harmonized and played accompanying guitar. The final song was one which Bill performed for us, together with his late wife, Tineke, at our 60threunion in 2019. Copies of the libretto were passed around, and we all sang, “And so I will sing ’til the end, contented i will be, assured that some friends will sing one song for me.”

And so, with cheerful farewells all around and best wishes for continuing good health, the “Last Hurrah” came to a most happy and grateful close.

Bob Gaines

Rgaines379@gmail.com

In case you missed it, “The Great Class of ’63” strikes again. One of our members, Steve Bachand, and his wife, Phyllis, made a substantial gift to establish the Stephen E. Bachand University Professorship in support of business ethics. UVA President Jim Ryan said, “Their gift will help foster vibrant teaching, learning and research in the field, which will help strengthen ethical business practices in organizations beyond the Grounds.” Steve remarked, “I see the University Professorship as a powerful vehicle to cultivate an enduring legacy of

ethical thinking and practice, impacting not just individuals but generations of business leaders and organizations worldwide.” What a wonderful project to improve ethical practices. Kudos and many thanks to Steve and Phyllis. Huck Heintz reports that he and his wife, Marcia, are continuing with their respective jobs. Huck says, “I do think being engaged and productive keeps one’s noodle sharper, and in my case, having a personal librarian who showers me with interesting and up-todate reading.” He further states that Marcia seems to be made of wrought iron and never gets ill while each year delivers him a new fix. Last year he was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, requiring six months of chemotherapy but with no side effects. Inspired by the biography of Belle Greene, J.P. Morgan’s librarian in the 1920s, they did travel to New York City with cultural passes to visit five museums. Huck and Marcia also made it to Charlottesville for our 60th reunion.

Lee Forker gave us pictures and an update on his five grandchildren. Jan and Hugh Campbell sent a picture from their grandson Mathew’s marriage in Charlottesville. (Grandson!? Your class secretary just got back from Las Vegas and the home-birth of my son’s second child, my grandson.)

Chris Collins wrote that he and his wife, Luanne, are celebrating 90 years of living … roughing it for 60 years, only five feet above low tide on Anna Maria Island (north of Sarasota, Florida). They have swapped mountain climbing for big boats in both fresh and saltwater. When their three sons come to visit, Chris says, “We try to get the house looking somewhat livable before they get here so there won’t be any ‘it may be time’ conversations.”

Bob Gaines apologizes for the lack of a recent newsletter but claims overbooking. At this time of year, you start filling in your calendar, especially for things to do that are months away. A train trip, a cruise, a few meetings … It didn’t seem like too much until I hit last fall.

In April, for her birthday, I gave my wife, Marjorie, a fall trip by car to visit the famous homes on the Hudson River: Roosevelt, Vanderbilt, Livingston (my early family), etc. Then there was my train trip of private railroad cars through the foliage of Vermont, followed by a trip to Sewanee for the installation of the new

The Class of 1959 celebrates its 65th Darden Reunion.

To update your contact information, call +1-434-243-8977 or email alumni@darden.virginia.edu

vice chancellor and president, an old friend. There was the ten-day luxury train ride aboard the Golden Eagle, called “Castles of Transylvania,” through Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey over Halloween.

I couldn’t miss the Darden Annual Meeting where “The Great Class of ’63” garnered prizes for annual fund participation and donor increase. Before Thanksgiving we squeezed in a board meeting of the condo association of which I am a reluctant president and two weeks of deer hunting (luck was with me this year and I thinned our overpopulated herd by three). Finally, over our 45th anniversary on 30 December, Marjorie and I sailed the “Iconic Western Mediterranean” aboard one of the new Viking ocean-going ships from Rome, Italy, to Barcelona, Spain, stopping along the Italian and French coasts.

So you may ask, why haven’t we gotten a new year newsletter? Well, there was the week in Key West, Florida, trying to escape the cold weather, and then the week at our timeshare in Orlando, Florida (first time in five years our kids and grandchildren hadn’t asked to use it; they already booked it for next year), and of course there are my banjo lessons every Wednesday. I will try and get a newsletter out soon. Marjorie says I am very trying.

Frank Ellett ftellett@exceltl.com

In response to my pleas for news, our classmates responded generously:

Walter Witschey writes: “I fear there is not much to report today. Joan and I deliberately lead a quiet life here on Buffalo Creek, (Appomattox County, Virginia), investing in flowers, vegetables and grandchildren. My co-editor Cliff Brown and I did succeed in getting our book to the publisher at the end of January. Atlas of the Ancient Maya World is a large-format (11×14.5 inches) full-color volume with 22,000 words of introduction, 120 full-page detail maps of 11,000 Maya archaeological site locations, and 75 pages of indexes and references. Needless to say, we are happy to see it out the door and hope to one day see it off the presses. We finished the Atlas just in time for four new GIS consulting jobs to fly in over the transom, so I won’t be on the streets getting into trouble during 2024.

“Another grandson heads to college this

summer … putting the tally at five graduates, four in college, one entering next fall, and three rising. I realize this note qualifies for the old Darden dictum, ‘If you didn’t count it, it never happened.’

“As we struggle with the concept of being older than dirt, we send good wishes to all our classmates.”

Andy Allen sent the following: “After Darden I joined a New York City ad agency and spent thirty years in that business working both domestically and internationally. I retired twenty some years ago and we moved to Seabrook Island, Kiawah’s quiet neighbor south of Charleston, South Carolina. I did one consulting job and decided that was not for me. I took a lot of master’s classes in English literature and history at the College of Charleston and the Citadel. Like everybody else I did lots of volunteer work and served on a few boards until my patience ran out. My most rewarding work was tutoring in the local grade school and separately doing canine therapy in hospitals and rehab facilities. Seeing your individual effort pay immediate benefits is very gratifying. The need for charitable donations is so great to fight the poverty in the coastal Carolinas, we direct almost all of our charitable giving locally. We see Ensign Cowell and Lana every so often when they are traveling between their Florida and Cleveland, Ohio, homes. Both of us are in excellent health and remain very active.”

Sad news from Mike Knowles (mknowles_869@comcast.net), whose wife, Susan, died suddenly in February of a massive brain hemorrhage. He wrote: “She visited me at Business School a few times. Back then we’d try to keep her visit quiet. Otherwise on the following Monday you would hear the dreaded opening, ‘Mr. Knowles, you have the class today!’” Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike, his three sons and family.

Gordon Sidford commented: “All’s good here. I’m still active doing commercial mortgages. I’m healthy, with a new diagnosis for AFIB which eliminates my long walks, but I’m OK with that. Marcia and our daughter Julia leave for a week in France in May. I’ll be cat-sitting for Julia and doing mortgages.”

Henry Dodge retired from his community service role as chairman of the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation. He wrote: “During my 23 years as chairman, the Foundation was respon-

sible for preserving and promoting the legacy of Elvis. At present the Elvis Presley Birthplace is the largest tourist attraction in the state of Mississippi! I had a nice rewarding run for over two decades. I was delighted to serve.”

Ensign and Lana Cowell say they are “‘suffering’ through winter in Fort Myers, Florida, and return to the Cleveland, Ohio, area in mid-May after attending a high school graduation along the way. I’m still very active in my environmental activism. Also, I’m on the board of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love. Better than my poor golf game. My wife, Lana, played a mere 110 rounds in the last twelve months. Better than being a golf hater, I guess.”

Ned Haley, Clint Bolte nedhaley@gmail.com, cbolte3@ comcast.net

Marshall and Caroline Morton

“had the opportunity to witness, firsthand, the new Forum Hotel at Darden and all the great opportunities it gives the school. Any comparison to the former Inn at Darden would be pretty near impossible. We were there for a celebration dinner in the fall so were able to witness the superior banqueting capacities as well. It’s worth a visit!

“The past two or three years have been good to us. Spreading our wings a bit after all the COVID lock-downs and celebrating our 52nd anniversary, we spent a month in a great house in Provence near Avignon in the spring of ’22. Our first visitors were our son, Burke (born at 8 a.m. on our Darden graduation day), and his wife, Cynthia, and one of their children. Cynthia graduated from Darden exactly 30 years after we did; her timing wasn’t quite as fine-tuned as ours, but every bit as effective, as their son was born about two weeks after her graduation; however, she’s made effective use of her Darden education as she’s now a partner at consulting firm Egon-Zender. At the other end of our Provence time, our daughter and her three children spent a week or so with us. We had friends in between. We’re headed back to France with friends in a couple of weeks for a canal barge then a house in the Loire Valley.”

We received a newsy update from Ned Haley and his wife, Fricka.

They have been converting the building behind their house into a fully furnished studio

apartment. Simultaneously all-consuming and a labor of love, it has continued into the new year. COVID-19 made this a four-plus year project, though much was completed during the past year. They’re looking forward to having their first studio tenant by late spring. Both continue to be busy with their First UU Church. Additionally, Ned is coordinating activities and communications with his high school and undergrad school classmates, and volunteer driving for clients of the Shepherd Center. They plan to continue traveling as often as possible now that they have recovered from recent surgeries and look forward to visiting their grandson and his parents in Oregon later this year.

Bob Oster brought us up to date: “Lori and I spend the winter months in Vero Beach, Florida (much warmer than Baltimore, Maryland!). We had lunch with Lee Owen who is about an hour south of Vero.

“We took a nice Great Lakes cruise from Chicago, Illinois, to Toronto, Canada, and checked out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lori voted for Cher to be admitted and I, Buffett (not Warren!).

“After a spring stopover in Baltimore, we’re heading north to the Thousand Islands to avoid the high heat and humidity of Baltimore summers. Best to all and Good Health!”

Greg Coward got his second daughter married across the pond in Italy: “My daughter Ana Maria and her husband, Will, struggled for two years with immigration. Next hurdle … her license to practice dentistry. Greg decided another career option would be fun. He runs a commercial bakery supplying grocery and hospitality, including a wide assortment of fresh artisan and specialty breads. A new learning curve! Hope you and yours are well.”

Bill Lawson offered this concise update: “Cathy, my bride of 45-plus years, and I just returned from three weeks in St. Barthelemy. The food, weather, scenery and Villa Fregate were as good as always. Then off to Siesta Key, Florida, in early March for 16 days. Come May, another two-plus weeks to London, U.K.; Rome, Italy; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden. After all of the COVID-19 cancellations, we are making up for lost time. We will then spend the summer at our lake house on Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan. We purchased a 28 Axopat and have a

WaveRunner we run around in on the lake.

“Our grandsons Liam and Ezra are age 8 and 11, respectively. Our two sons and daughters-in-law live nearby, which is wonderful. We are in good health and are loving the stock price of the company I retired from, Eli Lilly. All those years and stock options have made a nice nest egg. We are happy and in good health with our fingers crossed to stay that way as we have lost some dear friends.”

The Class of 1972 Scholarship was established in 1987 by members of the Class of ’72 at their 15th reunion and is doing quite well. The chief donors and volunteers for the gift were Bobby Ukrop, Larry Killgallon, Tim Dietz, Lewis Miller, Bubba Morgan, Lee Tawes, C. O. North, and Bill Young The scholarship is awarded to outstanding students. For an update on the fund’s performance, email Clint Bolte at cbolte3@ comcast.net.

Howard Wilkinson hpandcw@yahoo.com

Not much to report to you this issue, but I did hear from a couple of our classmates. Rather than paraphrasing what they told me, I will let them tell you in their own words.

Dick Sanger, who we haven’t heard from in a while, wrote: “We have now been in Austin, Texas, a decade, following Neyda’s daughter and her son Wynn who were in Houston, Texas. Their family of four now also has a daughter, Sloane. My seven grandkids and two great grandkids are in Texas, Colorado and Georgia. I retired from Space Center Houston (where I was the director of development), the Official Visitor Center for the Johnson Space Center, and we moved here in 2013. Neyda is active with the grandkids and is now up to 741 Pilates as of today. I am a Vistage Chair serving Austin companies since 2015.

“I remember the days: 125 of us all wanted the five women class members to graduate. The Saturday exams or papers that were due to the exact word length. And, most interesting, the exam we took with terrible results for us all (for which we were severely castigated) — until it was discovered to be three pages short in the exam book, and of course very important facts were there. Darden — ‘High Touch, High Tone, High Oc-

tane’ — just three cases a day!”

Jack Kennard provided the following update: “In service to the University, this past year I have been part of a small committee of fellow alumni that endeavors to advance a key goal of the Jefferson Council, which is to support and reinvigorate the Honor System at the University. Over the past year, our group has had a number of productive conversations with the current chair of the Honor Committee, the special adviser to the Honor Committee, and other current students, to better understand the current state of the Honor System and the undertakings of, and challenges facing, the Honor System, the Honor Committee and the Honor Support Officers.

“We have made significant recommendations which will likely reach the Board of Visitors by the time you read this. While reaffirming student self-governance as the essential nature of the Honor System, our hope is to open doors by obtaining for the Honor Committee a direct link to a standing committee of the Board of Visitors and to arrange an ongoing appropriate level of professional communications support that is currently not provided by any of the many employees and administrators at UVA with high levels of these skills.”

That’s it for now. Please let me know what’s going on in your world, and I’ll let the rest of us know.

Mike Mayer

mike.mayer@cox.net

In April our Class celebrated the 50th anniversary of our graduation from Darden, or the GSBA, as it was known in 1974. Roughly half of you joined our reunion in Charlottesville, so much of this report will not be news to you. However, some of our classmates who were not able to be at the reunion did respond to the request for this issue of Class Notes, so there is news here for everyone.

Also, at one point in our reunion preparations, we asked classmates to let us know how they had focused their energy following retirement and we received a few responses, which we will share with you here. One of these was from Jim Noeldner, who lives in Washington and who spent much of his first two years of retirement gaining state approval for a high school class in project management. After approval of the curriculum

based on the Project Management Institute model, he trained a few dozen teachers in the state and one large cohort nationally through partnering with the Association of Career and Technical Educators. Jim found that the latest enrollment data shows project management classes are now being taught in 45 school districts in the state of Washington to nearly 2,500 students each year, impacting their lives and careers. He considers this a salute to what Darden started and wanted to share this with the Class of ’74. He believes we all owe a lot to the impact of our time spent together and thanks everyone for a great experience.

Bob Lawson writes that, while he officially retired from business in 2014, he has since spent much of his time on what his wife, Charlotte, calls “monkey business.” Over the last few years, he has imported approximately 300 containers from China, Turkey and Portugal. His most recent project is opening a manufacturing facility in Elkhart, Indiana, to make custom window coverings. Bob and Charlotte have had the pleasure of taking two to three major trips a year, including safaris in Africa, sailboat cruises in Tahiti, Greece and Spain, and had just returned from Machu Picchu, Peru, and the Galapagos Islands last spring.

Travelers in the class will have to go some distance to catch up with Frank Genovese Frank says he and Susan have visited over 100 countries and all seven continents. There are now few places left to go, but they try to take an international pleasure trip each year, although they had to cancel a planned trip to Egypt in January over safety concerns. In the meantime, Frank is acting CFO for a startup in its seventh year, but that leaves plenty of time for golf. He plays around 200 times a year but says his handicap disappointingly stays the same.

Libby and Gary Jones now alternate living in Georgia and Florida. He writes: “After 35 glorious years at Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette and at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York City, we have been in Atlanta, Georgia, for almost 20 years. We spend about half of the year in Indialantic, Florida, where son Grier and his family live with two grandsons. Our daughter Taylor lives in Madrid, Spain, with our two granddaughters … so we do travel back and forth a couple of times a year. Travel has become a bucket list full of priorities with recent trips to France, Italy, New Zealand

and Australia. This summer we are taking the whole family on a Danube River cruise with front end stops in Budapest, Hungary, and ending in Prague, Czechia. I have been teaching a finance course in the Scheller Business School at Georgia Tech for 17 years and serve as a trustee on the Georgia Tech Foundation Board as well as on the Piedmont Healthcare Board. Libby also serves on two boards as well, so we stay pretty busy.”

Bruce Carmichael writes that he is not retired, but rather still at work managing equity portfolios. He is also involved with Teaminvest, an organization with about 600 members in Australia, and its parent listed company TIP Group, Ltd. He also mentions that his wife Robbie, passed away eight years ago and that he has been with Suze now for five years. He and Suze travelled from Prague, Czechia, to Paris, France, on a Viking river tour last year, but Suze had no plans to accompany Bruce to our reunion due to the anticipated arrival of her eleventh grandchild.

Also responding to the request for information on retirement life was Mike Santoro, whose association with the Virginia War Memorial has been reported previously in Class Notes. Mike writes: “2024 is not only the 50th anniversary of our Darden graduation, but it is also our 50th wedding anniversary. Martha and I met at UVA and we got married in Charlottesville a few weeks after my graduation. She still had one more year of law school left, which she finished at Washington and Lee — a commute over the mountain, pre-I-64 days, from Covington, Virginia, where I was working for Westvaco Corporation. Ed Williams’ dad, Crawley, was our division

manager and quite an icon in the company in those days. As far as current news goes, Martha and I attended Alan Beckenstein’s annual economic update at the Jefferson Hotel in January. Always a fun event. He cold called me when he asked if anyone was in school during the oil crisis of 1974, and I was the only one in the room that day who was there.

“We have been in contact by phone with Susan Clifford, who won’t be able to get to the reunion but sends her regards. Susan was instrumental in Martha and I meeting each other and she ‘spared me a dime’ to call Martha for our first date.” Mike promised to elaborate on that event another time.

Bob Pride continues to manage data privacy for Ferguson Enterprises, volunteers for fisheries conservation and firearms safety training, and raises his grandson, Che. He says he and Pat are in good health, now that Pat has recovered from a bout with kidney cancer last summer.

Helping senior citizens navigate technology keeps Ken Hodge busy. He writes: “The vast majority of our senior citizens are being technologically left behind and the Medicare insurance industry is forcing them to use webbased platforms that are foreign to them. So, for about three days a week I go to my office and help them navigate this maze. I have given up my motorcycle (balance), given up my sport car (getting in and out), but continue to be actively engaged, through my Rotary Club, with economic development programs in Africa. Cindy and I are active with church leadership roles and family continues to be a primary focus. Our health is good and our lives are full.” Ken reminded us that his wife, Angie, passed away in 2015, after 38 years with multiple sclerosis and more than 20 years in a nursing home, and that he has remarried. Cindy and Ken have a combined family of four.

Sam Wornom has been doing a lot of traveling, but all within the U.S. Sam says: “I have been very busy since retirement, though COVID-19 did make it difficult to get moving at first (tried to avoid the risks but ended up with it three times, though none were serious). Once we were able, we began traveling to see our grandchildren. Sounds normal, but living near Dallas, Texas, it has involved extensive driving since they live in Virginia; Arizona; Memphis, Tennessee; Maryland, Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and most recently

Frank Genovese (MBA ’74), Paul Nelson (MBA ’77) and Ted Gary (MBA ’77) played in a biannual Darden golf tournament.

Thompson Falls, Montana. The travel and sightseeing along the way has made the trips fun and interesting, but we are pushing hard for them to visit us in the future!

“We have also been involved in rehabbing my father-in-law’s get-away house in eastern Oklahoma. It is a beautiful rural location near the Choctaw Nation and sits on a hillside overlooking a buffalo ranch. Just as I was finishing that project, we purchased our retirement home in San Saba, Texas. It is in central Texas, about three and a half hours away and really needed major work. It was built in 1946 and we are working to restore it to that period, which has been a lot of work, but Pam and I are excited as it nears completion. Sure wish Bob Pride was available to help. He did a great job on our house in Baltimore, Maryland, right after B-school. Lastly, I converted the garage to a woodworking shop for my furniture construction and refurbishing. The shop has provided a place where I can be productive, and it serves as a relaxing man cave!”

Thanks to everyone for staying in touch.

Mark Howell

mwhowell@msn.com

Marty Eskridge Arscott updated me with her delightful, annual Happy Holidays card. The Arscotts gathered for a few glorious days with the extended family at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, during summer 2023. Marty commented that she noticed that we are not getting younger , and she finds it all the more joyful to experience life’s treasured moments as they happen. Visits with friends, weddings, a round of golf, a walk … each moment is precious! Amen to that, Marty!

Ed Hawfield let me know that he is not very busy except for yoga classes three times per week, Rummikub (that’s a new one for me), and making the pub scene to watch games with the guys. I have also seen videos of Ed displaying his karaoke talents in that pub … quite impressive! Ed is traveling to Kansas City, Missouri, in March and then on to France in May for a barge trip. The Hawfields and the Mortlocks (David and Liz) plan to get together for a visit in Roanoke, Virginia, this spring … Revenge of the Study Group, so beware if you are in the area!

Tom Hudson and I had the pleasure of meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, last fall to

children. Their youngest son, Robert (MBA ’20), is still single and at UPS’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Peabody invites all Class of ’75ers to reach out to him if/when in the New York area.

celebrate our 50th class reunion at Georgia Tech. Tom and I both majored in Mechanical Engineering at GT. Funny story: when Tom and I were standing in line to receive our diplomas at graduation, we were exchanging ideas about future activities and learned we were both heading for the Darden School in the fall … small world! We had a memorable reunion weekend with receptions, dinners and a come-from-behind victory on the gridiron by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets over the Tarheels of North Carolina. Tom also reports that he and Lili recently returned from Baja California Sur where they went on a National Geographic-Lindblad whale watching cruise. They got “up close and personal” with gray whales on Magdalena Bay and blue whales in the Gulf of California. That was clearly one whale of a trip!

Peabody Hutton sent me a nice summary of what is going on with him. Peabody and his wife, Mimi, lived and worked in Hong Kong for 40 years, before returning to the United States in 2019. They are now retired (mostly), living in the New York City area, enjoying their five grandchildren, and traveling as much as possible (Puerto Rico, Morocco and Algeria in 2023, Spain, Dominican Republic and the U.K. in 2024, with more trips on the drawing board). Their daughter, Elizabeth, is a doctor in Boston, Massachusetts, with two very active little boys. Their son, William, is in the Foreign Service, having returned to the D.C. area from Algiers last summer, and is looking forward to a new posting starting this summer in Benin. William has a teenaged daughter and two (also very active) young

Dave Schein is still cranking it out as a professor in Houston, Texas. The school is short on faculty, so for spring 2024 he is teaching six courses! He also has a recent academic journal publication and has three articles in various stages of development. This has slowed his work on his forthcoming book about his experience in college in Philly, A Cheap Education. He now has his own page on Wikipedia and was recently named to Marquis Who’s Who in America. Dave and Karen are heading to Scotland for the month of May, so that will be a break from the academic world. He will be in Washington, D.C., for a week in August for his annual business law teaching conference. Other than that, he hits the gym and tries to work in a little tennis and Argentine tango. He stays in touch with our classmate Joe Magyar via WhatsApp. I was saddened to hear from Rob Turnbull that he lost his wife, Anne, after her long battle with lymphoma. However, Rob and Anne have five grandchildren with whom Rob routinely visits and enjoys the gifts and benefits of grandparenthood. Rob adds that he looks forward to seeing our classmates at our 50th Reunion in 2025!

Stacy Brown Vermylen and her husband, David, are enjoying Naples, Florida, and their summers in Lake Forest, Illinois, with their children and 10 grandkids. Stacy has been busy in Naples, working in her jewelry design and fabrication business and serving two nonprofit organizations as communications and marketing director, including the League of Women Voters. It will be a very busy election year … Indeed! Stacy is also writing for local newspapers and magazines and is loving being a columnist! Always trying something new to keep the brain going! With all this activity, Stacy’s golf game has suffered, and she struggles to keep the score in the 90s. Oh my … I am exhausted just hearing all this! Stacy is headed to a UVA reunion for southwest Floridians soon, and it will be interesting to see who lives in Naples and graduated from Darden.

My best wishes to the Darden Class of ’75 for your continued safety and good health! I am looking forward to seeing you at Reunion

Mark Howell (MBA ’75) and Tom Hudson (MBA ’75) celebrate at their Georgia Tech 50th class reunion.

To update your contact information, call +1-434-243-8977 or email alumni@darden.virginia.edu

2025! Mark your calendars for April 2025.

Dana E. Quillen painterdana21@gmail.com

Hello everyone, By the time you read these notes, spring and summer will have flown by and autumn will be fast approaching.

Bill Battison sends greetings from New England. He writes: “After having successfully made the transition from California to New England, two years ago, and enjoyed reconnecting with our daughter there and with the East Coast in general, I am now embracing the prospect of exploring the new concept of ‘retirement.’ We hope to spend more time doing just whatever pleases us, putting down new roots in old turf and enjoying the process.”

Steve Orr went to Spain with his grandson, age 12, this past spring: “We attended a family member’s wedding and added over two weeks of touring, which was eye-opening for each of us. While I have traveled extensively, I had never been to Spain. I am sorry I waited this late in life to go there. We were in Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. It’s an experience to see/touch objects that were built by the Romans over 2,000 years ago! Joel was a perfect companion — he tried all varieties of food and never complained of being tired or bored.”

Curtis Monk writes: “I will be working with Disney to extend distribution of a baseball documentary about the UVA 2015 National Championship (1,186 to Omaha) beyond July 2024. Otherwise, I’m just playing racquetball, pickleball, pinball and golf.”

What is this documentary? Here is the ESPN Film Room synopsis: “After a heartbreaking loss to Vanderbilt in the 2014 College World Series Championship game, Virginia entered the 2015 season with its sights set on making the 1,186-mile trip back to Omaha. But a host of injuries and tough losses had the Cavaliers on the verge of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since head coach Brian O’Connor took the helm in 2004. A late season run gave Virginia renewed hope as it relied on the strength of the program’s culture to make one of the sport’s most remarkable turnarounds en route to a CWS Championship finals rematch with Vanderbilt and the ACC’s first College World Series title since 1955.”

And then there’s Henry de Montebello from France. He writes: “I took all 14 members of my family on safari in South Africa over the Christmas holidays. Nobody was eaten by lions so it was a great success. There is nothing as wonderful as seeing the big five. A real treat. As soon as we got back, I had knee replacement surgery followed by a delightful bout of pneumonia and spending too much time in the hospital. Not a great way to start the year. But now as I hobble around, and am exhausted by the infection, I am looking forward to spending time with my children and grandchildren and going to our house in Corsica to recuperate mentally and physically. All’s well that ends well. As I approach my 78th birthday next week, I am thankful to still be kicking around and I do hope my classmates are in good health and enjoying life.”

Dana Quillen writes: “Paul and I welcomed our 11th grandchild into the world a year ago. I continue to pickle squash and peppers, oil paint and make birthday cakes for the grandkids. I was elected president of the Beverly Street Studio School recently and am enjoying ‘running something’ again. Take care, everyone, and thanks for your continued support.”

Paul Nelson

Lpaulnelson@mindspring.com

Greetings to the great Class of ’77! First, thanks again to the tremendous response from so many of you in the last edition. It was one of our best Class Notes ever … both in quantity and quality. Since so many of you reported in last time, this update will be understandably a bit shorter but, as you will see, no less interesting. First, reporting in from the deck of a sailboat somewhere warmer than here, Joanna Miller-de Zwart writes to say: “Hi from Guadeloupe. We are here on a two-week cruise with a number of other club boats from Antigua to Guadeloupe and back. Our big news is that on 14 January, Pieter announced that he wanted to move back to Mystic, Connecticut, where we lived happily for eight years before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2015. Each time we have gone back to Mystic to visit, usually by boat, our friends have all embraced us as if we never left. I had mildly floated the idea to Pieter from time to time that we could move back, but he was resis-

tant because he dreaded the long gray winter. Then, suddenly, he was ready. From that point everything fell into place with lightning speed. We had a contract on a house in Mystic by 26 January, a closing by 16 February, our Fort Lauderdale house listed on 1 February, and a contract on it by 6 February. We are now renting our Fort Lauderdale house back from the new owner and will be moving in late April. We are halfway between exit 89 on I-95 and downtown Mystic, if anyone is passing through that way. All other news pales in comparison to our move. We will have our usual cruising summer heading to Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, and back to Mystic in late September. All my best to my classmates. I love hearing about everyone’s retirement and/or late career activities.”

Thanks Joanna, and to continue with the nautical theme: when so many people are setting their sails for Florida, you and Pieter have chosen a completely different tack. And it seems to be for all the right reasons. Best of luck with the big move and we will be seeing you in Maine this summer!

Our good friend and class agent, Mike DeCola, has not let retirement slow him down a bit. He and Lee have been seriously changing their latitudes and longitudes, as they spent about a month in Australia and New Zealand. Mike, we will be looking for more details on that incredible trip in our next Class Notes.

Moving back to our continent, Katie Dwyer reports: “Larry and I enjoy retirement here in Reno, Nevada. Larry serves on the board of Friends of Nevada Wilderness, I clerk the Peace and Social Concerns Committee

Mike DeCola (MBA ’77) and Lee travel in New Zealand.

of our small Quaker meeting, and we both walk the neighborhood to Get Out the Vote during election season. We enjoy following the careers of our daughters as one builds data bases with Forsta and the other builds the reach of the WNBA. This is a great time to be involved in women’s sports, as interest in the women’s side of March Madness grows and those stars then move on to the WNBA with its newest expansion team coming soon to our ‘back yard’ in the Bay Area, California. And we have the two-time 2022 and 2023 WNBA Champions right here in Nevada — the Las Vegas Aces. We are loving the vicarious thrill of being part of it all.”

Thanks for this interesting update, Katie, and you are so right about the excitement around women’s basketball! We have never seen anything like it before and I really hope it continues. And it seems you are fortunate to have an inside peak into the pro side of this growing movement. Please keep us posted.

Lastly, I’m very grateful to be writing these notes while on one of our biannual golf trips to Figure 8 Island in North Carolina with our classmate Ted Gary. This fun trip is always hosted by our good friend and fellow Darden alum Frank Genovese (MBA ’74). Life is good!

Well that’s it for now. Whenever convenient, please send me updates on whatever is going on in your world. Your friends and classmates would love to hear about it. And for those who plan major events and trips in advance: remember that in mid-to-late April 2027 I’m hoping we will all be back at Darden to celebrate our 50th! Cheers to that!

Margot Bearden jmbearden@gmail.com

Margot Bearden: I’m thrilled to report the last six months as having maintained a relatively drama-free trend. With the hope that I’m not tempting fate, I’ll simply observe that my physical and mental health are the best they’ve been in some time. Meredith recently left S&P Global after nine years to follow former colleagues to 3E where she was named a senior director. She and Neil and their son Larkin (my beautiful grandson, age 16 months!) remain happy residents of Charlottesville. Melissa, now a vice president with Capital One in Corporate Strategy, has been slowly returning to the office but has maintained — for the moment — her full-time

Steve Reinemund (MBA ’78) and wife Gail welcomed their newest grandchild and first grandson, James Timbers Reinemund, who was born 5 March.

residence near me and the Chesapeake Bay. My mother turned 97 in January and, while enrolled in hospice, remains aware and in remarkably stable health. She lives on Melissa’s farm nearby so I can see her almost every day … what a gift! I have a trip to Spain planned for May and I’m looking forward to that as it will be my first time there. It will be a week at a yoga retreat near Barcelona followed by a less structured week split between Barcelona and Valencia. I can’t wait! Thanks again to all in the class who are able to send updates. It really is wonderful to hear about your lives and I’m very appreciative of your taking time for this!”

Steve Reinemund: “Steve and Gail are delighted to welcome the arrival of their first grandson. James Timbers Reinemund was born 5 March 2024, and he joins his five girl cousins in the Reinemund family. Now we have another compelling reason to visit Charlottesville where Kevin and Annie live.”

Mark Johnson: “Hi Margot, the guilt trip worked … well done! Ginny and I are looking forward to a personal hat trick!” Mark says that his family has big events coming up, which we look forward to hearing about in a future edition of the Notes. “We celebrate our milestone birthdays in July with a trip to Scotland. Scotland travel tips are more than welcome! Our health remains good, for which we are very grateful.

“I did not know about Bob Giltner or Bob Wheaton. How sad. I played golf with Dave Wunderlin a couple of years ago and Bob was to join us but ended up with a conflict. I’m so sorry about that now.”

Jim Reynolds: “This is a shout-out to the spouses who helped us get through our two years at Darden. To pay our bills, Judy worked as a community nurse at the Medical School. She drove our little Datsun through the hills and hollers of central Virginia, providing care to the farmers and country folk who could not travel to town for medical appointments. That was before GPS and I am still amazed how she found her way to her patients and made it home every night. As everyone recalls, Darden kept us very busy, but Friday was date night for Judy and me. Our favorite haunt was the Mexican restaurant where we could get two enchilada dinners and two beers for $5.00, plus tip. Our spouses stuck with us through lean times and days and nights of case study and class prep. Judy, I couldn’t have made it without you. Thank you and I love you!”

Lang Craighill: “Margot, thanks for the reminders and for compiling life updates for our classmates. I always look forward to reading them. It is remarkable that it’s been close to 50 years since our shared experiences at Darden. There are moments from classes and interactions with faculty that I remember like yesterday. That includes a memory with Les Grayson that I shared with his family.

“Like many in our group, 2023 was a year for post-COVID-19 travel. My wife, Lynne, and I traveled to Europe three times, primarily traveling independently with couples we know. We visited Paris, Normandy, and the Champagne region in France; Belgium; the Netherlands; Scotland; and parts of Germany. This year, except for a three-week trip to Albania, Croatia,

Lang Craighill (MBA ’78) and wife Lynne visited Sedona, Arizona, last year.

Dave Braden (MBA ’78), wife Ann and extended family got together during a recent gathering in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

and Slovenia in the late spring, we will stay in the U.S. We have recently returned from a trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and will take a drive trip to Rhode Island and Maine in mid-October.

“We live near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. If anyone is visiting the area (Topsail, Figure Eight Island, and Wrightsville Beach), drop me a line. I would love to catch up. Life is good!”

Dave Braden: “Nice to hear from you. A quick update since I think I missed the last two opportunities! Ann and I continue to relish retirement, now 12 years of it, at our suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, abode. I have shed several board gigs, but continue to be active with the Cargill retiree volunteer group. We recently enjoyed our second February in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and will continue the practice, but we resist full snow-birdiness. We continue to dote, as we can, on our grandchildren (two local, one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and their parents. Trips to Philly, then Portugal, will take us to May, which begins cabin season, a required ritual for us Upper Midwesterners! All the best to you and our Darden classmates.”

Mike Sullivan: “In September, Noanie and I traveled the Danube from Budapest, Hungary, to Passau, Germany. The next day we were to visit Prague, Czechia, for a few days. However, we took an e-bike tour in Passau, Germany, where Noanie’s bike found a rut on a questionable trail, on which she wiped out and broke the tip of her elbow. Noan spent five nights in the Passau hospital, where she had surgery to wire the bone back into a healing position.

Mike Sullivan (MBA ’78) and wife Noanie attended the wedding of their son Colin and daughter-in-law Brianne in Washington, D.C., in February.

Another day for Prague! (Some observations: German healthcare is significantly less expensive than in the U.S. The German surgeons did great work, enabling quick healing; the experience highlighted, however, that U.S. nursing staff is to be commended.) On the flip side, in February, we were thrilled to celebrate Colin and Brianne Bharkhda’s wedding in Washington, D.C. Brianne is a partner with Covington & Burling focusing on pharmaceutical patent litigation. In May, after Colin completes his deployment on the USS Ronald Reagan in Japan, he will join Brianne as a ‘permanent’ resident of the D.C. area, as his next assignment is the White House Military Office. We continue to enjoy sunshine and Molly and Patrick’s children here in Colorado! Wishing good health to everyone!”

Paul Rubin introduced his update with a personal and absolutely valid observation that I take as a compliment: “You remind me of our Darden experience, waiting until the last minute…

“Janet and I visited Sarasota, Florida, for a brief winter break visiting friends and family. Then Janet took the ‘kids’ on a Disney Cruise — mice and large boats are not my cup of tea. They had a great time. We just returned from a road trip to Kansas City (Truman Library/Museum, Hallmark Center, and Negro Baseball Museum) and St. Louis, Missouri, with a stop in Bentonville, Arkansas, to see the wonderful Crystal Bridges Museum.

“In April I will do an organized bicycle adventure on the Natchez Trace. Stay tuned for updates on the big event, our master bath renovation this summer. I never realized how

many things there were to ‘discuss’ with my wife about tiles, fixtures, mirrors, countertops, etc. Hopefully we will survive the process and enjoy the results.”

Charlene Newton: “Thanks, Margot! You’re rocking this! I really appreciate your humor and warm memories from our classmates. And you caught me in the airport with my mobile and an hour! I’m making a huge sacrifice to forego Wordle and send you a few updates. Thanks for shaking us loose!

“Last year was rough! I took a leave of absence to devote full time to my husband’s recovery from stage 4 lymphoma. Mark is doing great with no concerns for recurrence. I may not lose the second love of my life prematurely after all! His latest publication will be featured on the cover of the Journal of Arachnology’s next issue.

“Lindsay is certainly her father’s daughter! She has Dan’s eyes, dark hair, ambition, love of swimming, and the ability to make incredible faces. She just bought her first home in Los Angeles, California, and is an assistant costume designer for films and TV series. She was in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for four months last year designing for Spielberg’s Twister sequel and is currently in New Mexico for three months.

“I am one of four principals of a boutique consulting firm based in the U.K. Our first book just went to press for author’s copies. We are helping enterprises solve the employee disengagement problem with our guide The Trillion $ Problem, a framework called CLOVER, and an app called ERA. We will speak about and launch our new ‘products’ at the SAFe Summit in Berlin, Germany, on 9–10 April — just around the corner! Very exciting after two earlier retirements for family medical care to have time and energy to help organizations again! The magic that is sometimes hidden behind life’s surprises never ceases to amaze me.

“Looking forward to hearing from other classmates and reconnecting in Los Angeles, North Carolina, New Hampshire, or wherever we find each other! Oops! Flight time.”

Anne Wood Bryant: “I spent a wonderful, if chilly, four days in Yellowstone National Park in January. It was a photo tour with seven others and our guide. Great fun! We saw otters, eagles, coyotes, wolves and, of course, bison and Old Faithful. I’d been to Yellowstone in

Karen Juul-Nielsen (MBA ’78) and Rick Garnett (MBA ’75) enjoyed a recent trip to New Zealand. spring and summer, but never in winter. So different. Had such a good time that I plan to go back next year! So sorry to hear about Bob Giltner and Bob Wheaton, but thanks for passing this along.”

Missie Ludlow: “Just got back from a week in Milan, Italy. We went specifically to see two performances at La Scala. Really wonderful. And of course we toured the Duomo, saw the Last Supper, and took a day trip to Lake Como. All in all, a lovely trip.

“My biggest news is I adopted a dog. Or rather I was gifted a dog by my son who rescued him and then found that, with all his travel, he couldn’t take care of him. It’s my first dog, but I am loving everything except for that last walk of the night.

“Ben is well, making a decent living playing poker, so no complaints there.”

Brewer Doran: “I retired 1 March after 24 years as a business dean. I’m still adjusting and will probably still be doing some project work and a bit of consulting, but it was time. I’m still settling in but looking forward to more travel and doing some crazy things I couldn’t do before. In April that means going to Maine for the total eclipse, and going to Atlanta, Georgia, to participate in Delta Airlines’ Jet Drag event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. All are welcome at my place in Eau Claire, Wisconsin!”

Karen Juul-Nielsen: “Warmest greetings, Margot. Thanks for your newsy letter and for all your efforts to keep our class updated. We are well and enjoying retirement — a real blessing, especially as I read about class-

mates who have passed on to the next life. I am holding the Giltner, Wheaton and Grayson families close to my heart.

“We’ve recently gotten involved in the process of election integrity — a real eye opener for both of us — trying to do our part to preserve the freedom we all enjoy. On a lighter note, Rick and I recently returned from an amazing adventure in New Zealand. We hiked, kayaked, paraglided — you get the idea. We pushed these old bodies to the limit. We did stop in Hobbiton, the incredible set creation from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies. The attention to detail and artistry involved is impressive! New Zealand’s natural beauty is breathtaking and it was a fabulous oncein-a-lifetime trip for us. We shortened the trip home (it’s a really long flight to New Zealand) by stopping in Bora Bora for a week where we did absolutely nothing other than raise glasses — OK, a little snorkeling and swimming, but it was very low key. This year, UVA celebrates 50 years of undergraduate coeducation. As I was in that ‘trailblazer’ class, I joined the Women of 1974 Committee to help plan events. I’m looking forward to reuniting with some classmates and doing a lot of reminiscing. Life is good and I am grateful!”

Joan Barrett: “I am involved with several non-profit organizations and am currently president of the Friends of the Harbour Island Trade School and the Sir George Roberts Library in Harbour Island, the Bahamas. In my stateside life, I am still very active with my beagles, the Warrington Foot, and I am the President of the National Beagle Club. My life in retirement has been far more fulfilling than anything else. Happy Easter!”

Mike Ganey: “I understand you need some filler for the Class Notes, so here goes. Judith and I are good and healthy, and grateful for both. In April we are off on a three-week cruise from Tokyo, Japan, to Vancouver, Canada. It is what some describe as the most expensive way to see Alaska. I will do my best to bring back fresh crabs for everyone from the Bering Sea. Being still involved with the Darden Alumni Board keeps me connected to Darden’s comings and goings, and I continue to be impressed by the high-quality students who make a great fit with Darden’s values. The faculty, while entirely new since our days, is top-notch at making the classroom the dynamic experience we

all had. Cold calls are still the order of the day, along with morning coffee. We send best wishes to everyone.”

David Charlton: “Short update. We had a joyful holiday over Christmas as all our four children — two of whom live overseas — plus two of three spouses/partners and all three grandchildren came home. It was the first time we had all been in the same room since well before 2019. We had an engaging time learning to act as a family, again. We hope to repeat the experience sometime soon. In any case, we are headed to Texas for the eclipse next week. Maybe that trip will feature in our next report.”

Fenton Priest fentonpriest@iCloud.com

It was great to hear from Rick David this time! I’m an amateur photographer who has enjoyed taking photos of friends and family for most of my life. With his note, Rick reminded me that when we were at Darden, I took photos of him horseback riding at Foxfield Stables. Rick is an extraordinary horseman!

Thanks, Rick, for sending this update: “Our son, Julian, graduated from the College last May. We were there as a family to watch the spectacular procession down the Lawn, and to celebrate his accomplishment. What a thrill to be back for that, and to remember our own walk many years ago.

“Julian majored in American Studies, with classes in film and media, and had his heart set on a job in the entertainment industry. Job searches are not easy these days, with resumes being processed using algorithms and AI. Every Darden person I reached out to on his behalf, UVA grads he contacted, and UVA career counselors he worked with, were wonderfully helpful and generous.

“UVA truly is such a special place; I have found in my career that the bond with fellow grads is always strong, especially in the Darden community. Julian accepted a job working for an audio book publishing company in Los Angeles, California, so he has a foot in the door of the entertainment business and is living the dream in Culver City, California!”

We received a great update from Chris Bourke with some wonderful family news: “Two of my children were married this past year!

“I continue in my second career as business manager for my parish — a truly thankless job at a salary that is equal to my salary when I graduated from Darden over 40 years ago. I lost an election for Rose Valley Borough council as the only Republican on the ballot, but was appointed as treasurer afterwards. I can’t vote but can write checks! Win-win for all.

“My best to all of my Wahoo friends.”

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Kirt Kirtland, so I’m excited to share this update: “At the end of 2023, I decided to step down as CFO for a senior care group in Northeast Ohio and contemplate next steps. Since graduating from Darden in 1981, I’ve worked in the finance world primarily dealing with real estate, and I look back over those times with much fondness and a little awe.

“The first stop after graduation was doing some consulting work for a Charlottesville friend during that summer, before traveling to Chicago to start with Continental Illinois National Bank in the real estate department. What I thought would be a 5-year stint before joining a real estate development firm turned into a 21-year career after mergers with the old Bank of America and then NCNB. The last few years of that time was with Bank of America Securities where I led a national team delivering investment banking services to the bank’s real estate clients.

“Then there was a move to Cleveland, Ohio, first with Key Bank and then U.S. Bank, both running either national or regional lending divisions. While staying in the real estate niche, this time back on the investment banking side, I worked in two boutique firms and started my own advisory group. During that period I developed a relationship with the senior care group before eventually taking on the CFO position.

“Now I’m taking a few months to sift through my thinking as I’m not quite ready to completely separate from the business world and will be looking for the next providential assignment. Stay tuned.” Thank you, Kirt!

And from Alan Sandler, a fun update and an invitation: “Jill and I recently returned from the longest trip we have ever taken: 33 days to Singapore; Bangkok in Thailand; Vietnam; Cambodia; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in UAE, all places we have never been to before. (And after 33 days, we’re still married!)

“We really enjoyed leaning into the various cultures and learning the history of each place we visited. You cannot find places more opposite than Cambodia and Abu Dhabi!

“This was supposed to be a retirement trip, but my ‘use by’ date was postponed to July at the request of my employer, the Arizona State University Foundation. That date is firm, having been at ASU over six years, the final two and a half raising money for the president of the university. Now it is time for more travel and family time.

“Our base will still be Scottsdale, Arizona, so let us know if you’re coming through.”

From your secretary, Fenton Priest: I am excited to report that I successfully completed my three-year term as chair of the Military Economic Advisory Committee (MEDAC) for the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia. MEDAC works to strengthen City and Navy relations and I stayed busy! It was challenging at times, but very rewarding to work with our mayor, City Council and local military commanding officers. I am trying now not to have too many unpaid “jobs” in retirement.

As the weather gets warmer, I am looking forward to the 2024 boating season. This will be the seventh season that I’ve been racing in the lower Chesapeake Bay as a crew member aboard the 37-foot sailboat, Coeur d’Alene. Last season, we were the runner up for the Little Creek Sailing Association races and took second place in our class in the 2023 Cape Charles Cup! However, contrary to my comment above, I have now accepted a committee position to help organize and run the Cape Charles Cup race in August!

I am blessed that both children and their families are doing well. My son, Guy, is a foreign affairs officer with the Department of State while serving in the U.S. Army Reserves. His wife, Jess, is a school teacher in Arlington, Virginia, and a truly wonderful mother to my granddaughter, Sophia Grace, age 20 months.

My daughter, Elisabeth, is progressing in her career at the Synergist, a Belgium-based NGO. She and her husband, Andre, are enjoying life in Barcelona, Spain. Hopefully my wife, Tina, and I will be able to visit again before too long!

ering before our next reunion, like Stefanie Paulos suggested. If there’s interest, we can try to arrange it. It would be a fun way for us to stay connected!

In closing, hopefully you received the email with the sad news that long-standing Darden Professor Emeritus Les Grayson has passed away. He was an inspiring professor, beloved member of the Darden community, and a mentor to many. On behalf of our class, I wanted to extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to his family and close friends.

Class of ’81: Take care and stay in touch!

I want to express my sincere appreciation to everyone for sending updates! Please let me know if you would like to try a virtual gath82

Michael Diefenbach

mike.diefenbach@gmail.com

Bill Huyett reports that his grandchild count has evened up at two girls and two boys. Last fall, Ari was born to his oldest daughter, Kate, and his middle son, Peter, welcomed Jack William.

Lauren and he are finishing the restoration of River Cottage, one of the most historic houses in Concord, Massachusetts. It overlooks the North Bridge and Minuteman National Park. The design and construction work has been fun for them, as has been understanding the interesting history of the house and the family who owned it.

Lauren is busy with her interior design firm, the Concord Garden Club, and other nonprofits. She’s also become a paddle tennis and golf addict.

Bill continues with his nonprofit work, including one that takes him to different national parks for board meetings. Says he, “We have a spectacularly beautiful country!”

Bill is once again teaching the Darden strategy elective, along with Scott Beardsley and another retired McKinsey partner.

He enjoyed dinner with Bill Hawkins on a recent trip of his to Boston, Massachusetts, and hopes to see the Tews when they visit this spring.

Bill Hawkins is living in Wilmington, North Carolina (Wrightsville Beach), where he opened two, soon to be three, restaurants with his wife: Kipos, a Greek Mediterranean seafood restaurant; G Prime, a steakhouse; and soon-to-open the Commodore Club, a private club built on a floating barge parked in the intracoastal waterway at the Wrightsvile Beach Yacht Club. Says Bill, “Our partner Giorgio Bakatsias is the real deal!”

Bill is trying to dial his commitments back a bit, paring down his board work from twelve boards to eleven (three public, five private equity-funded, and three nonprofits). He termed out of the Duke Board of Trustees after 12 years, though he’s still on the Duke University Health System board.

Says Bill, “The greatest reward, however, are my six grandkids in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Denver, Colorado.”

Bill invites us to come visit Wilmington and try out some good food!

John Reilly and Carrine visited their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in late January. They live across the street from Ipanema Beach. As it was summer there, John got some bad sunburn, a source of great delight to his two grandchildren!

Mike Schozer has one grandchild, courtesy of his son in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He and his wife split their time between Florida (Osprey, one town south of Sarasota) and Manchester, Vermont.

Thanks to his wife, Mike has stepped up to running full marathons from running halves. He’s got Ottawa, Canada, this spring and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the fall. Each was first in their age group in the Tampa Gasparilla half-marathon early this year.

Later this year, they’ll be off hiking in Bhutan. Next January, he and Jon Rubin are hiking in Patagonia.

Another hiker, Dave Martin has been in training for a trip to northern Spain this spring. His older son, an old friend from UVA undergraduate school, and he will be hiking about 150 kilometers on the Camino Portuguese, one of the medieval pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Harry Travis has taken up golf late in life, and also enjoys serious backpacking trips with his son.

Harry is continuing his board work and consulting in the world of pharmacy and pharmacy benefit management. He and Kevin McCarthy are helping subject matter expert execs in Harry’s network strengthen their leadership development skills.

David Harrison doesn’t much like summer heat in Florida, so he heads north for several summer blues festivals. In June, he’ll be joining Curt and Loralee Mildner at the New York State Blues Festival in Syracuse. Dave says,

Rich Pfeifer (MBA ’82) visited with Professor Emeritus Les Grayson in 2022. Read more about Professor Grayson in In Memoriam on Page 88.

John Guinee (MBA ’82) poses with members of the team that supported his fundraising swim across Tampa Bay in Florida this January.

“If you love live music, come and meet up!”

Dave’s cancer is now four years in remission — so his confidence is back. He’s consulting with construction contractors on their negotiations with private equity firms, who are now extraordinarily active in the roofing and paving industry. He’s also helping companies “fix” their Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), which over 200,000 companies adopted. EOS has some significant advantages for successful entrepreneurs with businesses in the $3 to $100 million range.

Dave’s got six grandchildren, ages 1 to 18 (two adopted), which, he knows well, are the best part of life. His youngest son took a new position with the highest security clearance as the liaison between the Pentagon and R&D team of his C’ville-based employer. It’s related to satellites and drones. Dave doesn’t get much inside info, but he has learned that the U.S. is much further ahead in technology than he ever dreamed.

Dave is very active in SCORE and recommends it to any classmates that want to “pay it forward” with entrepreneurs and small businesses. SCORE is about 11,000 former senior executives nationally who do consulting — free of charge — and is sponsored by the Small Business Association. Interesting people and some fascinating projects.

Rick Abraham SCOREs as well, in Virgina. Rick is enjoying retirement and is coming up on his nine-year anniversary as a pancreatic cancer survivor. He also hosts a trivia show, does a lot of oil painting and other art, plays

a lot of golf, and rides his bike.

“Most importantly,” says Rick, “I am on the committee for PurpleStride, the fundraiser to raise money to fight pancreatic cancer. If anyone would like to donate to this worthy cause, please see PurpleStride Washington D.C., and look for Richard Abraham, which is my ‘grown-up name.’”

Chip Guinee reports that the only thing better than reuniting with Darden classmates every five years in C’ville is visiting there every few months to see his grandchildren. And he now gets to do that because his daughter moved to Charlottesville this past summer.

John is living proof of the favorite old person saying, “your health is your wealth.”

In January, he completed a 3.5-mile swim across Tampa Bay, Florida, to raise money for the Navy SEAL Foundation, which honors Navy SEALs killed in action or training, and supports their families.

Guinee braved over two hours in 60° F (15.5° C) water, with strong tides and choppy waves (his wetsuit only helped a little).

Beyond getting some great exercise, John acquired some solid learning, like … (1) wetsuits cause severe shoulder and neck chafing; (2) with a one-foot chop, sighting and visibility is practically nil, and it’s impossible not to swallow gallons of seawater; (3) swallowing this brackish water gives you scary leg cramps, which don’t go away unless you stop kicking, plus, they stick around for a day or two.

Patrick Partridge is staying busy, having retired from WGU three-plus years ago. The Board

Earl Seekins (MBA ’82) and wife Janet went sailing off the Oregon coast.

of Trustees there awarded him an honorary degree “with only minor bribes,” he reports.

To keep active, Pat plays pickleball (with a meager 3.5 rating, for those in the know). With his wife, he hikes and snowshoes regularly. Pat’s fiction writing is the equivalent of a part-time job (really), and he recently finished his third novel (no publisher yet). Over the past two years, he received a handful of awards from the League of Utah Writers.

Pat sees Ted Lanpher regularly at Ted’s home in Half Moon Bay, California, or when Ted visits Pat at his Sun Valley condo in San Rafael, California. Says Pat, “Ted’s willing to hike three times the distances I will go; I lost two toenails after our last long hike. It’s a thing.”

Pat recruited David Harrison to be on an advisory group he put together to help the Utah Museum of Natural History with a cool educational product they offer. They’re due to meet again this April.

Pat has a couple of grandkids in Colorado that he gets over to see. “And maybe my kids too,” says Pat.

John Downing is still living on a farm an hour south of Charleston, South Carolina, in the cool months, and a farm in northern Vermont in the hot ones. He and Francie are blessed with seven grandchildren from their three daughters. John is “semi-retired” from Brown Advisory (he sold his business to them), and is always grateful to Darden for starting him on his way.

Earl Seekins has switched coasts on us. He loves it out west in Bend, Oregon. About

Class of 1983 classmates and family members attending their 40th Darden reunion last year included: Glenn Hudson, Peggy Doherty, John Maserjian, John’s wife Gina, Steve Ham, Rachel Heidenrich, John Doherty, Nancy Van Huyck Chockley, Kim Labushagne, Kim’s wife Nicky, Glenn Geiger, and Nancy’s husband Fritz.

the only time he sees anything east of the Rockies nowadays is from the air. So, Virginia has become a mere flyover state for him! Earl now enjoys sailing off Oregon’s coast. “The most fun thing I’ve learned to do after I was 40,” he says. Lastly, we’re all mourning the passing of Professor Les Grayson this January. His excellent teaching lessons and insights were only matched by his unforgettable quips. Several of our classmates were lucky enough to meet with him often in New York City in recent years.

Mitchell Bland mitch.bland@cox.net

Rachel Heidenreich was kind enough to send along a few pictures of last year’s class reunion in Charlottesville, including one with Glenn Hudson, Peggy Doherty (MBA ’84), John Maserjian, John’s wife Gina, Steve Ham, Rachel Heidenrich, Jay Doherty, Nancy Van Chockley, Kim Labuschagne, Kim’s wife Nicky, Glenn Geiger, and Nancy’s husband Fritz. Michael Whitcomb also sent in a vintage picture from his Finance class with Professor Bill Sihler in 1981–82. A great flashback. Michael has been living in San Francisco, California, for the last twenty years, the last six retired. He stays busy with some boardroom work and spending time with parents and grandchildren who live over in Vienna, Austria. He also sent in a picture of him with John Naylor and Drew

Tamoney at the Foxfield Races.

George Duke checked in to say he was over in England last summer. Among other places, he was in Oxford on 4 July, where he left just as Dean Beardsley was starting his sabbatical over there.

Julie Fairchild Andrews reported in on her continuing and pleasant retirement saga. She reports that she and her husband, Andy, have now visited all seven continents, finishing up with Australia last year. They somehow also worked in a trip to South Africa and Botswana. They now have eight grandchildren (three grandsons and five granddaughters).

Tom Taylor

tomtaylornj@gmail.com

We have another author in our class. Liz Hoffman wrote a “well-received novel that is available on Amazon. It’s fiction and appropriate for men and women. Fast-paced, enjoyable and easy to read.” The name is One Ruby Button and it does, indeed, have wonderful reviews. This is “the first book of The Raven Pritchard Chronicles series,” so hopefully there will be more to come. I would vote for a movie version that has a cameo opportunity for somebody in our class.

Martin McCoy is touching different parts of the world, as he explains in his update: “Andrea and I spent the winter in New Zealand and Australia, mostly hiking and sightseeing. The best part was 15 hours of sunlight in our winter and a relaxed culture. We were able to work, as necessary, given

Karen Edwards and Panya Chanyarungrojn (both MBA ’84) got together in Bangkok, Thailand.

that there is only six hours, and one day, difference to the east coast. Our next jaunt is Namibia and Botswana in June. After that I may need to visit Finland, when it’s not subzero, to follow up on a private equity investment in a company that provides efficient radiant heat applications through printed pixilated electronics. Otherwise I’m still fooling with commercial real estate. So challenging is the investment environment that I’m indulging in retail redevelopment, perhaps the least bad asset class as of now.

“I continue mission work in central Africa, driving and working with African crews to install and document protected water sources in remote locations. I’m trying to extend this activity to source basic hand pump well equipment, in economic order quantities, for distribution on a nonprofit basis to NGOs and local governments in east Africa. Any contacts for potential suppliers in east Africa would be appreciated.” If you have any relevant contacts, I’m sure Martin would appreciate the networking.

Sue Field has also been spanning the globe, she describes in what may be her first ever update for the school magazine: “I have been retired now for a while with my husband, John, and our adventure cat, Steeler. We split our time between Colorado (near Telluride); Arizona (near Tucson); Horseshoe Bay, Texas (near Austin); and our motorhome, which this year we are taking to Idaho. John and I met bicycling in Alaska in 2000, and subsequently in 2002 we rode a tandem bike 3,200 miles across the southern U.S., self-guided. We both love being active with a particular passion for biking (road and mountain), skiing (snow and water) and of course pickleball.

“Our new interest is wake surfing behind our Mastercraft boat. I am also enjoying being a Chamma (grandmother) to Ryan and Hadley, now ages 14 and 12. I skipped the part about having kids and went right to the grandparent part, which works for me!

“All has not been roses as I have had seven surgeries in the last four years (three since October) — all orthopedic — after a freak skiing accident where I broke my leg and then had to have my knee replaced. I finally feel like I am coming out the other side of my constant rehab cycle, particularly with the help of Pilates. Through it all I kept biking (granted now on an e-bike), skiing and hiking with Steeler, our cat, to the extent I could.

“Anyway, we are off to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in a few weeks to e-bike through the tulips on a river cruise. In December we head to Antarctica on a Viking Expedition tour to hang with the penguins. Feel free to look us up if you are up for some fun!” If you’re like me, you paused when you read “adventure cat, Steeler.” I had to find out more and Sue sent pictures of Steeler in dramatic outdoor scenery; she is truly an adventure cat!

Joyce Rothenberg continues “to enjoy my retirement, hiking, traveling and learning more about photography. I had a wonderful and interesting week-long hiking trip in Moab and Bears Ears, Utah, this spring where we hiked to ancient indigenous sites. It was so surprising to just be able to hike out to visit ancient dwellings.

“Probably my newest focus this past year has been helping Mace to envision and launch an effort to fund and ultimately build a Museum of Medicine and Biomedical Discovery. He has obtained his 501(c)(3) status and has been successful in raising startup funding. He and his colleagues have been quite disturbed over the increasing lack of trust in science and medicine that seems to be growing in the U.S. They want to create a museum space that would educate, inform and inspire people about how scientific discoveries lead to breakthrough medical advances. The museum would depict a world in which past achievements in biomedical science and medicine are understood and appreciated and offer an experience that will inspire current and future generations to pursue careers that improve human health and life. His vision is to have a very immersive experience using technology and a narrative storytelling approach to bring these discoveries and career paths to life. If anyone is interested in knowing more, they can visit mmbd. org, or just reach out to me. It’s a big endeavor and I’m enjoying helping with the business and marketing side of things.

“I’m expecting a visit from Alex Alexander and his daughter when they make a college sweep through the south at the end of the month, and we are hoping Monro Lanier will join us for dinner while they are in the Nashville, Tennessee, area. Perk Bandlow and I continue to see each other regularly and we enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner at their home.

“As always, my doors are open in both Nashville and New York City, and I’m always

an available resource to help people plan travel to France.”

Phil Davis was interviewed by a local Spectrum cable company about his cancer journey, which he’s sharing with everyone and anyone who will listen. To see it, go to this address: spectrumnews1.com/oh/cleveland/ news/2024/02/06/digital-rectal-exam-prostate-cancer.

His story is inspiring and aside from that, he looks great. He might compete with Laurey Millspaugh for being the best-preserved member of our class. Actually, we could have many contenders at our reunion next year.

Celia Vlasin Martin has been doing some exploring. Here’s her report: “I extended a ski trip and broadened my horizons by visiting the Ancestral Pueblo area of Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. These people walked 40–50 miles a day, much of it vertical. Impressive. The Lab at Los Alamos is still a very large and vibrant research hub. I also stayed in an earthship near Taos. Mine was fairly rustic, but for being off the grid and efficiently reusing water, it receives high marks! I also found the Tom Taylor Belt, Buckle and Bag shop in Santa Fe; you’ve been holding out on us!” This is the enterprise of a different Tom Taylor … and there are many of us out there! In my family alone, five out of the last eight generations had a Tom.

In my appeal for updates, I joked about getting knocked out of the NCAA tournament early. Warren McInteer responded, “I am skunked.” It didn’t take long (usually doesn’t).

I received a teaser from Jim Leavitt, saying that he hopes to have some big news for the next edition. Not sure what it will be, but safe to say he’s not going to rejoin the Navy.

Bob Reeve had reported earlier about his involvement in the Bernese Mountain Dog community. Here’s his latest: “I’m getting ready to head to St. Louis, Missouri, for our Bernese Mountain Dog National Specialty Show. Golf will be on the agenda in addition to our big Health Auction that benefits the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America (BMDCA) and Berner-Garde Foundation (I am the treasurer) in their quest to research and resolve health issues in the breed.

“The vacation house in Cashiers, North Carolina, is almost finished and Georgeann and I expect to spend most of the hot summer months there with our Berners. We have joined a country club down there and plan a big 75th

birthday celebration with friends and family.

“I’m also planning a trip to Abaco, the Bahamas, for golf the first week of May and our normal three weeks at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, this year: a week in May and two weeks in October.

“Georgeann is finally done as president of the BMDCA but is still finding ways to be totally consumed in related activities. She swears she will take golf back up soon!”

Tom Paine wrote that “having seven grandkids ages 1 to 8 who know me as TomTom (no ‘Grandpas,’ thank you) means lots of skin in the game moving forward. I do a portrait sketch for each one’s birthday. I’m busy with historical nonprofits and my book American Pluck: Unsung Heroes Who Helped Forge a Nation Over Three Centuries

I am president of the Friends of the Longfellow House — Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site. Check out our website and google Netizen Tom Paine. And reach out if you’re in the Boston, Massachusetts, area!” Check out his website: www.tmpaine.net.

I’m not sure everybody knew that Dave Alley was racing motorcycles while we were all together in Charlottesville. I pitted for him back in school during a race along with Goodloe Yancey. I remember David telling me he felt safer on the track than on the road, which is kind of an amazing thing when you see those bikes almost lay down in turns. Anyway, here’s his update: “I find I am a drinking problem with a wheeled vehicle problem. I have 50 tires on the ground in trucks, cars, trailers and motorcycles. Therapy is working and I just sold my Volvo VNL tractor (think semi-tractor trailer rig). I got my Commercial Driver’s License during the COVID-19 pause period and drove it about for a while (6,000 miles). Fun, and now it was fun selling it.

“I think fondly of my time at Darden being around some of the smartest and most energetic people on the planet. Those were peak years for me because of you people.

“I’m still working (my other addiction). I was on a Navy ship, the Mercy, in Micronesia recently to diagnose a generator problem and we followed on at a USA port to resolve the problems.

“So my question of the day is: What can we do to instill passion for learning and schooling in young people … you know, the ones who will be our caretakers?” Perhaps that’s a good topic for our 40th reunion.

As for me, I had rotator cuff surgery in January. Recovery is on track but it’s a long process. I recently joined the board of our flying club (three aircrafts, 54 members) and I’ll manage the finances. As they say, “you’re never too old to learn QuickBooks.” They do say that, right?

Teresa Green Cooper tcooper59@gmail.com

As always, you all responded to my latest and final plea for news. Yes, I am officially retiring as class secretary as of this issue, so please let me or Darden know if you’re interested in taking over. So, thank you! We are anything but dull.

A few of you wrote to say that you had nothing new to report (Peter Hennessy says he did his 38-year update last time and isn’t due for another one until 2026), and I appreciate that you took the time to reply. Other classmates sent news, so here we go:

Chip Bassett wrote a quick note: “Steve Zoota and I got together again a week ago for dinner near Exeter, U.K., where his daughter is studying. I hadn’t seen her since a Darden reunion a long time ago, and talking with Steve is always refreshing.”

Pat O’Shea, a one-man reunion machine, wrote: “Hey Teresa! Life is good on the Eastern Shore, and recent classmate sightings have included Bob Louthan, Nalini T. Rogers, Lynne Azamar Watson and Peter Intermaggio. I ran into Peter at the grocery store here in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where we do so regularly now that he’s retired to the area; Lynne kindly reunited Nalini and me after visiting her in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, lately, and we all hope to find a way to get together in spring or summer either here or there; and Bob and I are talking some interesting business-related developments. Always great to reunite with my ‘young as you feel’ friends!

“However, in the ‘inevitably feeling our age’ department, I plan to take on a nursing role after Maria tackles bilateral knee replacement in early April … yikes! Hope all is well with you and all of our classmates.”

Randy Daniel also connected with B-school friends at his and his wife Heather’s 40th anniversary party. When he wrote the party had not begun: “Heather and I are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary at the end of March in New Orleans, Louisiana,

where we got married. We are excited that other Darden grads who were in our wedding are joining us, including Brink Brinkley (MBA ’85) and Stacy Brinkley; Wheat McDowell (MBA ’87) and Barrie; and Lilo Ukrop (MBA ’89) and Scott (MBA ’89).

“Also celebrating with us from Darden are close friends Jimmy (MBA ’85) and Megan Rose, and our daughter Parks (MBA ’18). We look forward to a great dinner at Commander’s Palace exactly 40 years after we held our rehearsal dinner there.”

Gregory Dyson sent this note: “Pete Jervey and I met up today in Bethesda, Maryland. It has been over 10 years. Little did we know his daughter and my son were in the same friend group in high school. Small world!”

Eric Ferraro sent this update after reading my shameless plea: “Ok, you shamed me into it, although there’s not much exciting news to report.

“I plan to work three more years before retiring, most likely all here at Defense Acquisition University as a professor. I work with senior military and civilian executives on facilitating case discussions (no cold calls by this Darden alum) as an executive coach, and various topics I’m passionate about (organizational culture, design thinking, leadership). My Darden baby’s wedding was in September 2023 in Norwalk, Connecticut. Brandon and his wife, Angela, were both born in August 1985. My wife and I have four boys and two girls between us; my three are all married and two with children!

“Hope all is well. One of these days I’ll get back to Darden as the curriculum overlaps in some areas, so I would love to either speak there or attend a class!”

Randy Daniel’s (MBA ’86) 40th wedding anniversary party was also a Darden reunion!

Charlie Granger is staying busy and had a good story to share: “Just so you are aware, your plea did not fall on deaf ears.

“I have retired and moved to Bloomington, Illinois, to be near my family. Bloomington is about halfway between Chicago and St. Louis (the home of Illinois State University and State Farm, so not the corn/soy farming community it would otherwise be). I am still married to Maribeth, the woman who was my fiancée when we were all at Darden, and my two children and their families both live here also. We are able to routinely interact with our daughter’s son, age 6, and her twins, age 6 months (a boy and a girl).

“So how do I spend all this free time? I have been a soccer referee for the last 20 years — you know, one of those you all yelled at on weekends when your kids were playing or now when your grandkids are playing. I am also substitute teaching (any subject) at four of our local high schools almost every school day and enjoy it.

“Yesterday I told a class that I have a birthday coming up soon. When they asked me how old I would be I asked them to guess. The guesses ranged from 49 to 80 (68 is the real number). I would be either in really terrific shape for an 80-year-old or in terrible condition for a 49-year-old.

“Hope you and yours, as well as those of all of our classmates, are doing well.”

Ruffner Page wrote: “After a 90-day brief retirement, I came back to the working life as president and COO of O’Neal Industries, Inc. in Birmingham, Alabama. The pace is a little slower and travel is much less intense (more to Europe and less to East Asia). Penny and I

welcomed our sixth grandchild on 29 February as a leap year baby. Everyone is healthy and happy.” Ruffner and Mary Buckle, with minor assistance from myself and Carol Stepka, interview and recommend students for the Peter Niehaus scholarship each year. Rest assured that all of the students I’ve interviewed are accomplished, motivated, well-balanced and have lovely personalities.”

And speaking of Darden students, Jack McGowan sent this update: “My son graduated from Vanderbilt in May 2023 and is working for T. Rowe Price. Via the Future Year Scholars Program, he applied to Darden while a senior at Vanderbilt and was offered deferred admission. I’m excited for John to attend Darden; I am sure it has changed a bit from our days there. My daughter Meredith is a junior at Northeastern majoring in marine biology and minoring in art. She is currently doing a marine biology co-op in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Only two more undergraduate tuition payments!”

Miriam Eaves sends her regards from the British Isles! She writes: “I am saying hello from London and the Cotswolds. I am in my fifth year on this side of the pond and very much enjoying work and life. I work in BP’s Corporate Venture Capital Group, traveling the world in search of promising startups to invest in and enable the Energy Transition. Personally, I spend my free time in the Cotswolds with my husband, two Clumbers and my English foxhunter.

“Curt Waibel and I have visited each other’s slice of heaven, in France and the Cotswolds.

“Cheers!”

Mary Haggerty Miller wrote: “We moved

to western Colorado over the summer and are enjoying all that the beautiful area has to offer. We live on a golf course that affords a gorgeous view of the 14,000-foot San Juan mountains and are close to the skiing mecca of Telluride. So we have plenty of recreation options.

“I still work part time in finance/accounting for a startup drug company that has developed antidotes to opioids. It is rewarding work and super flexible. We just got back from two weeks in Spain and will be visiting Suellen Blackwood and Bonnie Hutchinson Zellerbach in Delaware in May.”

And speaking of Bonnie and Suellen … “Suellen Blackman, Mary Buckle, Gail Thalhamer Grib and I all went to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, flower show together this past March,” writes Bonnie Hutchinson Zellerbach.

“It was great to have a mini-Darden reunion at the flower show. Suellen was vice-chair of the flower show and by all reports it was outstanding. Rumor is that she will chair the show in 2025, and if so, I think we should make it an ancillary reunion event. Who else is in?”

That’s a wrap for this edition. Sending my own wishes for good health and happiness for you and yours!

Chris Padgett padgett60@gmail.com

As I write this edition of the Class Notes, spring has not yet fully sprung, but I’m reminded of how beautiful Charlottesville is this time of year. I also remember the sense of relief (way back in First Year) to have the semester almost over and a few months ahead without cases to read and prep for. This particular spring is special, too,

Eric Ferraro (MBA ’86) and family celebrated the wedding of his “Darden baby” in September 2023 in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Class of 1986 alumni Bonnie Zellerbach, Gail Thalheimer and Mary Buckle met up at a flower show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Greg Dyson and Pete Jervey of the Class of 1986

as the class comes together for a mini-reunion to dedicate the Class of ’87 Amphitheater and the Duffy Japanese Garden, recap to come! Now, on with the updates!

Alyce Outlaw writes: “Since I last saw you at our reunion, I’ve retired from my job at Rhoback after five-plus years. Mark and I celebrated with a trip to France with our son, Mac. We enjoyed many sights including a week in Paris and a visit with my sister at her home in the French Alps. One thing we especially enjoyed was a night at a Paris jazz club that is in the basement of an old prison!

“Locally, I’ve enjoyed attending a few events at Darden, including a social before a UVA MBB game and the annual Economic Forecast with Alan Beckenstein. Looking forward to seeing some classmates in April!”

This issue’s fastest responder award goes to Bill Tonetti, who responded to the Darden news request the same morning it went out. Bill shared that in December “my wife, Suzanne, and I enjoyed catching up with Peter Gambel at his home in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.” He also mentioned a late winter classmate reunion (see next).

Mike Schwartzman writes that he and his wife recently got together with Mike Kender, Dave Morris, Courtney Turner, Bill Tonetti, Pat Schlegel, along with several of their spouses: “It was a lot of fun to see everyone and catch back up.

“Our daughter graduated from Brandeis University last summer and is now a working adult, which is great. Plus, it gives us more time to reconnect with old friends and travel. We’re going to Italy in April and visited Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks last year.

“Otherwise, all is well here. We’ve been living in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for over 20 years and really like the area. Of course, it helps that all of the New York sports teams that I still root for come to play in Philly on a regular basis. I am still running marketing for Music Together Worldwide, which is an awesome mission-driven music education company geared towards very young children.”

Leslie Shroyer shares this update: “I am retired, and my husband Michael is halfway there. We are building our dream home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and live nearby to supervise it. We love our sunrise walks and

are still very active sports people. I am on three local boards in Norfolk, Virginia, and enjoy reading.

“Like so many of our classmates, we spend a lot of our time talking about or visiting our grandkids (and probably bore those who don’t have any yet with pictures) and just marveling at what they are up to.”

To my Class Notes nagging, John Grigg responds: “Thanks Chris. I hope all is well with you. I’ll reflect on whether I have anything noteworthy to report … that fact that I have to reflect probably provides the answer!”

Chito Zulueta retired from Eli Lilly and Company after 33 years at the end of 2021, with his last role for seven years as president of international and member of the executive committee. He’s now CEO of his own small venture firm, CZ Ventures, with a focus on investments in South East Asia. Chito is also quite busy as a board member for a number of companies, including Interpharma Investments Limited (Zuellig Pharma), the largest healthcare company in Asia; Glooko, Inc., a diabetes software-as-a-service and life sciences company; and CTS Corporation (NYSE), a leader in sensors and actuators.

He adds: “our eldest daughter is a graphic designer in New York City, our son is a freshman at Wharton MBA, and our youngest daughter graduates medical school in a month and is an incoming medical resident in neurology at Northwestern Hospital Chicago.”

“Greetings from the land of the ‘brand-damaged’ university (Harvard Square),” writes Kemp Dolliver. “I have been director of research for Brookline Capital Markets, a New

York-based life sciences investment bank, for the last three years. The job includes managing a small team of analysts, screening companies, and publishing reports on public companies.

“For those of you who are grandparents, my daughter is 14, and I hope to live long enough to meet my grandchildren (and remember them!). Art O’Keeffe and I text frequently and attended the Harvard-Penn football game (a sudden death, triple-overtime Harvard win) together with his young son Patrick. I have been in contact recently with Nick Microulis, John Moffet, Dick Dahling, Greg Meyding, Seth Barnes, Joel Mangham, and Charles Magolske on all kinds of subjects.”

And from Vern Howard: “John Graham and his sons’ timing was perfect as they came to Lake Tahoe just after the largest snowstorm of the year to ski and snowboard for a few days. John and I caught up over a few beers at the lodge near Palisades Tahoe, California, and talked about retiree life, including pickleball, the puzzle that is Medicare, and our travels. It turns out, John and I have a shared interest in hiking as we globetrot. For me, recently, I have had the privilege to take some amazing hikes in Iceland, New Zealand, and Tasmania!”

And wrapping up this issue’s news, here’s an update from Laura Turner Linkous: “I sold my semi-tractor and trailer and am out of the trucking business. It was interesting to learn and it’s great to not be doing anymore. This was an endeavor to help a close family friend get to be an owner-operator. As it ends up,

Bill Tonetti and Peter Gambel (both MBA ’87)

Class of 1987 alumni Pat Schlegel, Courtney Turner, Dave Morris, Mike Schwartzman, Bill Tonetti and Mike Kender got together for a mini-reunion.

this is a very volatile business and trucking is a commodity. It took me a few years to learn that lesson. And our friend decided he would rather coach soccer! And so it goes!

“Like many of us, I am enjoying grand parenting! I am also enjoying being on the board of Francis Parker school, our local independent, progressive school. It’s so helpful to keep me current! And I have been enjoying helping run our local botanical society — so I was super excited to see that Charlie Duffy is creating a Japanese garden at Darden. Love it! We are still in Louisville, Kentucky, and welcome any visitors. We have pickleball in the driveway now — it’s very fun — though most travel to ‘Looavull’ to hit the bourbon trail! Cheers, class of ’87!”

As always, thanks for the participation and contributions. Those classmates we haven’t heard from in a while, please don’t be bashful! Everyone wants to know what you’ve been up to, and what you have planned next. Keep those updates and photos coming!

alumni@darden.virginia.edu

Udo Reichling: “I am still working (just). Currently I have a gig as interim MD of a social concern in Berlin, Germany (kindergartens, homes for women in domestic violence situations, and helping people with disabilities), the substance of which I know nothing about, but I was available and for the first managing about 1,000 people. Always a new challenge. Family is Ok; two of three kids have graduated, so the finish line is in sight!”

Mark Sanford: “Life’s good in Charleston, South Carolina … come visit!”

Champe Fisher champe59@gmail.com

By all metrics, the reunion was a rousing success! A big thank you goes out to the Reunion Chairs, John Parsons and Elizabeth Hagood, and their tireless Reunion Committee comprised of Al Kinel, Barry Clay, Bill Cooper, Deborah Thomas, Greg Graves, Larry Bernert, Leslie Gordon, Mark O’Malley, Mike Balay, Reid Buckley, Rob James and Scott Ukrop. Also, another key member of the reunion planning team was Gina DeMattia, with the Office of Advancement, who was our fearless leader on behalf of Darden. Would all of you please

stand up and take a bow!

As for the reunion statistics: We had 60 classmates register, which broke the record for attendance at a 35th reunion; we reached 107% of our $1.2 million giving goal and donating participation exceeded 41%. The Class of 1989 Scholarship fund now surpasses $1.2 million, including current fiscal year gifts and commitments.

The weekend was filled with laughter, memories and connection. Friday was a day of seminars and spirited golf competition at Birdwood. The Friday night class event was held at Potter’s Craft Cider, where Professors Emeriti Elliot Weiss and Sherwood Frey joined us for dinner and libations. On Saturday, Dean Beardsley gave the highly anticipated State of the School Address, after which some classmates headed back to Birdwood for another round of golf while others braved the cool temperatures and drizzle to watch the horse races at Foxfield. The Saturday night events began with a tree dedication for Steve Hassett in the beautiful LaCross Botanical Gardens located behind The Forum Hotel. Following the dedication, the class gathered for dinner. Professor Ed Freeman was our honored guest. On Sunday, after the farewell brunch, a Celebration of Life for C. Ray Smith was held honoring the life and legacy of a Darden legend.

Chip Shore writes that all is great in Brookline, Massachusetts! His wife, Shari, sold her orthodontics practice in February and will join him in retirement in April. They have a lot of vacation travel planned in the next year in addition to visiting their kids (Max in San Francisco, California, who is currently looking for a job, and Remi in Seattle, Washington, who is pursuing her master’s in Social Work) and his parents in Denver, Colorado. They also are planning on heading back to New Zealand to do the Milford Track. He has such fond memories of his post-graduation trip to New Zealand, but that was so long ago!

When at home and not working on his honey-do list, Chip works out, plays tennis, and skis. He also continues to provide pro bono financial planning services and sit on the board of the Jewish Community Center. So far, retirement has not been boring, and in fact he seems to have even less free time than when he was working.

Chip was sorry he missed Steve Hassett’s

memorial service in Atlanta, Georgia, but he does think about Steve’s deep voice, biting humor, and outrageous laugh often.

Robert Reton reports that he has moved again, noting that moving is the story of his life, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

After about a year in Montana, Robert moved back to Tampa Bay, Florida, just in time to settle into a rented house as the pandemic hit. He rode it out for three years, and then began to think about where he would like to buy and live.

From travel over the years, his wife, Teresa, had come to like the Piedmont areas of Virginia and North Carolina. After a couple of months of travel touring different areas and numerous housing developments, they found a home in what seemed to be remote, rural Fuquay Varina, about 30 minutes south of Raleigh, North Carolina. However, the way Raleigh and other North Carolina cities are developing and growing, they’ll be a metropolitan area in 5–10 years.

The only real problem Robert faces is that there is way too much ‘blue’ around there. What’s a Double Hoo to do? And it’s true! The sky is Carolina Blue. Another thing Robert learned is that he is referred to as a “halfback”: a northerner (originally from the city, county, and state of New York) who moved south to Florida, and then moved halfway back to North Carolina. They are enjoying their new home, exploring the territory and meeting new people. He loves his “First in Flight” license plate.

Robert found a great place for the classic Southern breakfast in a more rural town south of his new house. He says it reminds him of a marketing case we had second semester of First Year about seed or feed or fertilizer, and how all the farmers would meet for breakfast early to compare notes and knowledge. And, no kidding, there was a larger center table with all the other booths and tables around it, where the “major” farmers will sit, by invitation only.

Tom and Virginia Cochran were sorry to miss the Reunion, but they were kind enough to send a beautiful picture of the two of them with Virginia’s cousin, Stuart Medina (MBA ’96) from Evora, Portugal. Tom says they are now semi-retired and splitting time between Vermont and Portugal (not too far from Lisbon). His company retirement gift, a week of

To update your contact information, call +1-434-243-8977 or email alumni@darden.virginia.edu

Tom and Virginia Cochran (both MBA ’89) with Virginia’s cousin, Stuart Medina (MBA ’96), in Evora, Portugal

skiing in Hokkaido in January, confirmed their suspicion there is a Heaven on Earth. With their two boys mostly launched and living in Chicago and Washington DC, they have ample time for travel and a growing number of hobbies. Tom and VA are both studying Portuguese, he is growing oyster mushrooms and Virginia is learning to sing barbershop. They would love to meet up with anyone that happens to be traveling nearby.

On a more somber note, we are sharing the news that the Grayson family (Olivia, Peter, Carol, Judy, Julia, Katie, Alex) lost their loving husband, father and grandfather. Professor Les Grayson was a beloved member of the Darden community and mentor to many students over the years. To memorialize his impact, we would appreciate you taking time to follow the below link to share memories and photos of your time with Les. We will convert this collection into a book for the family to treasure (www.LesGraysonMemorial.com).

Please note the website also contains a link for a donation to the International Resource Committee, which is the organization that helped Les leave war ravaged Europe in 1950 and begin his U.S. journey. Any donations will be made in honor of Les Grayson.

Heather McGrew, Steve Silbiger heatherJMcGrew@gmail.com, silbigerS@gmail.com

As long time readers of our class column, you all know that there is almost nothing we love more than sharing stories about mini reunions of classmates, especially when photos are included. In our recent call for news, we received a number of inquiries

Class of 1990 alumni Vicky Howell-Obresly, Cynthia Ashworth, Susan Sobbott and Mike DelGiudice celebrated a milestone birthday for Cynthia at a TWA-themed hotel in New York City in December.

about the next full class reunion in Charlottesville. Our last reunion was in 2015 and our reunion scheduled for April 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19. It has been a long time since we had an official class reunion. Mark your calendars! Our next class reunion is scheduled for late April 2025. By the time you are reading this column, you likely will have already begun receiving communications from Darden with information on dates, reunion events, accommodations, etc. We hope for a great turnout in 2025!

Speaking of mini reunions, in December 2023, Cynthia Ashworth, Michael DelGiudice, Susan Sobbott, Vicky Howell-Obresly, and Vicky’s husband, Mike, met up in New York City to celebrate Cynthia’s birthday. Vicky and Mike’s eldest daughter, Carolina, even made a brief appearance. Cynthia shared that in February she left NBCUniversal after seven years. Her plans are to take six months off to travel and reflect. Her travel plans sound downright amazing!

As you may recall from our last column, your humble scribe, Heather McGrew, recently relocated from the New York City area to Richmond, Virginia. Our local Darden classmates have been truly wonderful in welcoming me to town. I enjoyed a long catch-up lunch with Beth C. Miller. After a career putting her Darden general management education to use wearing many different hats and serving in many different roles, Beth has returned to her early career roots working in the accounting function. As I’m sure that many of you can relate, going back into accounting has been a great reminder of what she loves about the field and why it was a career choice, and also

Richmond, Virginia.

why she went on to do other things. For now, she is enjoying it. Her daughter, Eliza, graduated from Virginia Tech and is contemplating returning to school to make a career shift into health care. Beth’s son, Christian, is a student at the University of South Carolina.

Frank Kollmansperger, Tom Crowell and Dave “Mole” Mulholland have proven to be a fabulous welcoming committee. Shortly after I moved here, Frank arranged for a welcome lunch with John Davenport, Richard Skeppstrom, Tom, Mole and himself. Half of our lunch was spent sharing funny Darden stories (some of which were reminders that although we are smart people, we did some pretty dumb things!). The other half of the lunch was spent catching up on careers and family. Tom has recently retired from his role as division vice president at Charter Communications. The rest of the group is continuing to work and enjoying what they do. Mole’s two boys are still in high school and are proving to be highly competitive athletes (perpetually inspired by a desire to outperform each other). Everyone else’s kids are out of college and attending grad school and/or launching careers in various cities around the country.

A few weeks later, Tom arranged for us to go on an urban hike along the banks of the James River. We were joined by Tom’s wife, Sheri, and John’s wife, Susan, as well as some of their other friends who love to hike. It was wonderful to get to know Sheri and Susan and their friends. As we were hiking, John shared with me his fascinating journey from finance and investing to accepting a request to advise and mentor a restaurant entrepreneur to owning a family of restaurants in Richmond. He has successfully lured his wife Susan to

Class of 1990 alumni Tom Crowell, John Davenport, Heather McGrew and Frank Kollmansperger enjoyed an urban hike along the James River in

Ambitions

Accomplished for ‘Ten Day MBA’ Author

BY MOLLY MITCHELL

S STEVE SILBIGER (MBA ’90)

teve Silbiger (MBA ’90) came to Darden with two ambitions: to switch careers from accounting to marketing and to become an author someday. Spoiler alert: He accomplished both soon after graduating, when he published his first book, The Ten Day MBA: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Skills Taught in America’s Top Business Schools in 1993. Silbiger decided to get an MBA when he realized that he wanted more opportunities for creativity in his career. After a colleague at Arthur Andersen left to attend Darden, Silbiger visited and later took the plunge himself.

“It was life changing,” he said. “I loved being with people who were as motivated as I was. I loved the interaction of the class.”

It was at Darden that Silbiger solidified his aspirations to write a book into an actual plan while working on a case about career and life planning for Professor Emeritus James Clawson. In the spring of his Second Year, the idea for what became The Ten Day MBA struck him in an unlikely place — the set of the 1991 film “True Colors.”

Silbiger signed up to be an extra for a scene in the movie, which was filmed at the UVA School of Law. For the long filming day, he brought a book that aimed to summarize what one learns in an MBA. While useful, Silbiger felt that the academic style of the book might put off many readers. His idea for a clearer, more accessible, distilled MBA book was born.

After graduating, he started writing and leveraging the Darden alumni network for publishing connections. Three years later, The Ten Day MBA was published. The book sold out of its first printing and has proved to be an evergreen perennial seller — more than

“

I LOVED BEING WITH PEOPLE WHO WERE AS MOTIVATED AS I WAS. I LOVED THE INTERACTION OF THE CLASS.

650,000 copies have been sold to date — as MBA hopefuls in the U.S. and internationally explore what a top MBA program might be like.

As the business world and MBA programs change, Silbiger has released new editions with updated content to keep up with the times, with the help of the most recent Darden graduates. The fifth edition comes out this July, with new subjects included such as artificial intelligence and environmental and social governance.

Alongside his success as an author, Silbiger successfully transitioned after Darden to a career in marketing. He cites the case method as being particularly helpful in his career by preparing him to make decisions with incomplete information and be comfortable with ambiguity.

“That’s the superpower that we’ve been given,” he said. “When I make marketing and product decisions, my inner Yoda from ethics class helps guide me to make the right decision, which is the best business decision.”

work in the business alongside him. They are going to be opening their eighth restaurant soon. John and Susan also shared stories about the joys of becoming grandparents. Oddly, because we were literally hiking, we didn’t stop to pull out phones so that I could see pictures of their granddaughter. I’ll need to correct for that next time I see them!

The crew has continued with periodic lunches, and Rufus Phillips joined us as well. Since 2019 Rufus has been the CEO of the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, whose mission is working towards a Virginia where all people have access to comprehensive, quality healthcare. Over the coming months, I hope to connect with more Darden ’90 classmates in Virginia as well as with other Darden grads who overlapped with our time in Charlottesville.

Speaking of relocating, Jessica Knopp-Gwynne is now living in New York City, enjoying all that it has to offer. Her note described that she has a “portfolio life.” She is working on a freelance basis for private equity firms, sitting on two boards, and investing. The portfolio life provides her with a lot of flexibility, but she misses the day-to-day of being single mindedly focused and being part of a team. At the time of this writing, she is exploring full time roles in the private equity world. Stay tuned. She enjoys spending time with her two young adult children, playing a lot of competitive soccer and traveling as often as possible. She writes, “I love to see other Darden alumni who live in or are passing through New York City!”

Jeanne Mockard and her partner, Valerie, have moved back east. They now live near Frederick, Maryland. Jeanne can still do board

Dave Mulholland, Frank Kollmansperger, Rufus Phillips, Tom Crowell and Heather McGrew of the Class of 1990 enjoyed a mini-reunion over lunch in Richmond, Virginia.

work from their new home base, and they are now two hours from Camp Strawderman, which they now run. Jeanne and Valerie both grew up in Maryland, and Jeanne writes, “it’s nice to be home.” Jeanne continues to enjoy her nonprofit work and is on two corporate boards. One is the insurance company that insures all the nuclear plants in the country, and a few abroad, and the other is Employers Inc., a workers comp publicly traded company. Jeanne shared, “I am very honored to say that I was recently named chair of the Employers Board. Can’t wait to see everyone in 2025!”

Sally and Brian Cors continue to live in Northern Virginia but are increasingly spending time in Chicago, Illinois, where both of their daughters and their significant others now live. Sally attributes both of their daughters choosing to live in Chicago to all the hype they’ve heard their entire lives from Brian and Sally’s year there right after graduation. Their daughter Stephanie is working for Capital One and their daughter Kristin is working for Accenture. Because both Stephanie and Kristin’s significant others are fellow Hoos, Sally is hopeful they will eventually feel called to come home. Sally is retired now, filling the time with pickleball, mentoring at-risk kids and lots of travel and social activities. Brian has corsPro in “maintenance mode” and is focusing on new hobbies (lots of pickleball for him too) and helping his dad with his lifelong passion to build the Americans in Wartime Experience Museum near Quantico, Virginia.

Bob Cox and his wife, Shawn, live in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and think of themselves as lucky to live within two miles of their offices. Their son, John, is a sophomore

Tim Gould and Noell Michaels (both MBA ’90) take a monthly hike with “Uncle Ken” Eades in Charlottesville.

at George Mason University and is majoring in cybersecurity engineering. Bob is a partner at Briglia Hundley, PC, a litigation focused law firm in Tysons Corner. He practices in the areas of commercial litigation and accountants’ liability (PCAOB and SEC investigations and proceedings). Bob writes, “My wife and I recently took a great vacation to Costa Rica and definitely recommend it. I occasionally get together with Jim Hart for lunch.”

Chris Crisman and his wife, Shari, continue to enjoy Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, although he says it has gotten a bit crowded since the pandemic. He shared, “This is the first house I have ever lived in for more than four years, even as a child, which feels a little weird.” Shari is still saving the world, teaching students with exceptional needs, and Chris is splitting time between two orthopedic surgery startups as president and CEO of RetractOrtho in San Diego, California, and vice president of Sales and Marketing for Tissium in Paris, France. A third company is on the horizon once he has time to get it up and running.

Larry Selzer sent in this note: “I keep up with Frank Kollmansperger and Rufus Phillips regularly. The thing we have in common is my oldest son who lives in Richmond, Virginia, and counts Frank and Rufus as very close friends. There are lots of interesting projects at the Conservation Fund, including a very large forest conservation transaction in Washington State earlier this year. The working forest (21,000 acres) is part of the State’s efforts to address climate change, and we are now in discussions about a second big project with the State. I’m still living in Winchester, Virginia, but travel is now back to pre-COVID-19 levels so I am away part of almost every week.”

Gina Hoagland and her husband, Lee, continue to enjoy empty nesting. Their youngest, Simone, is a junior at Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their middle child, Nathan, is working for a Silicon Valley startup and living in Oakland, California. Their eldest, Keith, has returned to St. Louis, Missouri, post-college and is an early childhood teacher. Gina’s firm is focused on their core practice with family business, and she spends quite a bit of time on corporate board work, strategy and succession. They are always looking for qualified, experienced leaders, especially from family business, to serve on fiduciary and advisory boards for their clients. Gina was recently featured in a Private Company Director (PCD) article called “CEO Development and the Board” and will be a panelist at the PCD governance summit in Washington, D.C., in May. You can find the article here: www.privatecompanydirector.com/ceo-development-and-the-board.

Thank you to everyone who sent in notes and photos for our column. We love reading and sharing your updates. We are excited about our upcoming reunion in 2025. Please keep your eye out for communications from Darden on logistics information.

Laurel Peltier

laurel.peltier@gmail.com

Thank you to all our classmates who shared an update. And many thank-yous to Chris Black for spearheading our private D’91 LinkedIn page! About half of our class are members and post great updates. Anytime you have a fun life or work story, great classmate photo, or a media hit, please email chrisblack0545@gmail.com. He’ll post your story to our private D’91 LinkedIn site: www.linkedin.com/groups/9151939.

Tracy S. Swindell flies in with this note: “At long last, 100-plus tuitions later, we are empty nesters. But what a tease, happily so, as our kids frequently show up for just the right amount of time to share their energy and tales of their latest escapades. No grandkids on the horizon, as, even with four kids in their 20s, they are all very single at the moment, including our teenage holdout, now a freshman in college. If there is one thing I know, time flies more quickly every day. Doing my best to enjoy the next phase of this fantastic ride.”

Pascal Monteiro de Barros sends a dispatch in from between the Cotswolds

and London, U.K.: “We are looking forward to spending more time in Portugal over the coming years. My eldest is living in Lisbon, Portugal, and her sisters are both in Paris, France. Both my boys are living together in the West Village, New York City. I am in touch with Guillaume Cuvelier and see lots of Casey Norman who lives down the road in Gloucs, U.K. We go for a big walk and an even bigger meal once a month. I heard recently from Ben Brake and Chris Maclellan, but we missed each other. I am still running Investor Relations at Stirling Square, a leading pan-European mid-market PE firm. We are currently raising our fifth fund in a challenging market. I just attended a London event for Darden alumni for Dean Beardsley, organized by Louis Elson (MBA ’90). Karen Boecker was there. The school seems to be in good shape.”

Shelton Horsley writes: “Still living the dream in Richmond, Virginia. Elizabeth and I are holding down the fort with our dogs, Bodie and Goose. May 2023 and May 2024 will have seen our two boys graduate from the University of Georgia with jobs! We have become big fans of the Dawgs, though UVA is still number one in our hearts. I occasionally bump into Tom Reedy and had the pleasure of seeing Rick Fogg in Idaho where he is a fly-fishing guide and golf instructor.”

Chris Black continues to teach Leadership and Communications classes for multiple organizations. He is also enjoying being back in Atlanta, Georgia, after living in Washington, D.C., for four years. He is happy to be in close proximity to the Florida beaches again. He continues to host the D’91 Spotlight private LinkedIn page for the Class of ’91. Chris encourages D ’91 classmates to review and offer contributions to the site at www.linkedin. com/groups/9151939.

David Roche sends in a bubbly update: “I’m in my 25th year of living in Atlanta, Georgia, which I continue to love. I just celebrated my 15-year anniversary at Coca-Cola (over two separate stints) as director of Customer Marketing. I have an upcoming trip to Italy (Florence and Venice), where I’m visiting my youngest niece who’s doing a college semester abroad. I continue to stay active by walking three miles and practicing yoga several times a week.”

Ending with my study group partner’s update, Jim Kent, zooms in with his family’s

update: “I can’t believe it’s spring, finally! Lisa and I recently took a trip to Costa Rica with an old Navy buddy and his wife. It was beautiful, warm, friendly and safe. We had fun in sand and sun, ziplining in the forest, snorkeling and other eco-tour activities. I heartily recommend the west coast of Costa Rica. I’m still mostly retired and staring down Medicare when I turn 65 in August. Likely I’m one of the early cohort in our class to join that demographic. I’m starting to think about downsizing and where to do the whole ‘golden years’ thing. Del Boca Vista! (Not.) I’m busy fixing up two old Porsches that I’m puttering on. Parts are a constant frustration. Old cars are fun. Best to get one that’s already done rather than a fixer upper! Lots of skinned knuckles and cursing. I’m still golfing and I’m still terrible, but I enjoy it. I joined a club down the road that has 36 holes. Anybody near Winchester, Virginia, looking for an afternoon round during the week should get in touch!”

Asli Keskinel Eksioglu asli@aslieksioglu.com

Greetings from a beautiful sunny Easter weekend in Istanbul, Turkey!

We have only one update, from Jan Erik Braathen: “I was visiting Charlottesville and Washington, D.C., in March 2024. I managed to see Virginia play several basketball games, which was great. I was also so lucky that I could spend some time with Dot Kelly, Judith Baker, Eric Dean, Jon Pelson and Richard Longstaff. They are all doing great.”

It’s wonderful to hear that so many connected in Charlottesville, and all are doing great! Looking forward to receive more and more updates next time, no matter how short; please do write! Always with love to each and all of you, dear Class of ’92!

Laura Curran, May Ng, Rebecca Kilduff

lauracurran@me.com, ngmay2000@yahoo.com, beccaindc@gmail.com

First off, congratulations to Jandie Smith Turner and Donna M. McAleer!

Jandie is one of six Darden alumni to be recognized as one of Darden’s First Black Trailblazers. Jandie will be participating in a panel discussion with the other trailblazers at Darden in April 2024 where she will share

her experiences in “an enlightening conversation about the joys and challenges of being trailblazers at Darden and what compels them to give back.” Jandie is the founder and CEO of Acuity Events, a golf-centered events company.

As the executive director of the Bicycle Collective in Salt Lake City, Utah, Donna McAleer was honored as one of the esteemed recipients of the 2024 Utah Business CEO of the Year award. “This event honors CEOs who have led their organizations with strength, courage, and endurance and have made it their mission to change the way we do business in Utah.”

From May Ng and Rebecca Kilduff: “By now, you all have probably figured out that Laura Curran has joined us as a class secretary. She’s an excellent addition to our team and we’re incredibly grateful for her dedicated volunteerism! Welcome, Laura, and thank you!”

From Amy Ritz: “I can’t believe it’s almost a year since our reunion. I’m still remembering the great conversations and big laughs we shared.

“I’m still at Accenture, working in client relationship marketing with our account teams in the health and public service industry. But as you can imagine, the Barbie movie had me reminiscing about my days on the Barbie brand. I saw it with my daughter, which was incredibly special. Yes, I loved it and yes, I cried.

“I’m experiencing empty nesting — Adam is finishing his senior year as a mechanical engineer at Brown. Zoe is on a gap year, based in Israel, and travelling the world with the program. She most recently spent two weeks in India (of which I am very jealous). And yes, she is safely living in Israel. If we are connected on social media, you will know that the events of 7 October and the subsequent rise of antisemitism has been devastating.

“I’ve had two wonderful travel adventures this year. I met up with the kids in Thailand at the end of December, travelling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, to Ao Nang, and then Siem Reap, Cambodia. In February, my sister and I spent a week in Rome, Italy. A more accurate description would be that we spent a week eating our way through Rome!

“If you are ever in Los Angeles, California, please let me know! I’d love to connect with any of my D ’93 classmates.”

Charlotte Thompson says: “The Netherlands is still treating me well. I wintered

on an island only reachable by boat, which was a lot of fun, and am now just getting settled in a new house in a small village. My Dutch-American son, age 22, is doing an internship in Dublin, Ireland, so I am enjoying having the house to myself!

“My job as sales manager at Microsoft still continues to challenge me, as we get the whole company energized with all the developments in generative AI.

“I am so grateful to have had the time at Darden and look fondly back at my time there. What a transformative place!”

From Ted Forbes: “Deborah and I continue our rhythm of winters skiing in the Wasatch mountains of Utah and summers on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. We both work seasonally at Deer Valley (the obligatory ‘pass gig’) and then spend April through October fishing and crabbing and biking etc. in the Pacific Northwest. Last August we all met up at Grand Targhee in Wyoming for Julia and McCoy’s wedding on the peak, followed by the annual blue grass festival for the celebration. I still keep busy doing executive coaching and working with C-suite teams as they scale up. All the best to folks!”

This was Todd Azadian’s year of travel: “I finally got back to Asia after 25 years. I went to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in the fall and then Cuba this winter.

“I learned a lot and saw quite the contrasts. Vietnam is booming as an alternative to the China supply chain. Cambodia is struggling back with tourism as the main driver. Thailand is always there in my heart as one of the most lovely places on the planet. This time I went deep into the Muslim south to find what I call unspoiled Thailand (Definition: Any airport must be at least two ferries and a long tuk-tuk ride away).

“The real eye opener for me was Cuba. I had never been before and it’s hard for me to over emphasize the desperation of the people there. Anyone under 35 wants out and food rations are the focus of every person’s daily existence. I hope they find the will to at least sort out the agricultural system in order to feed themselves soon.

“Meanwhile, I’m enjoying retired life as an oyster farmer on the Damariscotta River with friends. Please look me up if you’re in Midcoast, Maine (next to Boothbay).”

Rebecca Kilduff is teaching marketing fulltime at Old Dominion University while running

her children’s clothing store, the White Rabbit. And she is managing three kids, two dogs and eight chickens!

Gerry Sequeira: After retiring and moving to Spain with his wife, Pillar, they have been enjoying their new lives hiking, traveling around Spain and the rest of Europe. He’s also taking courses at the local university and living an unhurried lifestyle.

Mike Yamamoto just finished a five-week ski trip with friends and is about to head off to Tahiti, French Polynesia, including Bora Bora. Later in the year, he’ll be finishing up visits to all national parks in the lower 48.

Ray George: Ray and Sally’s son Reggie finished his college career with a semester at the University of Barcelona, where Ray and Sally visited over Thanksgiving. Ray and Sally also recently returned from a vacation in Costa Rica.

Otis Robinson: He’s been working as a business and supply chain consultant for SMBs and mid-sized businesses. He is a board member of the College of Charleston’s alumni association and currently lives outside of Columbia, South Carolina.

Vince Bowen recently got together, along with his sister, with Donna McAleer to ski at Deer Valley, Utah.

Jason Lunday: “I was working on my company’s executive team to sell our business to a larger company, and am now working on the integration with the new company. I recently inherited a chihuahua and so am living a new life with a dog.” (Editor note: thank you, Jason, for your MVP level update!)

Ken Pawlak: “The better-late-than-never Tahoe storm was excellent. It took several

Class of 1993 alumni Donna McAleer and Vince Bowen, along with Vince’s sister, went skiing in Deer Valley, Utah.

and

days to get a lot of the best parts of the mountain open again, but then it was great fun. My shovel gym kept me in shape while we waited to shred pow again.”

From Yoichi Tamura: In an upcoming development, Ryo Kanayama is set to assume the role of president at Fleishman-Hillard Japan starting next month. With a vision to spearhead and rejuvenate the renowned communication consultancy, Ryo aims to enact impactful changes not only in Japan but across Asia and globally. His appointment signals a promising future for the consultancy and its endeavors in the region and beyond.

John Kiernan (JD/MBA): John Kiernan is a farmer. He beat the rush to move to Florida and took a job with Alico in Fort Myers in 2015 after a career at Bear Stearns and a handful of corporate positions. As CEO of the publicly traded largest citrus grower in the U.S., which is the largest supplier to Tropicana, he watches the weather more than the stock market. He is still happily married after 26 years, and although only one of his three kids went to UVA, he is proud of each of them.

Laura Curran and Prathima Rao met for breakfast on a clear crisp January day in Newport Beach, California. Prathima still lives in London, U.K., and would love to see fellow Darden visitors.

Laura Curran is working at Microsoft again, 30 years after our MBA internship in 1992 with Donna McAleer, Joe Heastie and Tory Johnston. She has also been participating in Alumni Career Services network calls.

Marty Speight specializes in helping 1980s and 1990s alumni with resume refresh, interview prep, and company insights

Ted Forbes (MBA ’93) and his partner, Deborah, attended their kid’s wedding.

and keeps up-to-date through her constant interactions with alumni and companies. ACS covers topics such as job search, using AI in job search, HR topics, and helping alumni of all generations look for new opportunities. “I’ve also met 1980s and 1990s grads working on second career and retirement plans. It’s fun to see familiar faces and make new friends.”

Your classmates do love hearing about you! Send updates to May Ng (NgMay2000@yahoo. com), Laura Curran (lauracurran@me.com), or Rebecca Kilduff (beccaindc@gmail.com).

Tamara Harvey de Dios tamaradedios@yahoo.com

For this edition I get to submit two sets of notes: one before our 30th reunion and one after. The before notes are a bit sparse, but here goes.

Yoga is hot! Christy Brock Miele has been our resident yoga expert for quite some time. She reported that her virtual yoga or “beyond yoga classes are benefiting people from our Class of ’94 with mobility and results: Lea Medow, Tom Klenke and Mike Burke to name a few. The retreat in January was a hit!” If you’re interested, you can sign up at www.yogamindedstudio.com.

Let’s travel! Cristian Balbontin let us know that he is still managing his travel business, Highland Adventures, and has been playing with the idea of organizing an Inca Trail adventure to Machu Picchu, Peru, for our class (2024 or 2025). He thinks it would be fun to put a group together (families included) to travel to Machu Picchu and do the famous hike. On the personal side, his son Nicholas finished law school at William & Mary and

is a second-year associate with Williams Mullen, while his daughter Alex is a registered dietitian and sees patients suffering from diabetes. Both are based in Richmond, Virginia. Life moves fast. Cristian is still based in Miami, Florida, but is considering moving back to Virginia (closer to family).

“We can’t travel to reunion; we have children!” Charles Shook and his wife Kristin (reporting from Raleigh, North Carolina) sent their regrets for reunion since their son Paschal has two events that weekend that are command performances leading up to his graduation from UNC in May. Their daughter Ellen graduated in 2019, and moved to New York City where she landed a gig in the corporate marketing department of West Elm in Brooklyn. She moved back to Raleigh a few months ago but still works for them. We’ll miss you, Shook family, but wish you all the best since you are lucky to have both children living so close. However, the kids did not get in the way of some Darden fun. Charles was able to twist the arms of Douglas Kirkman, Tom Klenke and Mark Riser to come to Beaufort, North Carolina, last October to go fishing. “We had a blast and it was great to see everyone, but the fish didn’t cooperate quite as much as we wanted.” (Tom Klenke, are you ever at home?)

“We can’t travel to reunion; we have grandkids!” Our classmate John Meiling might be our top legacy producer. He and his wife, Pamela, have four children (two of whom were at Darden with us) and seven grandchildren … all age 5 and under, spread across three families. He sent his regrets for reunion as they will be watching three of their granddaughters while their son and his wife do a house hunting trip. There are many ways to not get sleep during reunion weekend!

Virginia rocks! At least two of our other classmates also love Virginia and are finding their way back to Charlottesville. Rob Cross and Tanya Tolpegin, with her husband, Bill (MBA ’95), are putting down roots in this most beautiful part of the Commonwealth. If anyone wants to start a retirement community in C’ville for Darden grads, I’m in!

That’s it for our pre-report. Jorge and I can’t wait to see you in Charlottesville!

Reunion update

Our 30th reunion is a wrap and what a gathering it was. Thank you to all who made the

Ryo Kanayama

Yoichi Tamura

the Class of 1993

trip for reunion, whether it was across town or across the pond! Three travelers of note were those who needed passports for the journey: Martha White (Italy), Thomas Falck (Norway) and Alfonso de los Casares (Spain). We had many others who traveled from myriad points across the U.S. C’ville is not an easy destination, and we appreciate you all!

For those who arrived early, there were gatherings at local watering holes and classmates’ homes. The number of locals is growing, and there was talk of building a retirement community exclusively for Darden alumni. I think there’s a business case there!

On Friday and Saturday, we had the pleasure of attending various sessions hosted by Darden faculty and staff. We learned about coaching, planning our careers and even discussed a case on SVB. Professor Jeanne Liedtka reminisced about her 30-plus years at Darden as our luncheon speaker, and we felt a special kinship with her as we were one of her very early classes.

We upped our game for class event venues. On Friday night, we met at the Quirk Hotel rooftop and what a view! Our faculty guests that evening were Jeanne and Professor Ed Freeman. It was fun to chat with both! Jeanne is retiring this year and it’s rumored that Ed makes only rare appearances at class events, so we felt honored to have shared this evening with them both. We were also treated to a lively a capella serenade by the UVA men’s chorus.

On Saturday, some headed to Foxfield and the rest enjoyed wine tasting at Southwest Mountains Vineyard. Mike Burke and Kathryn Welsh Thompson sponsored this event and Ian Ratcliffe treated the wine-tasting crowd to a complimentary bottle of their favorite red or white, so thank you all for your generous gifts. We also owe a big “thank you” to Kathryn for coordinating the Friday and Saturday class events.

For Saturday evening, we enjoyed our class dinner at The Forum Hotel. The experience on Grounds is at a whole new level with the hotel and botanical gardens. Cristian Balbontin gathered the class on the steps of Saunders Hall for the traditional class photo. Then we headed to the faculty garden to dedicate a tree in memory of Damon DeVito. His wife Lesli had selected this special tree earlier in the week, and she joined us as

Carl Peoples and Rob Archer shared their memories and led a champagne toast to our dear friend and classmate. When you have the opportunity to visit Darden, please take a moment to stop by and remember our good times together. Damon’s tree is in the Thomas Jefferson Garden outside of the Oak Boardroom. There is an interactive map on the Darden website to find the location of all memorial trees.

As your class secretary, I sent out a survey before reunion to see if I could find out some cool trivia about our class. Thirty-nine wonderful classmates responded, and the rest was history. We gathered toward the end of the evening to share our memories and see how much we remembered about our class. Lively debate ensued about which section everyone had actually been in — memory loss is keen! Professor Alan Beckenstein and his wife were our guests for the evening, and they said ours had been one of their favorite class dinners to attend. That made my night and I really enjoyed playing emcee for our trip down memory lane. For the curious who could not attend, we nominated 33 members of the faculty as our “favorite professor.” Bob Bruner was the frontrunner with 13 votes, and we had a four-way tie for second place between Paul Farris, Mr. B (Dick Brownlee), Dana Clyman and Sherwood Frey. The most amazing part was that we remembered so many as being the best. What a testament to our outstanding faculty!! Now I have (only) five years to figure out something fun for our 35th!

Official events wrapped up Sunday morning with breakfast at the Forum Hotel. It was great to see so many of us meet up for that last chance to hug and make plans to come back for the next one. We were also inspired to try and not wait five years to see each other once again. The women who live in the Washington, D.C., area are already planning an event. How about the rest of you? We are an extraordinary class, and I’m proud to be one of you.

I need to add shout-outs to two classmates who had the best reasons for missing reunion: 1) Chris Matt, who earned the gold at the U.S. Fencing Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, over the weekend. He will be competing for world champion in Dubai in October. Cheers to you, Chris. We will be rooting for you! 2) Andrew Logan, who was home with his new daughter. Andrew and his wife,

Grace, welcomed Maddie in November 2023 (and he won our trivia game for the classmate with the youngest child!)

My other shout-out is to Rita Shreyer for making the trip to Charlottesville. No explanation needed — just, “You go girl!”

Thank you to our reunion chairs Carl Peoples and Kathryn Welsh Thompson and our extended committee of Martha White (and her shoe diaries!); Mike Burke (and his 100 Top Reasons to Love Darden); Thomas Falck (who has been to every reunion and is our representative Viking); Hunt James (and his cool Foxfield pants); Rob and Daryl Lubin (for being good sports about sharing dinner napkins); Cliff Farrah (who worked us in around all of the cool things his kids are accomplishing); Chris Howe and Joe Zuber (we missed you Joe, but we think Chris had a great time anyway); and Christy Brock Miele, Rebecca Healey Hughes and Joanna Bressel-Wilder (our virtual reunion committee, who gave their time even though they couldn’t be there in person). Your help with planning, reviewing and moral support helped make this our best reunion yet.

Nene Spivy, Gina Merritt gmerritt@nreuv.com, nspivy@aol.com

Virginie Kleinclaus shared an exciting update about her next chapter in life. After leaving Universal Studios in 2020, she embarked on “a new journey imbued with greater humanity and meaning” and pursued training as an executive coach. She made her permanent home on the enchanting Greek island of Aegina, a mere hour’s boat ride from Athens. And she began

Christy Brock Miele (MBA ’94) hosted a yoga retreat for Class of 1994 classmates in January. Mike Burke and his wife, Jenny, attended, but Mike (as usual) was not available for a photo.

MICHELLE HORN (MBA ’95)

Finding the Through Lines

BY DAVE HENDRICK

After starting her career as a journalist in the Middle East, Michelle Horn (MBA ’95) has worked in government sales and C-level positions across three global organizations, including 22 years at McKinsey & Co., SoftBank and now Delta Air Lines.

The through line in a varied, global career: “I am a lover of solving complex issues, building new opportunities and doing both with great people,” said Horn. “My whole life is one case discussion after another.”

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Horn’s childhood included living in Germany, Bolivia, Portugal, France and Jordan by the time she finished college. As a new graduate, the now-Atlanta, Georgia, resident found herself selling computer systems in Washington, D.C. Interesting and complicated work, Horn said, but she felt hungry for more. While she knew an MBA could be a ticket to broader professional experiences, she wasn’t prepared for the transformative experience she found in her two years at Darden.

“I found my voice and learned to debate productively and gather my thoughts on the fly,” Horn said. “At the same time, the whole rich and varied world of business opened up for me.”

Barely familiar with consulting before Darden, Horn blazed a unique path at McKinsey across two decades as a C-level partner serving consumer-focused clients across transportation, retail, and packaged goods. She eventually became chief of staff to McKinsey’s worldwide managing director as the company forged a path forward following the global financial crisis.

“We needed to figure out how to grow forward with purpose,”

“

I AM A LOVER OF SOLVING COMPLEX ISSUES, BUILDING NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND DOING BOTH WITH GREAT PEOPLE.

Horn said. “We were leading the transformation of the firm versus doing it for a client.”

Fueled by a love of building new opportunities, complex issues and global scale, Horn couldn’t resist the opportunity to move to SoftBank to build and scale fast-growth, AI-driven companies. Then in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta Air Lines offered another opportunity for Horn to lead growth forward at a time when the company faced significant debt and operations were at 15 percent of pre-pandemic flying.

Helping Delta stabilize and grow its loved travel brand for its customers and employees was an irresistible proposition. Horn, who serves as senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Delta, is responsible for transformation, enterprise planning and initiatives, and fleet acquisition. “For a strategy person, it was a perfect opportunity to ask how we both grow back even better and further elevate customer experience and loyalty.”

For Horn, her husband John, a UVA Law graduate, and their family, connection to UVA and Darden has been another through line.

“Our paths just keep circling back, and it’s been a privilege to be connected to the incredible progress and vibrant people that make up Darden,” said Horn.

Emily and Mitch Wander (both MBA ’95) pose with their family in California.

an inspiring endeavor on the island known as Laughing Heart. She is in the process of building a home that will also host like-minded people from around the globe. Virginie is creating this space to be a breathing sanctuary where people can rest and work on personal growth. Stay tuned for further developments on this exciting journey! Her three wonderful children have been unwavering in their support of her “quest for my good life.” Alex, age 25, and Nico, age 23, are working and living in Paris, France, and Alice, age 19, is preparing to pursue studies at McGill in Canada next fall.

Brad Macomber is excited to have fellow Darden ’95 classmate Sara McNamara recently join him at Navy Federal Credit Union. He also shared that his spring is filled with college campus visits to help his youngest decide which college offer to accept. She got into UVA, so they are headed back to Charlottesville to check it out.

Our very own Gina (Northern) Merritt was a big winner at the 2023 Stevie Awards late last year. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor the achievements of women executives and entrepreneurs. Gina won three Stevie awards including “Social Change Maker of the Year” in recognition of her visionary work through Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures and Project Community Capital (PCC). PCC supports individuals who are underserved and underestimated and demonstrate RTA (Ready-To-Work) by helping them secure long-term employment. They also assist them in building their social network to find a home, buy a car, and invest in their

A Class of 1995 mini-reunion occurred last fall in Fairhope, Alabama, at the home of John Ebner, including Susan and Mark Cox, Keith White and Maura Mahoney, Katita and Bill Strathmann, and Martha Piper.

future. Congratulations to Gina and thank you for your outstanding service!

2023 was a momentous year for Ariel Eckstein and family. Their daughter Sonia graduated from Dartmouth and began working at a wind energy startup in Boulder, Colorado. Their son, Nico, continued his architectural studies at Tulane, “working and enjoying college harder than any of us can fathom.” His wife, Kerri, began working as an operations director at Hearts and Homes for Refugees, a non-profit focused on supporting recently arrived refugees as they tackle the challenges of beginning life in a new country, ranging from English lessons to housing, employment and community. And Ariel hung up his LinkedIn ID card after 14 years and launched his coaching business, ThreePeaksCC, focused on helping clients live the life to which they aspire. In addition, Ariel started teaching at Darden as an adjunct faculty member. His first course is Building and Leading a Professional Sales Force. Ariel also continued his cycling adventures, riding through Spain, Utah and across New York State on the Erie Canal trail and skiing in Colorado and Utah. Both Ariel and Kerri are Big Brothers/Sisters to young people in Westchester County, New York, and Ariel is the board vice chair of the Rye Arts Center. They would love to see Darden friends in the New York area or who are traveling through.

Emily and Mitch Wander still live in Washington, D.C. As for the rest of the family, they have a daughter in eighth grade, a son attending junior year of college in Massachusetts, and a beloved Jack Russell terrier, Hazel the water dog, who accompanies them all (mostly Mitch) on their hiking, kayaking and swimming

adventures. Emily is the chief revenue officer (CRO) for an e-commerce community and event series. Mitch shifts gears regularly between policy work streams at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and teaching courses as an Army Reservist. Most inspiring to the Wanders remains travel. They spent winter break in Miami, Florida, and then, including Mitch’s mom, enjoyed San Diego and Catalina Island in California. New adventures are always in the works.

Catherine Twitmyer and Fraizer Holt Schulman enjoyed a quick Darden-Wharton reunion weekend last fall and passed on the smallDarden-world story that Frazier’s son, Sam, is currently roommates with Lenora and Justin Hunter’s son at Georgetown.

Another Darden gathering occurred last fall with a group of classmates and their spouses in Fairhope, Alabama, at the home of John Ebner, including Susan and Mark Cox, Keith White and Maura Mahoney, Katita and Bill Strathmann, and Martha Piper.

Frank Martien

frank.b.martien@gmail.com

Lynn Atkinson still serves as COO in San Francisco, California, at Mainsail Partners, which focuses on growth equity. Her two daughters, aged 16 in high school and 19 in college, are well. She is still skiing, biking, and hiking in her free time and has kept up with John Fruehwirth and Ligia Zamora

Agi Dalos has enjoyed the spring that came very early this year, including gardening as an opportunity to maintain a positive balance in life. She’s quite proud of her son Balint, age 19, who has just completed the

Catherine Twitmyer and Fraizer Holt Schulman (both MBA ’95) enjoyed a quick Darden-Wharton reunion weekend last fall.

entrance exam to the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, as a classical pianist. She had a great time with Berengere Sutherland and Kent Sutherland when they visited Budapest before Christmas to catch up after 30 years. Agi still leads the people and culture agenda of Diageo’s Eastern Europe business and has fun with their brands. For example, she recently launched their Johnny Walker campaign for the progress of women with a Hungarian sport shoe brand, Dorco, including limited edition JW-branded sneakers for International Women’s Day with proceeds supporting an NGO for small companies to progress on diversity and gender equity.

David Edinger left his role as CIO for the City and County of Denver to be the State of Colorado’s CIO for Governor Jared Polis. He credits Marty Speight for being instrumental in preparing him for the interview process. He’s finding this new position fascinating and a bit stressful given the cybersecurity threats governments are facing. He and his wife, Amy, have two off at college, Abby is graduating from University of Puget Sound and Charlie is a sophomore at University of Oregon, and they are still busy with twins Joe and Sam, age 13, who enjoy skiing and soccer. David sees Allyson and James Crawford regularly and they’re starting a new consulting business together.

Brenda (Lamb) Hernandez took a new position as CFO of Scenthound, a franchised dog hygiene and wellness business with more than 85 locations. She found this opportunity through Mike Sutton (MBA ’10), whose private equity firm owns a stake in the business. Many other Darden graduates have also found this business exciting and have invested as franchisees: Jacob Lee (MBA ’18), Percival Palomar (MBA ’18), Tara Reddy (MBA ’15), and Bill Gray (MBA ’99); so, the annual Scenthound conference is also a miniDarden reunion! Very soon there might be two more Darden graduates in the fold as well. While fitting in a vacation with a new job was quite challenging, she and her husband made a bucket-list trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Tanzania — for those looking for recommendations for the best safari, Kenya’s Maasai Mara was her favorite.

Sachin Mehra has been quite busy at work with 2024 off to a fast start, including travel to Canada, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, and Thailand. His family is busy: his wife, Bina,

with her interior design business, their daughter with her job in Manhattan, and their son in his junior year at Villanova. Sachin hosted a mini reunion at his place with Neeraj Bhagat, Arpan Sheth, and Mandeep Dhillon all making it there for Super Bowl weekend.

Dennis Morgan has spent the last 15 years as CFO for several venture-backed technology companies spanning a range of industries. Some of these have had great success. He’s been working from home since the pandemic, appreciates the commute, but has gotten a little Zoom crazy. He’s lived in Concord, Massachusetts, for the last 10 years. With his oldest of three boys graduating from Michigan this year, he’s enjoyed 10 football games over the past several years, including the National Championship in Houston, Texas.

Stephan Oppenheimer is still in New York somehow, with one kid off to college next year, and a junior up next. He continues to look at small nichey growth investments, yet the dream of actually managing one remains elusive. Some of those explorations have led to reconnections with ’96 folks doing interesting things, including Marty Speight, Kent Carstater, Neeraj Bhagat, Scott Garner, John Chrosniak, and Wesley Wright. He had some good laughs as usual with both Al Patel and John Berry (MBA/JD ’98) when they came through New York recently. Al is still in Chicago, Illinois, and John is in Los Angeles, California. He’s also still playing some music in a few bands in New York and elsewhere, trying to migrate to country; although the pay has not kept up with inflation and Taylor Swift still has not returned any of his calls!

Jen Smokevitch is living on the Northern Beaches just outside Sydney, Australia, with Aussie husband James, son Ryan (age 13 going on 22 apparently!) and dog Freddo. She’s continued working in her own consultancy, Roundtable Consulting, and has recently worked on a post-acquisition, full IT transformation of all cloud-based systems for a major Australian technology company. She reflects on how business has evolved from when she first graduated and began in the consulting world. Operationally and organizationally, businesses are taking a tech-led approach. She also sees Matt Tice from time to time as he now lives just up the road and has been fortunate enough to collaborate with him on a few projects.

Donn Takaki is in Hawaii, still growing his business, HawkTree. He travels outside the state every month and has two sons, ages 13 and 17. Donn’s glad to have drinks with any classmates who may come out to any of the Hawaiian Islands.

Matt Tice is still in Sydney, Australia, and recently moved houses after 24 years in the same area. His sons, ages 16 and 20, are keeping everyone busy. Matt is still managing and growing Insurgence Group and he has also taken on two board chairman roles with a national charity and an engineering company. He also has a third board role with a social enterprise company. Matt is still playing over 35 rugby, spearfishing, sailing occasionally, and otherwise enjoying life in Sydney. He will be in the U.S. this July and hopes to catch up with a few classmates.

Mark Bridgers, Karen Castellon MBridgers@ContinuumCapital.net, KarenCastellon908@gmail.com

We open the Class Notes again by highlighting that ever elusive “Sasquatch” … an individual who made such a high-quality choice in an employer when graduating from Darden that they remain at this employer today. We still have several Sasquatch classmates, including Tayfun Basar, who remains at ExxonMobil; Steve Collins, who is still with the Prudential Capital Group; David Cooper, who started at Bain and remains as a partner; Thom Lacy, who started and remains at Robert W. Baird & Co. as managing director; and Jim McIntyre, who remains at Merck as vice president and head of global business development at Merck Animal Health. In the end, however, there will only be one Sasquatch left. Who will be that last one?

David Cooper recently posted on LinkedIn:

“Now that I am approaching my mid-50s, I am glad to read from my Bain Futures colleagues that more workers expect to work and contribute longer. I have been singularly impressed with the CEOs I have worked with in their 60s and 70s. As Bob Dylan said, ‘Oh the times, they are a changing.’” David’s post hit a nerve for me as we are all in the same boat. How has so much time passed?

The Class of ’97 had its first ever Zoom call in February 2024 to celebrate the publication of Louis Gump’s book, The Inside Innovator, currently an Amazon best seller.

Louis shared his journey through the world of book publishing, as well as highlights from the book. See his author website (www. louisgump.com), where you can order your copy. Our classmate Vicki Raimey is prominently featured in the book and helped lead the discussion for the 22 classmates that tuned in. They included David Altman, Brian Bednar, Ed Berkowitz, Mark Bridgers, Nadine Burnett (from courtside at a child’s basketball game), Karen Castellon, Ted Castellon, John Cox, Carolyn Deng, Todd Gilliam, Sarah Helmicki, Jim Hermens, Jason Jordan, Gee McVey, Chris Murphy, John Olsson (who says hello from Austin, Texas), Luigi Picollo, Ben Pivar, John Vaccaro and Derrick Williams This event was enjoyed by all, and Karen and I are going to try to run two of these a year. If you have suggestions on topics, let us know. The next one will take place in the fall of 2024. Thom Lacy, another one of our Sasquatches, reports his spring and summer is filled with “traveling on a vintage jet ski in the lakes of rural Wisconsin” and staying connected with multiple classmates, including Anthony Graziano, who is splitting time up and down the east coast from Florida to South Carolina to Vermont in his business ventures. Thom; his wife, Jane; and children, Cat, a sophomore at Texas Christian University business school; and Marcus, age 14 and in high school at the Berkshire School in Massachusetts, are all doing well.

Jim McIntyre will celebrate his 27th work anniversary at Merck during 2024 and is one of the last few Sasquatches. Ed Berkowitz took the initiative after the Louis Gump book webinar to successfully pull together several class members for

drinks in Atlanta, Georgia, at El Azteca. In attendance were Derrick Williams, Ben Pivar, Ed Berkowitz, Louis Gump, Saira Joseph, and Vicki Raimey. A reported great time was had by all including food, laughs, and family/work discussions. The group has committed to meet again and try to pull in more Atlantans, including Dave Mikita, whose wife works at Cox with Ed. Great work, Ed, in pulling together this group!

Brad Blonkvist and his wife, Alice, report in that his son Pete will graduate from UNC this May and is entering the workforce … wait for it … in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Mark Bridgers’s consulting firm, Continuum Capital. I believe this qualifies Pete as a nepo baby! Thanks, Brad, for raising such a capable, grounded, and well-rounded young man. Brad’s daughter remains at UVA and is a second year.

Clay Cosby, Rob Hays, Bug Ney and Robert Cockburn get together periodically and always have such interesting stories. The most recent

adventure occurred in Miami, Florida, last November for some NFL tailgating for the Dolphins vs. Raiders matchup. Robert Cockburn applied all of his OB knowledge gained at Darden to entice a Raiders fan to join the Dolphins tailgate. Inquiring minds want to know how you accomplished this cross-fan collaboration! The Dolphins ended up winning the game and, for post-game fun, the group went boating courtesy of Captain Rob Hay’s yacht!

While I have not been a believer in multitasking, Susie Greene is causing me to reassess my thinking. In addition to consulting, Susie also serves as a professor at UNC in the area of entrepreneurship, but this is not the true example of multitasking. During the UNC basketball playoff run, what does she do when class and game conflict? Teach the Lean Canvas while also having a watch party, of course! Way to go, Susie, with an innovative solution to a seasonal problem.

In some sad news that some of you are already aware of, our classmate A.T. Masters

Left to right are Class of 1997 alumni Derrick Williams, Ben Pivar, Ed Berkowitz, Louis Gump, Saira Joseph, and Vicki (Johnson) Raimey.

Louis Gump (MBA ’97) and the cover of his book, The Inside Innovator

Class of 1997 alumni Clay Cosby, Robert Hays, Bug Ney and Robert Cockburn got together with friends for a Miami Dolphins game.

Susie Greene (MBA ’97) was multitasking.

Mark Bridgers and Torrance Houlihan (both MBA ’97) enjoyed CrabFest 2023.

passed away unexpectedly in early December of last year. She was living in Cary, North Carolina, and working for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. This is a terrible loss and we are working to gather more details to share with the class. We will keep you posted. In the category of “well, that’s not something you hear/see every day,” Matt McConnell and Aileen McConnell (MBA ’98) embarked on a new adventure: moving to Alaska! Matt accepted the role of president and CEO of the No. 2 telecommunications company in the state, Alaska Communications (www.alaskacommunications.com). Matt writes: “Since both children are in Boston, Massachusetts, with son Jack graduating from Boston College in May (and staying put starting a job in August), and daughter Katie a sophomore at Tufts University, it seemed like a great time to start a new chapter in life. So, if you find yourself in Alaska, please give a shout and use our Anchorage home as a base to explore the last frontier!”

Rondo Moses has taken to social media to highlight how his firm, the Insurgence Group, supports clients trying to transform and adapt to changing market dynamics.

Several recent posts by Rondo were highlighted on our Darden ’97 LinkedIn page. Keep up the good work and great content, Rondo!

Vicki Raimey has been very busy, helping out on the recent Louis Gump webinar and running a technology startup. Some of you will recall that in 2022, Vicki had left a long and storied career at Turner/TimeWarner/WarnerMedia/Warner Bros. Discovery to serve as COO at Credenza (www.credenza3.com). The technology startup is now two years old.

Their mission is to foster hyper-personalized relationships between fans and sports teams on a blockchain platform.

She describes it as: “Our platform revolutionizes digital rights management with its universal identification solution, bridging digital and physical interactions. By offering a comprehensive view of each fan, we foster hyper-personalized relationships and open up new revenue streams. Seamlessly integrating into existing platforms, we serve as the vital link between fragmented ecosystems, capturing user actions in real-time. Our technology provides valuable insights into fan behavior, enabling unparalleled personalization and maximizing engagement and revenue while minimizing operational costs. Credenza represents the future of fan and consumer engagement, connecting disparate ecosystems for a more cohesive and responsive experience. Sports was our first vertical, where we signed the St. Louis Blues (NHL team) as our first client. While we continue to grow in sports, we are also leveraging our platform in other verticals that need to solve for bringing together disparate data points to optimize and enhance consumer experiences.”

Vicki’s startup efforts are supported on the Winter 1871 Web3 innovation Lab Incubator (www.1871.com/innovation-labs/ web3-innovation-lab). I found all of this fascinating and encourage you to investigate both Credenza and the support platform.

When we last heard from Mike Skelps, he was running for reelection to the Middlefield, Connecticut, Board of Finance. He won and will now serve until November 2027. Congratulations, Mike!

Next, we want to update you on the Class of ’97 Scholarship. As I am sure many of you will remember, during our 25th reunion year (2022) and during our fundraising in 2023, we made great progress on funding a scholarship to assist with offsetting the tuition at Darden. These efforts will continue and you should keep an eye out for opportunities to contribute and support this effort.

Last and perhaps least, the 25th Annual Bridgers Crab Fest was hosted last year to great success with a live band, event-centric shirt, athletic events throughout the day, customized cigars and multiple Darden attendees. Great fun was had by all. It was exceptionally hot and both Torrance Houlihan and I showed the sweat. Torrance and his entire family have attended nearly every one of the 25 events. He sported the shirt from the first year we had shirts, and he is a two-time winner of the giant crab mallet. Attendees arrived from Florida to New Jersey to California, and our 2024 Crab Fest is planned for 10 August 2024. Hope to see you here!

With that, we close this edition of Class Notes and remind everyone about joining both our LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/ groups/2066360/) and Facebook groups. Carolyn Deng, Todd Gilliam, Susie and Andy Greene, Steven Marks, Gavin McFarland, and Annie Tronoski were the latest class members to join the Darden ’97 group on LinkedIn. We currently have 143 members of our class connected via LinkedIn, and we would love to collect the rest of you. So join up!

Bill Young wyoung44@gmail.com

For close readers of the Class Notes, you will notice that this is the first time in 26 years that there is only one Young authoring a note. My dad passed on 3 March after serving as the class secretary for the Class of ’70 since he graduated. It’s daunting to realize I have another 28 years to hit his record. Big shoes to fill as it was a life well lived, topped off by his winning the Harry Lewis Award this past fall for his volunteerism. As with many of you, I’m firmly living the sandwich generation. We’re fast approaching graduations of both a Hoo and a Yellowjacket this May and we’re excited to see what’s next for them. With the kids moving on we’ve added a mother-in-law to the

Matt McConnell (MBA ’97) at the Reindeer Games Rob Cockburn (MBA ’97) poses with an unknown or perhaps unhinged Raiders fan.

Photography by Josh & Dana Fernandez

“

Closeness to Cville, but far enough away to feel like a retreat, the availability of private spaces for our group to meet, and the PHENOMENAL staff that takes amazing care of us every year.

— Jenna

mix in a small apartment we built in place of our garage. We still have plenty of room for visitors so don’t hesitate to drop in.

There are some big moves amongst our class as kids start leaving the nest. Caroline Worrall is leaving the warm climes of Gainesville, Florida, for chilly Charlottesville. She’ll finish out the school year and then head north where her husband has a professorship at UVA. In addition to her escapades in cycling, Caroline continues to work as a business consultant.

While Caroline is worried about the cold, I’m sure she won’t be getting any sympathy from Aileen McConnell. She and Matt are headed to Anchorage, Alaska. Invites are extended for anyone wanting to check out the great white north. They will keep a toe in Boulder, Colorado, where Aileen has been serving as a court appointed special advocate volunteer for children who have experience abuse and neglect. Their son, Jack, is about to wrap up his studies at Boston College and their daughter, Katie, is a sophomore at Tufts. Looks like it hit 17 below zero last month so you might want to make your plans to visit during the summertime.

The Wahoo tradition continues for several members of our class. Ken Monroe checked in to report that there will be another Ken Monroe gracing the hallowed halls of UVA as his son starts this fall.

Not to be outdone, Jim Ferland wrote in to report that his daughter, Katie, will be starting at Darden at the same time. She was a second year Darden baby so it must feel like she’s headed home. Jim and his wife, Sue, live in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, where he’s retired other than serving as the chair for Enerpac Tools Group (NYSE “EPAC” if you’re looking for insider info).

Last but certainly not least, Alicia English reported in from Washington, D.C., where she continues as a public servant now as the director for HR for the Defense Health Agency. Sounds like a small job as the agency is responsible for the healthcare system for 9.6 million service members and their families around the world. She’s got an empty nest with a son at William & Mary and a daughter at Boston University. Sounds like an opportunity to carpool with all the other students we have in Boston, Massachusetts.

That’s the news for now. Keep the up-

dates coming and don’t forget to cherish the moments you have with your family while you have them. Until next time.

Rob Steinberger, Bob Loria robsteinberger@hotmail.com, robertloria@gmail.com

After years serving as CEO of software companies, Jeff Gardner has transitioned to executive chair for a half dozen different software businesses and launched a venture capital firm named Springtime Ventures. Jeff and Ann’s youngest is headed off to college this fall so they are moving to the mountain town of Crested Butte, Colorado, where they can spend more time skiing and mountain biking. Lastly, Jeff is releasing his first book, Love Your People — An Entrepreneurial Leadership System, in early May. Jeff is looking forward to catching up with everyone at the reunion.

After working overseas for five years and a brief time in Maryland, Pete and Kate Costa returned (for now) to the Saratoga area of upstate New York. Pete has stepped back from GM roles and is now doing executive/career coaching (including work for Darden’s Alumni Career Services, which is a free resource for all alumni) and consulting on post-merger integration management. With their two oldest children out on their own, their third in college, and the last about to head there, they are looking forward to spending more time on travel and running their hobby farm, as well as increasing their volunteer work with the local fire department, helping military veterans transition to the civilian world, and educational development in Zambia.

Eric Walcher was good enough to share the following: “I’m checking in from my home office in Vancouver, Washington (not Canada), where Suzanne and I relocated in late 2019. We are near family and enjoying the Pacific Northwest mountains (Mt. Hood), valleys (Willamette Valley pinot noir is worldclass), and beaches (beautiful, but bring a wetsuit if you are planning a dip). Professionally, I find myself retired after a consulting career with Mercer (25 years) and an encore executive role at Providence Health Plan in Oregon/ Washington (three and a half years). Happy 25th to the Class of ’99. Remember me to anyone who remembers me — and look me up if you find yourself lost in Portlandia,

where the dream of the ’90s is still alive!”

As this is being written, we are approaching our 25th reunion. Bob and I are both excited to see many of our classmates — it’s been too long! I would like to take a moment to thank the many volunteers from our class (and Darden) that have made the reunion a success, even before it happens. Kelly Thomson and Reggie de Villiers have done an excellent job as our reunion chairs and we appreciate all they and each of the volunteers have done to help us commemorate 25 years since our graduation! Thank you.

We will add additional reunion-based updates to this as well.

Keep the updates coming — please! Otherwise, I have to ask Bob to start making stuff up.

Serena Matsunaga, Paige Killian serenamatsu2@gmail.com, paigekillian@mac.com

After almost 25 years moving around the world and working for others, Phillip Askew has settled in Thailand (for good — all going well) and is delivering high value energy to the local communities with traditional and net-zero carbon sectors. It’s a very relaxing environ … look him up should your travels take you there!

Shu Conn (previously Shu Ye) is living in Durham, North Carolina, working at Duke Cancer Center as an oncology nurse practitioner in the lung group and still enjoying it. Shu has been doing some exciting travel lately: celebrating her birthday with a trek in Cordillera Royal in Bolivia last year, doing an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, visiting Iceland and Greenland, and a psilocybin retreat in Netherlands. Shu says life is such a cosmic treasure house for us to sample from.

Kerry Gilmartin is having fun launching a new business after five years in ‘pre-tirement’! She had a great opportunity to work with Erin Kriessmann, e-commerce marketing maven, on it from pre-launch through today.

Kerry’s new business Love, Plants, Inc. deals in professional grade fertilizers and soil amendments for gardeners and houseplant lovers that are only sold direct to consumer now and in a few select Colorado retailers. They’re just getting started building the brand, which began with houseplant items and is now launching into gardening. She is raising

Class of 2000 alumni Chris Linthwate, Martin Limpenny and Uday Malhotra gathered for a happy hour in London, England.

some angel investment in hopes of sharing her next big exit with some friends.

After missing the 1999 dot-com boom, Kerry decided to jump on the AI train. It all began because she and Jen Finn stay in close touch as Kerry is one of her investors. Jen shared an innovation for her business — a trained AI agent accessed via SMS — and Kerry saw the opportunity for her brand to create something similar. So Jen’s team helped Kerry and her team develop Flora, an omniscient plant goddess you text with for gardening and plant advice like you would your most green-thumbed friend. Flora’s a free resource that has enabled them to build a loyal customer base. Flora is just launching but is getting some early awards attention. She invites all to give it a try!

Valerie Camillo recently joined the Board of Trustees for the University of Virginia Athletics Foundation. The foundation leads fundraising efforts to support excellence in UVA’s intercollegiate athletics programs. Today there are 750 student-athletes in 27 intercollegiate programs at UVA. The VAF helps to fully fund all scholarships allowed by the NCAA, the Athletics Academic Affairs program, summer school for student-athletes, and a portion of the athletics operational budget, among other things.

Hal Lawton, CEO of Tractor Supply, is in the news for leading AI efforts at the company. They have implemented it across departments — supply chain, human resources, sales and marketing activities — and most recently have decided to lean into bringing it into their stores in support of their core brand value of customer service.

Many of our classmates have been busy gathering here in the U.S. and around the globe … our unofficial but fun and effective group in WhatsApp has helped facilitate many of them. Pop on over and join us!

Jen Finn, Chris Mullen, Bill Barton and Reid Townsend met up in Boston, Massachusetts, to celebrate Reid’s 50th birthday. Chris Linthwaite, Martin Limpenny, and Uday Malhotra gathered for drinks in London, U.K. James Grimes and family will be in London and Paris, France, this summer … perhaps another impromptu gathering is on the horizon?

Serena Matsunaga, Valerie Camillo, and Heather Heaton Wiederholt were able to catch up in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jose Maria Zertuche, Jeff Bocan and Chris Duffus gathered near our nation’s capital in Northern Virginia over the holidays. Thanks to all who reached out via email or WhatsApp. It makes our job easier and your

reading much more interesting. Definitely let us know what you all are up to over the coming six months so we can include it next time.

Trina Rogers jones_trina@yahoo.com

Miguel Palacios has been on sabbatical with his family in Colombia since July 2023. The experience has been wonderful, and he is happy to host anyone passing by through August 2024, when the family will return to Calgary, Canada.

Link Walls is also enjoying a sabbatical, reporting: “In November, after an acquisition and a very long run in e-commerce at ChannelAdvisor (18+ years!) the time came for me to move on. I have taken a breather the last few months and enjoyed spending time traveling with family and friends before diving into my next thing. Highlights have included catching up with Erika Herz and Greg Smith in Charlottesville, multiple snowboarding trips with my kids (who I can barely keep up with now!) and getting a high school boys volleyball team started with my son (he plays, I coach).”

Joseph Spampinato is also enjoying some time off, writing: “One of the benefits of being between professional pursuits is backcountry ski trips to the Dolomites, Italy; my partner Shannon and I skied from San Pellegrino to Pozza di Fassa amongst other skiing in the area. Recently I completed a six-year digital transformation engagement with a national tire retailer and a few projects with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, amongst others. I am now actively seeking new opportunities. The kids and I continue to live in Bend, Oregon. Lucian will soon be attending

Yeshu (MBA ’00), previously Shu Ye, stops for a photo during one of her many travels.

Jen McEnery Finn, Chris Mullen, Bill Barton and Reid Townsend of the Class of 2000 celebrated Reid’s big 5-0.

Serena Matsunaga, Valerie Camillo and Heather Heaton of the Class of 2000 enjoyed time together in Las Vegas, Nevada.

a four-year program to pursue qualifications to become a commercial airline pilot, and Eli will start college in the fall here in Bend. I am hoping any new role will enable me to travel, and if I am in your town, I’ll be sure to hope to visit with you. If you are near Bend, please do reach out for a visit!”

Not everyone is changing jobs these days. Peggy Roberts continues to work in private equity at the Riverside Company, where she is approaching her 20th anniversary. Her family is also approaching their 20th anniversary of moving to Cleveland, Ohio! Her daughter Molly is loving her first year at University of Richmond, and it’s fun for her to have another reason to be visiting Virginia. Her son Ethan is a junior in high school. Her husband, Justin, continues his legal career, now as a trial team leader/assistant federal public defender. On the travels front, she especially enjoyed catching up with Erika Herz and Alex Cannon this spring when she was in Charlottesville presenting to the Darden Private Equity Club (DPEC). She shared: “the Darden grounds look beautiful and their work bolstering the school’s brand, academics and programming in finance and alternative investment management has increased greatly in the past five years. An invitation for breakfast, lunch or dinner remains open if anyone is traveling through Cleveland.”

Tim Parker has been working at Brightworks Wealth Management as a research contractor for the last two years and continues his service on the board of directors at Matador Resources as its lead director. His wife’s medical practice, Parker Place Annapolis, just passed its fifth anniversary and their kids are

in high school and finishing middle school.

Ann Nicholson is still leading investor relations for Corning and enjoys visits to Charlottesville. She wrote: “I’ve enjoyed going for walks a couple of times with Erika Herz while I’m visiting my place outside of town. My daughter is finishing her third year at UVA taking engineering classes that I can’t even describe, and she is doing well scholastically, and I think even better socially. My son Quinn finishes graduate school at Georgetown in May.”

In mini-reunion news, David Hunter, Carter Siegel, Chris Harris, and Chris Smythe held a mini reunion in Charlottesville at the end of October that included golf at the renovated Birdwood, a stay at the new Forum Hotel and even a Luke Bryan concert at the JPJ.

Scott Walsh provided the kind of update that made me wish we were back in Section D batting ideas back and forth. He wrote: “Our older son Leo started his freshman year at Colorado School of Mines. He’s supposedly studying to be a civil engineer, but you wouldn’t know it from all the time he spends playing trombone in five or six different groups. He’s doing great, and we’re really happy for him. Our younger son Charlie is a junior in high school, looking at colleges in big northeast cities. Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; and New York City lead the list, as he’s a big fan of well-developed public transit systems. He started rowing last year, to Sasha and my great delight.

“Following Charlie’s lead, I got back into rowing myself after a four-year absence. It’s taking a while to regain fitness and technique, but as David Zug used to say when we were

roomies in C’ville, ‘I love the battle.’ Even better, I started coaching middle school rowing two times a week. I love it. Teaching people to do something you love is so much fun.

“Speaking of which, I finally seem to be figuring out the whole management thing. It nearly drove me crazy four years ago, but I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. I’ve hired Darden interns for short term independent projects and loved working with them, and I’ve been assembling bigger teams at ICF to do more complex projects. I think the real trick has been recognizing my weaknesses as a manager and finding good people to address those gaps while I focus on leading the things I’m good at.

“I’ve been working on some really cool stuff of late. I’ve been helping the U.S. Postal Service as they figure out how to electrify the biggest vehicle fleet on the planet, and I helped Environmental Defense Fund develop strategies to engage the corporate sector to address catastrophic wildfires, which is becoming a major source of climate disruption.

“My wife, Sasha, continues to be a force of nature, taking on high profile cases for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She’s reluctantly moved higher and higher into management roles. She’s much better at it than me, so it’s been great to watch and learn from her.

“San Diego, California, continues to be a great place. I strongly encourage you to come visit America’s Finest City. I promise we’ll show you a good time.”

Finally, I am saddened to report that we have lost two members of our extended Class of ’01 family. In August 2023, Mari and Chris Kyle’s son William passed away as a

Joe Spampinato (MBA ’01) and his partner, Shannon, skied the Dolomites in Italy.

Peggy Roberts (MBA ’01) and family are enjoying life in Cleveland, Ohio.

David Hunter, Chris Harris, Carter Siegel and Chris Smythe of the Class of 2001 checked out the renovated Birdwood Golf Course in Charlottesville in October.

To update your contact information, call +1-434-243-8977 or email alumni@darden.virginia.edu

result of a car accident. William, a striking presence at 6 feet 10 inches, loved playing basketball with his dad, brother, and friends, was a curious learner throughout his life, and was an MVP tennis player at the Blue Ridge School from which he had recently graduated. He was 17 years old, and weeks away from entering Industrial Design at the College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University. Our hearts are with his parents, his brother Jonny, and his sister Abigail.

Jim and Elizabeth Wells Shumadine’s son Sam passed away in January, at home in Norfolk, Virginia, following a courageous battle with osteosarcoma. Sam was an active and beloved member of the Norfolk Academy community, playing four sports, enjoying strong relationships with faculty and staff, and serving on the Upper School Council.

Sam’s charm, humor, and optimism made him a friend to many, including his medical team. Our hearts are with his parents and his sister Charlotte. Jim and Elizabeth are deeply grateful to the many Darden classmates who

attended Sam’s service and provided encouragement through his illness.

With gratitude for friendships established at Darden that allow us to mourn and celebrate with each other,

Trina

Flip Pidot flippidot@gmail.com

After a 16-year tenure as CEO of Brazilian oil and gas company PetroReconcavo, Marcelo Magalhaes has started a sabbatical period.

Marcelo intends to dedicate some time to travel and family (kicking off in dramatic fashion on Latam Flight 800 from Sydney to Auckland, which dropped suddenly over the Tasmanian sea, though Marcelo was happily uninjured). Marcelo’s also looking forward to spending some time on sustainability issues and coaching/mentoring.

Lisa Bobb-Semple has begun her 20th year with the Postal Service. She’s recently taken a new position as Director of Stamps, an

amazing opportunity to travel around the country to unveil new stamps, including a visit to the White House. Lisa is responsible for all of the stamps designed and produced in the United States and travels between her teams in the Washington, D.C. area and Kansas City, Missouri. They also have an agency in Charlottesville, so she’s had the opportunity to come back a couple of times and even stay in the new Kimpton hotel, which she strongly recommends. If you’re a stamp enthusiast, Lisa invites you to connect with her on LinkedIn, where she’s been posting the latest stamp news and would love to hear from you.

Graham Beatty, Lauren MacLeod, Meg Nesbitt gbeatty@heidrick.com, lgmacleod@gmail.com, megnesbitt@hotmail.com

After 15 years in strategy and operations leadership roles in technology, education, and healthcare, Amelia Waters returned to her management consulting roots. She founded

EDSO Edge in September 2023 and is now partnering with CEOs to build and deliver on strategic roadmaps for sustained, profitable growth. She and Mark Waters are still enjoying life in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with their three sons.

Doug Mitchell shared (admittedly on LinkedIn, but we’ll take it) some news about a new exciting role: “I recently accepted the role of chief growth officer at Polyconcept, the largest hardgoods decorator in the promo products industry. I will be leading the company’s strategic growth initiatives, including overseeing the commercial activities of Spoke Custom (print on demand), Givee (an exciting new storefront platform for personalized event gifting and affinity stores), and corporate development and strategy. Polyconcept exceeded my next role criteria on People, Passion and Purpose!”

Following more than 20 years at Bank of America (since Darden graduation), John Jordan has recently taken on a new role as the head of retail for the Consumer Banking Group at Regions Bank in Birmingham, Alabama. He now leads an organization of 7,500 associates across the retail banking division.

Danny Lysenko will be returning to Asia (Bangkok, Thailand) next month with his wife, Andrea, where he has recently accepted a role of general manager of Nutrition, Thailand and Vietnam Cluster, for Reckitt Benckiser. He will oversee all aspects of the company’s operations and strategic initiatives in two markets.

The (Jeremy) Shinewalds and (Mike) O’Connors were lucky to have a day together on the slopes in Vail, Colorado. “Oaks would be my pick to win the Darden ’03 downhill. I continue to have coffee with Lindsay Vaughan and a beer with Brad Donohue on a quarterly basis when they each tolerate it, as we all live ten minutes apart,” shares Jeremy.

More skiing news: On 8 March, Doug Busker and family (wife Sarah, children John, age 14, Kate, age 12, and William, age 7) met up with Richard Hickson and family (wife Tinsley, children Rich, age 14, and Ellison, age 12) for dinner in Telluride, Colorado.”

More spontaneous meetups: Karen and Graham Beatty met up with Andrea DiMarco and family during a spring break vacation in Marco Island, Florida.

Keri Dole shared: “I’m excited to share that I’ve launched my own executive leader-

Peter

ship and performance business, Handspring Consulting and Coaching. It’s amazing to finally be my own boss and define success on my own terms. I’m also really enjoying reconnecting with old colleagues, classmates, and friends to help them achieve their aspirations. If you would like to learn more about the benefits of coaching for you or your organization, please reach out.”

Jill Lewandosky

jill.lewandosky@gmail.com

The Class of 2004 continues to find ways to see each other: Meredith Hobik met up with Tom Brennan in Washington, D.C., while Tom was in town for a work conference. Tom was in from Iowa where he works for Casey’s General Stores. When she’s not busy as the co-founder of Precanto, Meredith is connecting with any Darden grad wherever she is. Meredith is offering a demo to any of our finance professionals reading our update here.

I discovered Elizabeth and Peter Conn were in San Diego, California, for spring break, also venturing to Legoland in Carlsbad, California. We covered park tips, Charlottesville, and a few years of updates all in one and a half hours at the nearby brewery. Peter is working for Home Depot in Richmond, Virginia, while Elizabeth is nearing two years at McKesson.

Alexandra Ranson is gamekeeper turned poacher, leaving a $6 billion impact growth equity fund to join Moa, a world-leading herbicide innovation company spun out of Oxford University and heading for a series C raise this year. She still misses the section B bird and in her spare time is making a fluffy weed mascot for the company to fill the void.

Jorge Paredo continues to focus on the watch club he founded, Watchingtonians. He’s building quite a group here, noting that a few watch geeks show up regularly for each of their monthly meetups. There are several events planned for the year, so if you’d like to catch up with Jorge (and talk watches), you can find the group online.

Reunion update

We have notes from reunion to share now, then more coming in the next installment. Almost 80 alumni joined us in Charlottesville for our 20th reunion. We started the weekend with a ceremony of life and bench dedication for Todd Whiting and Christine Shim in the Viburnum Garden. We were joined by the families of Christine and Todd, along with Professors Yiorgos Allayannis and Greg Fairchild, and ended with classmates sharing memories.

We discovered a few folks at reunion were part of the Twenty-Year Club, having spent the last 20 years at the same company. Peter Conn’s blood

Meredith Hobik (MBA ’04) met up with Tom Brennan (MBA ’04) in Washington, D.C., while Tom was in town for a work conference.

Members of the Class of 2004 enjoyed catching up during Darden Reunion Weekend in April.

Elizabeth and

Conn (both MBA ’04) were in San Diego, California, for spring break, where they caught up with the Lewandoskys.

Coleman Bigelow (MBA ’04) with his flash fiction collection, “In Rare Cases”

runs orange after his time at Home Depot, and moved with them to Richmond, Virginia. Hugh Nelson is in New York and now a director at Houlihan Lokey. Last but not least of our reunion attendees, Raj Dutt has held a variety of roles at Capital One, joining the company when it had a mere $500 million in revenue 20 years ago. He noted he’s moved through a variety of teams, and we had an in-depth conversation about AI. I moved on to a conversation with Pam Taylor, in Chicago with Microsoft, and we also talked about AI.

It took a trip to Charlottesville to catch up with Jason Husk. We apparently live only three miles away now, and my kids will follow Jason’s girls to the same high school. Jason has been with Mosaic Materials, managing teams in the San Francisco Bay Area and Texas. They focus on direct air capture — removing CO2 from the atmosphere to reverse climate change. After sharing the same flight back to SFO, we agreed that our next catchup for coffee would be local.

05

ToTran Nguyen totran05@gmail.com

Coleman Bigelow published In Rare Cases and Other Unfortunate Circumstances, his first collection of flash fiction. His stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best Microfiction and have been published in a wide range of literary journals. Find more at www.colemanbigelow.com.

Mark J. Higgins published Investing in U.S. Financial History: Understanding the Past to Forecast the Future, which recounts the financial history of the United States from 1790 to the spring of 2023. The book

Rene Garza (MBA ’05) and his wife, Lulu, and Roberto Sada Kane (MBA ’05) and his wife, Gaby Chapa, met for the first time in 15 years.

teaches multiple investment, financial, and economic principles by explaining how they shaped events in the distant past, as well as explaining how many of these principles remain just as relevant today.

Rene Garza and his wife, Lulu, and Roberto Sada Kane and his wife, Gaby Chapa, met for the first time in 15 years! Roberto shares: “We went for lunch at Casagrande located in San Pedro, Mexico, to catch up in just a couple of hours a lifetime of achievements and challenges that encompass fears and failures as well as all the lessons that life teaches us, giving us a great feeling of bonds that Darden created that last a lifetime.”

The first official Darden Chapter reunion in Monterrey, Mexico, occurred with an event hosted and held at Pablo Odriozola’s home in San Pedro, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on 12 March.

07

Ryan Davis, Heather Danforth Hill, Alice Ganier Rolli ryandavis07@gmail.com, heatherraedanforth@gmail.com, aliceanna@gmail.com

With the launch of her second novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Leads, Christa Avampato is having a free book launch party at Kingston Hall in the East Village of Manhattan, New York, 31 May at 7 p.m. Christa shares: “Some of our Darden pals have already sent RSVPs and everyone is welcome. It’s a great venue with plenty of space for anyone who will be in New York City that night, and it could be a mini reunion. I’ll make sure to get a Darden picture that night!” The book will be available everywhere books are sold in the U.S. and internationally on 14 May, and

welcomed a son, Reed Downing Giron, on 25 January.

pre-order links are live on Bookshop.org and Amazon. Congratulations, Christa!

After launching a search for an acquisition of a services business with a unique customer and employee experience, Marshall Lockton was able to acquire the majority of Knight Agency (www.knightagency.com), a creative consultancy focused on connecting companies’ strategies to stories to drive performance. Knight advises clients who want to activate and integrate their purpose and values into their operations.

Jennifer Downing Giron and her husband, Burt, welcomed a son, Reed Downing Giron, on 25 January. Jennifer and her family reside in Smyrna, Georgia, outside of Atlanta.

Ellen Scanlon checks in with an exciting update: “The Signal Awards recognize achievement in podcasting, and my podcast, How to Do the Pot, won gold in two categories: Best Conversation Starter and Best Advice & How-To. Winning is really an honor, especially since other 2023 award winners include Michelle Obama and Jon Stewart!

“The show, which helps you feel confident about cannabis, is now in the top five percent of all podcasts. Working in two new industries — cannabis and podcasting — for five years has taught me a lot. Please reach out if you want to talk about either one! How to Do the Pot is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can find more info at dothepot.com.”

Namit Khurana reports meeting up with fellow “Darden ’07 troublemakers Yuctan Hodge, Chris Hunter, Julie Vianello, and Matthew Marcinek in Tysons Corner, Virginia, to catch up on old times. Topics of discussion quickly shifted from the evolution of Darden

Jennifer Downing Giron (MBA ’07) and her husband, Burt,

Class of 2007 alumni Namit Khurana, Yuctan Hodge, Chris Hunter, Julie Vianello and Matthew Marcinek got together in Tysons Corner, Virginia, to catch up on old times.

rankings, to on-Grounds parking headaches, to room prices in the fancy hotel adjacent to Saunders Hall (that no one knows what it’s called), to the permanent scarring the morning cold call added to everyone’s lives. The mid-40s group also talked about ‘old age’ and how doctors have stopped fixing physical ailments and body defects/pains. Discussions such as weak eyes, leg pain, and stiff back really got the gang to open up. Being business school students, the conversation naturally morphed into appropriate consumer goods like different types of walking sticks, progressive eyeglasses, and posturepedic shoe insoles. Thanks to Julie, this circle of misfits stays connected and looks forward to their semi-annual get-togethers.”

Chris Eastman reports that, after seven years at Goldman Sachs, he recently took a new role as CEO of Pendrick Capital, a healthcare revenue cycle management company backed by Cerberus. The new role allows Chris and his family to remain in Denver, Colorado.

From Atlanta, Georgia, Ryan Davis reports that CINC Systems recently went through a recapitalization with Hg Capital, a software investor with $55 billion assets under management, becoming the majority owner. Ryan will remain the CEO at CINC, which is the largest provider of software to the management companies that run homeowner and condo associations. The business has quadrupled its revenue since its last transaction in late 2019.

Got news? Please send contributions to the Class of 2007 Notes anytime to HeatherRaeDanforth@gmail.com, RyanDavis07@ gmail.com, or aliceanna@gmail.com.

Pratyush Kumar pratyush@gmail.com

Dave Maher reached out to let me know that he recently joined ICR Westwicke as a managing director. He continues to focus on helping health care companies connect with the investor community and advising them through capital raises. The firm was co-founded by Darden alumnus Mark Klausner (MBA ’91)!

EMBA

Davina Myers davinajmyers@gmail.com

Melissa Monk writes: “In July 2022 I retired from Equifax where I ran the largest business in the USA, Financial Services. My plan of traveling the world was cut short when a former business partner invited me to help with due diligence in acquiring an AI technology company. After examining about18 companies, we decided to buy a company called Inbenta. On 28 December 2022 the purchase became final. At that time the CEO and the PE firm, Tritium, asked me to join the company full time as global chief commercial officer. It was a very exciting 14 months or so that I spent on the road, traveling around the globe visiting our customers, partners and team members. In the midst of driving increased customer intimacy, team engagement and record revenue growth, I also helped in the due diligence of what would be our second purchase, a company called Horizn. Horizn became the fifth digital service that we offer through our AI platform. At the end of 14 months, I was promoted to the role of global chief operations officer. I’m really enjoying leading our teams and partners through development, deployment and optimization of our global process in order to drive efficiencies, effectiveness and increase customer satisfaction. As part of this role, I will be relocating to Barcelona, Spain. I will be there for extended periods in 2024 and full time in 2025. In my spare time, I’m working with leaders of my undergraduate college, the University of Texas at Dallas, to create and launch an MBA-level AI and Global Business learning segment. We are hoping to launch that sometime this year, as schedules allow.”

Ezra Baylin moved to a new firm in March 2024 and now leads Corporate Development

for SS&C Technologies. He and Bridget are still happily living in Charlottesville, where their daughter Caroline is a second year at UVA and daughter Chloe is a junior in high school. In February, Evan Inra moderated the Darden Alumni Career Services online panel discussion “How to Build an AI Mindset,” including our classmate Matt Fischer as an expert panelist. Reach out to Evan or Matt for a link to the recording if you missed it.

Lizzie Breyer and Neal Pavlic lizziebreyer@gmail.com and pavlic16@gmail.com

The Class of 2009 enjoyed Darden Reunion Weekend and set a new attendance record for a 15th reunion with almost 100 classmates in attendance! On Friday evening, the class dedicated a bench in memory of Brigitte Donner and Patti Woods in the Jefferson Garden. With so many in attendance, the class enjoyed a wonderful weekend on Grounds and throughout Charlottesville. To everyone who was able to attend, we hope you enjoyed being back together. Let’s make plans to set a new record for our 20th!

Meredith DuPont, Jacqueline Grace, Kyle Power

meredith.v.dupont@gmail.com, jacqueline.grace@gmail.com, kylepower11@gmail.com

Meredith Valentine Dupont and her husband, Nick, welcomed a daughter, Rheya Susan Margo Dupont, on 29 December 2023. The family lives in Oakland, California.

Kurt Miceli and his wife, Kaitlin, welcomed Lucy Rose Miceli into the world 20 March

The Class of 2009 celebrated its 15th Darden reunion in Charlottesville in April.

Jim Faulconer

503 Faulconer Drive

Charlottesville

c: 434.981.0076

e: jfaulconer@mcleanfaulconer.com

MCLEAN FAULCONER INC.

Farm, Estate and Residential Brokers

EDGEMONT ◆

◆

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◆ FIELDS OF BOAZ ◆

A country French estate custom built in 2003 on 24 acres in the heart of Ivy, 6 miles to UVA. A combination of timeless charm and modern luxury with soaring ceilings, generous primary suite, guest quarters, home office, wine cellar, three-levels of well-appointed space. Wonderful views of the large pond, rolling countryside, and landscaped grounds. Two renovated outbuildings. MLS#652608 $3,995,000 Court Nexsen, 646.660.0700

◆ BENTIVAR MANOR ◆

88 acres only 4 miles to Charlottesville, with over 11,600 sf., this manor home offers an unparalleled blend of elegance and tranquility. Amenities include large in-ground pool, pickle ball court, hiking and riding trails, long Rivanna River frontage, and an elegant and comfortable home. PRICED BELOW ASSESSED VALUE. MLS#652353 $5,200,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 or Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455

e: court@mcleanfaulconer.com

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Elegant stone residence in Farmington Country Club on 5 acres with breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountain views. Balancing privacy and convenience, it’s close to Charlottesville, UVA, and club amenities. Includes guesthouse, separate office,garage, pool, koi pond, and 2 garden houses. Crafted with exquisite detail, this 5-bedroom home epitomizes luxury living. MLS#650584 $5,975,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124

◆ HIGHER GROUND ◆

Palatial country estate situated on magnificent 27 acre mountaintop setting at 4,100 ft elevation, surrounded by 9,000 acres of permanent wilderness. Exceptional custom home over 11,400 sf featuring large rooms, high ceilings, 8 BR, 6.5 BA, many outside terraces and decks, breathtaking 360 degree views! 10 miles to famed Omni Homestead Resort. Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076 www.HigherGroundVa.org

◆ MEADOW FARM ◆

436+/- acres providing complete privacy and tranquility. Pastoral views throughout. The gently rolling terrain lends itself to any number of productive,agricultural uses and/or a recreational paradise.Property is under conservation easement with four division rights. Located in the heart of farm and estate country just south of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia. MLS#651411 $2,985,000 Charlotte Dammann, 433.981.1250

Joe Giallanella and Dave Policano (both MBA ’11) traveled to Japan in February to celebrate Dave’s 40th birthday and experience the powder in Niseko.

2024. She weighed 8 pounds, 12.8 ounces, and was 20.25 inches long. Also celebrating her birth are her two jubilant sisters, Anneliese, age 5, and Cecelia, age 4.

Sarah Boice, Stephanie Conell sarahsboice@gmail.com, stephanie.h.conell@gmail.com

Joe Giallanella and Dave Policano traveled to Japan in February to celebrate Dave’s 40th birthday and experience the powder in Niseko. Dave returned fluent in Japanese and Joe is pioneering a vending-machine-first strategy for his future product launches.

EMBA

Chris Mehalic chrismehalic@gmail.com

The 2011 EMBA class extends a warm salutation to the entire Darden community and offers a few brief updates from some of our classmates:

Shonyel Lyons has decided to take her talents to the Pacific beach and will be relocating to Orange County, California, in her new role with Capital Group, a financial services provider with over $2 trillion in assets under management.

Dr. David Penberthy (EMBA ’11) presented at DeepFest 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

David Penberthy was honored as a speaker and panelist at DeepFest 2024, the world’s largest technology conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was tasked with addressing the topic of AI in health care and specifically the opportunity that exists to use patient-centered AI data models to manage cancer.

Alfred Geoffrion was recently appointed president of DGA Security Systems, a commercial physical security provider based in New York City, New York. When asked (in somewhat cheeky fashion) how he commutes to work, Fred replied, “Mehalic, you specifically said you wouldn’t write about my car.” Class secretary’s note: Writing about a conversation discussing a car is not analogous to writing about a car.

Peter Wilbert recently opted for a novel solution to his need for an updated professional headshot. Unable to return to his trusted standby Glamour Shots, which had seemingly failed to renew its lease at Center Valley Mall, he took to the web to explore options for an AI generated portrait. Peter reports, “I was initially apprehensive about using the image, but the response has been incredible and I’ve seen a huge increase in requests to connect and invitations to interview.” He lamented, however, that most of the opportunities are not in his field and don’t align with his interests. Peter concluded, “I think I might try it again, but this time specify the need for clothing.”

and Leia moved back home from California to Ori’s hometown of Herzliyya in Israel to be with family. Ori writes that he loves being a dad and hopes to bring Leia back to Charlottesville sometime soon!

Arsalan Ahmed writes, “A quick update on me and my growing family. My wife (Bisma Moon) and I welcomed our third baby boy to the family in February. Our growing family of five recently celebrated our eldest son Zayd Ahmed’s eighth birthday along with our second son, Yahya Ahmed, age 6, and our newborn, Hasan Ahmed. We have been residing in the Philadelphia area since 2015.”

Lauren (Keller) Hunter and her husband, Dan, welcomed their second daughter, Audrey Louise, on 25 February, 2023. Lauren writes, “Audrey is an absolute joy and is completely enamored with her older sister, Rose. Our family continues to reside in San Francisco, California.”

EMBA

Josh Newell

josh.newell@gmail.com

Arsalan Ahmed (MBA ’13) and his wife, Bisma Moon, celebrate the eighth birthday of their eldest son, Zayd Ahmed, along with second son, Yahya Ahmed (age 6) and newborn Hasan Ahmed. 11 11 13 13

William Phelps enjoyed returning to Darden recently to present a case on crisis communications with Lili Powell. He did not necessarily enjoy feeling like an “old alum,” but wishes to affirm that he did leverage his standing in the room (literally) to engage the class using the “Captain Morgan” stance. Bill was joined by ABC News Senior Producer Matthew Vann (MBA ’23).

Deanna de Arango, Janet Pittman deannadearango@gmail.com, jspittman20@gmail.com

Ori Dekel, proudly welcomed his first baby girl, Leia, on June 10, 2023. Ori

In February, Kevin Coyne was presented with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Gold Medal award for his efforts to improve the effectiveness of export controls enacted during the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. By providing data-driven analysis to U.S. and coalition policymakers, Kevin contributed to strengthening global coalition export controls thereby reducing the Russian military-industrial base and Russia’s ability to sustain its war of aggression. The Gold Medal award is the highest honorary award given by the Department.

To update your contact information, call +1-434-243-8977 or email alumni@darden.virginia.edu

Lauren (Keller) Hunter (MBA ’13) and her husband, Dan, welcomed their second daughter, Audrey Louise, on 25 February.

for work, reliving memories from half-priced wine night at Zinburger.

Anne Marie Brown is in a new role as the managing director for Colorado Ohana Ventures, LLC.

Alex Graber recently relocated to San Diego, California, where he’ll continue working for Intuit in product marketing. He’s looking forward to reunion in 2025, even if there’s another pandemic.

Ryan Havermann and his wife, Kate, wel-

comed their second baby on 7 March 2024. Her name is Alden Grace Havermann. Both mom and baby are doing great!

EMBA

Liz Goldstein, Jessica Pearson lizgoldstein15@gmail.com, jessica.obradovic.pearson@gmail.com

Hi everyone! We hope all is well as we are headed into the spring. Join us in congratulating our cohort members for the following updates!

Himanshu Singh, Margot Sakoian himanshu.tevotia@gmail.com, margotsakoian@gmail.com

The Class of 2014 enjoyed a wonderful Darden Reunion Weekend with over 100 classmates returning to Grounds! On Friday evening, our class dinner was outside on the Camelia Promenade of the botanical gardens at The Forum Hotel. Those who were not adventurous enough to attend Foxfield on Saturday afternoon met at King Family Vineyards. That day ended back on Grounds for a family picnic and outdoor activities on Flagler Court. To everyone who was able to attend, we hope you enjoyed being back together for a fantastic weekend!

Sonja Pedersen-Green, Archana Rao sonja.pedersen.green@gmail. com, archanaraoc@gmail.com

Erica Breese and Sonja Pedersen-Green have been meeting up during Sonja’s frequent trips to Seattle, Washington,

USE YOUR IRA to SUPPORT DARDEN

If you are at least 70½ years old, you are eligible to make qualiﬁed charitable distributions from your IRA of up to $105,000 annually.

QCDs make great gifts to Darden, because they are excluded from federal taxable income.

Members of the Class of 2014 stopped for a photo opp on Flagler Court on Saturday during their 10th reunion.

BRENDAN MINITER (EMBA ’16)

Scaling What He’s Learned

BY DAVE HENDRICK

B

in a free society, we should embrace ideals that unlock the potential embedded within all of us.

As an undergraduate history major, Miniter recalls studying the American Revolution and realizing the importance of unleashing latent human potential. To do that, he first turned to journalism.

Within three years of starting as a reporter in rural Virginia, Miniter was living in New York City and working on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal. His time there included such globe-shaking events as the September 11 terrorist attacks, which destroyed his office near the World Trade Center, the wars that followed and the 2008 financial crisis.

“It wasn’t lost on me how important the work was,” Miniter said. “Telling the stories of courageous people was always rewarding.”

Miniter used a few book projects — he edited two bestselling political books — to make a career pivot. By 2011, he was leading the team that built the permanent exhibit for the George W. Bush Presidential Museum in Dallas, Texas, where he worked closely with George and Laura Bush. “I got to ask them the question everyone should ask,” he said. “You spent eight years in the White House, what should we draw from that?” Then, he said, “I translated their answer into a 14,000-square-foot museum.”

The experience sparked a desire to lead a mission-driven organization. But first, business school.

“Darden was the only school I applied to,” Miniter said, “because

ACROSS A PROBLEM THAT I HADN’T FIRST ENCOUNTERED IN A DARDEN CASE. PEOPLE ASK ME IF I CAN NAME A DARDEN CASE THAT STUCK WITH ME. I CAN NAME 50.

Miniter said the experience gave him a calm ness and an ability to see patterns that aren’t apparent to others. After Darden, he helped The Dallas Morning News editorial page more than double its digital page views as editorial page editor and general manager of the “ePaper.”

Then, in 2021, he widened his leadership scope to become superintendent of Great Hearts Texas, a public charter school network. Miniter inherited a system facing financial and academic challenges, but again turned to his Darden experience.

In two years, Miniter increased the district operating budget by 50% to $120 million and earned an “A” academic rating from the state. He recruited a new senior leadership team, raised $50 million in the public bond markets and found millions in annual savings. Now he is thinking more broadly, and recently accepted the position of CEO of the North Texas-based Center for Nonprofit Management. He’ll start in that role in July.

“It was rare to come across a problem that I hadn’t first encountered in a Darden case,” Miniter said. “People ask me if I can name a Darden case that stuck with me. I can name 50.”

All the best,

Liz Goldstein and Jessica Pearson

Matthew Frenier shared this update: “With the Navy CPA, and the knowledge from directing ops for a startup data center company and a private equity firm with ‘Z’ (Andrew Zasowski), I jumped into the deep end and founded a company. Cold Steppe is a climate tech company focused on removing carbon from the atmosphere by producing an agricultural amendment called biochar. We will wrap up financing shortly, order equipment, and begin production in December. If you want to help, learn more or use us to achieve net-zero through removals, reach out to matt@coldsteppe.com. Thanks to all who have helped so far: Praveen Kathpal, Michael McDermott, Mike Paradis, Jo’Andrew Cousins, Christopher Hartman, Brian Alas, Christopher Newman, and Cody Blankenship And from other Darden classes: Margolis, Chrosniak, Rich, Peer, Hutch … what an amazing team Darden produces.”

In July 2023, Tiffani Moore started her tenure as president of the Dillard University National Alumni Association (DUNAA). As the DUNAA president, she also serves on the University’s Board of Trustees. Founded in 1869, Dillard University is the oldest historically black college or university (HBCU) in the state of Louisiana.

We are happy to share that Christopher Newman has been appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin to the Board of Visitors for the University of Mary Washington.

In April and July of 2024 Jessica Pearson will be presenting her machine learning for workplace survey comments at two upcoming conferences. The first is INFORMS Business Analytics in Orlando, Florida, and the second is Data Connect with Women in Analytics in Columbus, Ohio.

Andrew Zasowski started at Eli Lilly and company in November 2023 as associate director.

Amy B. Menendez, Gabriel Legendy amy.b.menendez@gmail.com, glegendy@gmail.com

Pete Iwanowicz and Madeline Dubner welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Nolan, in November 2023. They are adjusting well to life as new parents and can’t wait to show him Charlottesville and Darden!

Pete Iwanowicz and Madeline Dubner (both MBA ’17) welcomed a baby boy, Nolan, in November 2023.

Dan Fitzgibbon (MBA ’18) married Lindsey Bank on 16 March. Several Darden friends joined them to celebrate, including Arvind Rachamadugu (MBA ’18), who served as a groomsman.

Rob Duggan was appointed as chief of staff for the City of Chicago’s new Department of Technology and Innovation (DTI). The department was officially created in December 2023, and Rob has been with the department from the start. He is currently leading the effort to transfer ~60 employees into new roles within DTI, and to hire an additional ~80 employees for an aggressive expansion. He is also leading the effort to establish modern tools and processes in the department, including Agile development, journey mapping, and modern ERP design. He was recently quoted in Govtech: https://www.govtech. com/computing/chicagos-new-department-focuses-its-commitment-to-it-service.

GEMBA

Amanda Fox amanda.j.fox.1@gmail.com

Amanda Fox is vice president of revenue operations and has been leading a two-year integration of her company EVERFI into Blackbaud, a social impact SaaS company. While integrations are never easy, she has appreciated the learning journey and is happy to report the integration successfully completed at the end of 2023.

Teresa Fuller heads up marketing and partnerships at Bask Suncare, where she secured the code DARDEN25 for a 25 percent lifetime discount on sunscreen products for Darden alumni!

Teresa also runs Congressional Consulting, providing executive coaching services focused on helping leadership teams adopt an AI mindset and integrate AI into their

workflows. She also offers career coaching as part of her practice.

In February, Teresa participated in a “How to Build an AI Mindset” speaking panel for Darden alumni. Due to the high level of interest and ongoing dialogue following the event, a Darden Alumni AI Slack group was created. Alumni interested in joining the conversation can access the group via this link: join. slack.com/t/dardenalumniai/shared_invite/ zt-2fj8ubgoj-I3Fteb_YWqNatksLE8czgg.

Teresa lives in Loudoun County, Virginia, with her husband, three young children, and a trio of beloved dogs. The family enjoys spending time together on their farm, where the dogs have plenty of room to roam and play.

Brian Ribera and family are doing great. His oldest son, Rylan, is in his second year of college and doing great on Speech and Debate and the Student Council. Ronin, age 14, plays basketball and comes out to the famous Rubicon Trail to help run their trips. Ellie, age 12, plays basketball, runs track, and plays guitar. Rourke, age 9, is a baseball star, and has an incredible love of ice hockey. His favorite team is the New York Rangers! All is going well for them out West!

Collin Bauer, Lauren Hansen, Kali McFarland Samuel collin.bauer@gmail.com, lehansen23@gmail.com, kalimcfarland12@gmail.com

Tyler Kirchoff, his wife Lindsey, and their two kids Elena (Darden ’48) and Patrick (Darden ’50) have recently relocated to the Boston area, Massachusetts. Tyler is still working in

consulting and Lindsey has joined a cardiac clinic in the area as an NP. More importantly, both Tyler and Lindsey have recently begun serving on the board of directors for a new nonprofit foundation, the Little Sparks Project (littlesparksproject.org), which is on a mission to ensure that every child with a complex diagnosis reaches their full potential by providing families with financial support to obtain proper care. Reach out to Tyler or Lindsey for ways to support or get involved, and let them know if you’re ever in the Boston area — they would love to see everyone!

Dan Fitzgibbon married Lindsey Bank on 16 March 2024. Several Darden friends joined them to celebrate, including Arvind Rachamadugu, who served as a groomsman. The couple live in Dallas, Texas, and would love to see you if you’re ever in town!

Peggy Bermel, Sophie Jung, Cait Pearson, Freyan Soonawalla, Allison Yarborough mmbermel@gmail.com, sophie.n.jung@gmail.com, cms2hu@virginia. edu, f.j.soonawalla@gmail.com, ayarborough12@gmail.com

Tim Gao and Tyler Betz were married on 9 December 2023, in Aspen, Colorado.

Christina Ludovici took her nonprofit passion and made a career shift, and is now the director of development at Kristi House, a local nonprofit supporting children in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Alice Melton and Bobby Omann were married on 28 October 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, surrounded by a fabulous crew of Darden ’19, ’20, and ’18 EMBA alumni.

In attendance were Miguel Gomez Ramirez, Kunal Bansal, Allison Shimamoto, Ami Bansal, Sean Malone, Yuliya Oumarbaeva, Dogan Dinlecener, Christina Ludovici, Nicholas RisCassi, Zhana Edmonds, Sofia Scott, Kat Backof, Karen Leung, Aniket Patil, Cecily Sackey, Adam Miller (MBA ’20), Godwin Marfo Ahenkorah, Bobby Omann, Alice Melton, Ryan Smith, Salome Saliashvili, True Overholt (EMBA ’18), Marlon Evans, Michelle Ingold, Aaron Harrill, Lisa Harrison, Terrance Walker, Sarah Irish, Mary Julia Keller, Neville Williams, Jane Hannon, Bradshaw Irish, Asong Lekeaka, Priyanka Agarwal, and Prateek Choudhary.

Jordan Casserley jchart92@gmail.com

Ragini Bhuyan got legally married to Mickey Sobel in Washington, D.C., in December 2023 and had a wedding in India on 4 February 2024. The wedding was in Guwahati, India, and

Darden classmate Natalie Stoll was in attendance.

Caroline Crawford and husband Jon welcome their first child, William, in September. They are currently living in Richmond, Virginia.

Alexandra Medack and Ryan Propis joyfully welcomed their first child, Callum James Propis, on 2 January 2024, born 6 pounds, 1 ounce, and 19 inches.

Nicholas Kordonowy joined ThornTree Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund based in Boston, Massachusetts, where he focuses on the intersection of technology hardware and software in a period of accelerating disruption from the rise of AI. In parallel, he maintains his role as managing director of Ceiba Digital Assets LP, a venture fund specializing in cryptocurrency.

Christopher Skinner, with spouse Cameron and son Finnegan were delighted to make it back from London, U.K., to the USA for the first time in one and a half years to spend Christmas and New Years with family in Virginia (including in Charlottesville!). Since then, the

Tim Gao (MBA ’19) and Tyler Betz were married on 9 December in Aspen, Colorado.

Ragini Bhuyan married Mickey Sobel in Washington, D.C., in December 2023 and had a wedding in India on 4 February in Guwahati, India.

Caroline Crawford (MBA ’20) and her husband, Jon, welcomed their first child, William, in September.

Alice Melton (MBA ’19) and Bobby Omann were married on 28 October in Minneapolis, Minnesota, surrounded by a fabulous crew of Darden alumni.

Allie Medack (MBA ’20) and Ryan Propis welcomed their first child, Callum James Propis, on 2 January.

family has been back in London and focused on work and life, the opera, the theatre, and Finn’s many activities as they went through the chilly dark winter. “With spring upcoming, we are excited to reunite with family in Saint Kitts, as well as spend more time with family in London, U.K., and USA soon.”

EMBA

Karen Henneberger

Karen.henneberger@gmail.com

Just about one year from now, we hope to see everyone back in Charlottesville for our five-year class reunion in spring 2025. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more class events this year to get everyone excited to attend. Some current news from our classmates includes:

Geoffrey Kenawell and his wife, Erin, report the birth of their daughter, Adelaide (Ada) Elizabeth Kenawell, on 24 February 2024. Geoff is hoping to fit future class happy hours in between work and parenting duties. Congratulations to the Kenawells!

Kirk Kloeppel sent word that he and his wife, Denise, are celebrating the one-year anniversary of moving into their new home on the beach in the Wilmington/Southport, North Carolina, area. They are looking forward to the first visit of their granddaughter, Margaret (Maggie) Martin, born in June 2023. If any classmates are looking for an escape or find themselves in the area, Kirk invites you to look him up.

And Parth Sheth and his family have made the decision to move back to India to start his entrepreneurial journey. Best of luck, Parth; we can’t wait to hear about your success.

I hope everyone is well, and we look forward to hearing more great news from all of you.

Emily Corelli

eacorelli@gmail.com

So many updates to share from the Class of 2023!

Annie Page married Emma Whelan in Kilkenny, Ireland, in July.

Bridget Nolan and Nitin Sajan Gutha got married in Charlottesville in October.

Peter Nwaoba married Simi in a traditional wedding in Abuja, Nigeria, in December. The couple moved to Dallas, Texas.

Sukari Brown Gaylor married David Gaylor in Warrenton, Virginia, in November. Sukari also interviewed Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Alternatives and Chair of the Board at Starbucks, as part of her new role at Cambridge Associates.

Bethany Ackerman (double Hoo) married Philip Saba in Charlottesville this summer. Bethany works for Pfizer in their Marketing Rotational Program. Philip began his MBA journey at Columbia Business School. The couple lives in New York City.

Rachel Sorrells Severino married Stephen Severino (MBA ’22) this March. They both work for Bain in Atlanta, Georgia.

Brian Horne and his wife, Molly, welcomed their second child, Sarah, on 1 March. Big brother Josh is age 2.5. They live in the Dallas, Texas, suburbs and Brian works for the Private Bank at JP Morgan.

Pierce McDowell and his wife, Katie, welcomed their first child, Pierce Henry McDowell, on 30 June.

Danny Rosa and Samuel Jackson ran the Richmond Marathon in November. both PR’ed and qualified for the Chicago Marathon, which they will do this fall.

Alejandro Grego and Steve Hahn are roomies in Jersey City, New Jersey. They welcomed (and quickly killed) their first house plant.

Lewis Salas joined Microsoft as a product manager and resides in New York City. Outside of work, he enjoys running in Central Park with his local running group, cooking, and connecting with Darden friends. Last but not least — and near to my heart — Darden ski trips live on! Daniel Hanson,

Anas Suria, Caroline Vangsnes, Christine Abbott, Emily Anthony, Joseph Ciliberti, Shryans Jain, Skylar Sasson, Zachary Raposo, and Danny Rosa got together in Brentton Wood, New Hampshire.

EMBA

alumni@darden.virginia.edu

The 2023 EMBA class celebrated their first reunion in Charlottesville in April.

The Annette Stock recap of weekend: “Dearly missed friends who couldn’t attend and lovely to celebrate with and hug all those who could. Never enough time spent with those you love, but thankful for the memories and already looking forward to our next meeting.”

Elizabeth Brunette and her husband, Colby, welcomed a healthy baby boy on 15 March weighing 8 pounds, 0 ounces, and measuring 20.5 inches long. He joins big sister Adeline who was born on 14 March 2022 in Charlottesville. Welcome to the world, Arthur Paul!

Annie Page (MBA ’23) married Emma Whelan in Kilkenny, Ireland, in July.

Peter Nwaoba (MBA ’23) married Simi in a traditional wedding in Abuja, Nigeria, in December. The couple moved to Dallas, Texas.

Elizabeth Brunette (EMBA ’23) and her husband, Colby, welcomed a baby boy to the family in March.

DARDEN LEADERSHIP BOARDS

The two leadership boards of the Darden School of Business are composed of nearly 100 distinguished leaders who serve as an innovative force in the advancement of the Darden School throughout the world.

(Listing as of 30 June 2024)

Thank you to our alumni and volunteer leaders for a record year of support for Darden.

DARDEN SCHOOL FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Chair

Frank M. Sands (MBA ’94) Sands Capital

Vice Chair

John D. Fowler Jr. (MBA/JD ’84) Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Immediate Past Chair

Martina Hund-Mejean (MBA ’88) Retired, Mastercard International Inc.

Scott C. Beardsley University of Virginia Darden School of Business

John P. Bolduc (MBA ’90) H.I.G. Capital

H. William Coogan Jr. (MBA ’82) Retired, Firstmark Corp.

James A. Cooper (MBA ’84) Thompson Street Capital Partners

Charles R. Cory (MBA/JD ’82) Retired, Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc

Guillaume M. Cuvelier (MBA ’91) Davos Brands LLC

Robert G. Doumar Jr. (MBA/JD ’88) Park Square Capital LLP

Debra Draughan (MBA ’84) The Process Management Group LLC

Frank S. Edmonds (MBA/JD ’95) Covey Hill Capital Management

Arnold B. Evans (MBA/JD ’97) JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Richard B. Evans University of Virginia Darden School of Business

Catherine J. Friedman (MBA ’86) GV

Kirsti W. Goodwin (MBA ’02) Tower3 Investments

Peter M. Grant II (MBA ’86) Anchormarck Holdings LLC

Owen D. Griffin Jr. (MBA ’99) Currie Medical

Yael Grushka-Cockayne University of Virginia Darden School of Business

Elizabeth Hagood (MBA ’89) Retired, Lowcountry Open Land Trust

Constance J. Hallquist (MBA ’91) Garnet Hill

Michelle B. Horn (MBA ’95) Delta Air Lines

Robert L. Huffines (MBA ’92) J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Robert J. Hugin (MBA ’85) Retired, Celgene Corp.

Mark J. Kington (MBA ’88) Kington Management LLC

David M. LaCross (MBA ’78) Morgan Territory Brewing

Beverly B. Ladley (MBA ’92) Consultant

Douglas R. Lebda (EMBA ’14) LendingTree Inc.

Lemuel E. Lewis (MBA ’72) Iv Media LLC

Amanda Lozano (MBA ’09) Spoke Sciences Inc.

Paul Mahoney University of Virginia School of Law

Richard A. Mayo (MBA ’68) Game Creek Capital

Sachin J. Mehra (MBA ’96) Mastercard Worldwide

Donald E. Morel Jr. (TEP ’97) Progenitor Capital LLC

Kim B. Morrish (MBA ’93) Ground Control Ltd.

J. Byrne Murphy (MBA ’86) Kitebook Partners Limited

Adair B. Newhall (MBA ’09) StepStone Group

G. Ruffner Page Jr. (MBA ’86) O’Neal Industries LLC

William H. Payne II (GEMBA ’22) Coalfield Strategies

Carl Peoples (MBA ’94) Goldmach Sachs Group Inc.

C. Evans Poston Jr. (EMBA ’17) Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Matthew Joseph Reintjes (MBA ’04) YETI

James E. Ryan University of Virginia

William Q.O. Shelton Jr. (MBA ’93) Group 1001

Erik A. Slingerland (MBA ’84) EAS International S.A.

Robert W. Smith (MBA ’87) Retired, T. Rowe Price Trust Co.

Shannon G. Smith (MBA ’90) Abundant Power Group

Susan Sobbott (MBA ’90) Independent Consultant

Cynthia K. Soledad (MBA ’02) Egon Zehnder

Anand Emmanuel Stanley (MBA ’03) Airbus

Mark J. Styslinger Altec Industries Inc.

Bruce R. Thompson (MBA ’90) Bank of America

Lilo Simmons Ukrop (MBA ’89) University of Virginia Darden School of Business

Steven C. Voorhees (MBA ’80)

Jimmy Jianzhong Wei (MBA ’02) ImaGene Pharmaceuticals

Marietta Edmunds Zakas (MBA/JD ’84)

Mueller Water Products Inc.

DARDEN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chair

Michelle B. Horn (MBA ’95) Delta Air Lines

Vice Chair

Cynthia K. Soledad (MBA ’02) Egon Zehnder

Rachel Barnes (MBA ’21) Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC

Stephen (Gregg) Brooks (MBA ’09) Self employed

Mary Buckle Searle (MBA ’86)

Jordan H. Casserley (MBA ’20) McKinsey & Company

Sandhya K. Chhabra MD (EMBA ’17) Albemarle Endocrinology

Sean M. Corrigan (MBA ’05) The Walt Disney Company

Richard P. Dahling (MBA ’87) Fiducient Advisors

E. Gulen Desteli (MBA ’06) GE HealthCare

Zhana Edmonds (MBA ’19) CVS Health

Richard C. Edmunds III (MBA ’92) PricewaterhouseCoopers

Rachel M. Edwards (MBA ’22) JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Sarita T. Finnie (MBA ’01) Bayer

Theresa O. Frankiewicz (MBA ’87) Crown Community Development

Michael J. Ganey (MBA ’78) GaneyNPD

Ivy L. Ghatan (MBA ’09) The Trade Desk

Leslie P. Gordon (MBA ’89) Korn Ferry

Jacqueline Grace (MBA ’10)

Miranda A. Grueiro (MBA ’21) Microsoft

Taylor P. Heaps (MBA ’13) Robert W. Baird

Karen O. Henneberger (EMBA ’20) 7 Rules Consulting LLC

Sonia L. Hounsell (MBA ’99) FunkkOFF! Inc.

Evan Inra (EMBA ’08) Amazon

Gen A. Izutsu (MBA ’15) Veralto

Marcien B. Jenckes (MBA ’98) Comcast Corporation

Melissa Jenkins (MBA ’16) Washington Nationals

Kendall Jennings (MBA ’12) Accenture

Claritza E. Jimenez (EMBA ’21) Paramount/CBS News

Wei Jin (MBA ’99) Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company

Patrice Ju (MBA ’14) Google

Matthew A. Kaness (MBA ’02) GoodwillFinds Ecommerce Inc.

Markus A. Kritzler (MBA ’04) Ingenia Capital

Xiang Liu (MBA ’05)

Kristina F. Mangelsdorf (MBA ’94) KFM Executive Coaching (self-employed)

Sherry McCray (MBA ’05) Constellation

Lois M. McEntyre (MBA ’95) Intuit Inc.

Harold W. McGraw IV (MBA ’07) S&P Global

Rajan J. Mehra (MBA ’93) March Capital

Michael W. Meredith (GEMBA ’17) Akamai

Douglas T. Moore (MBA ’80) Fahrenheit Advisors

Tami M. Moore (EMBA ’09) Tillman Fiber Co.

Tiffani C. Moore (EMBA ’16) Federal Housing Finance Agency

Betsy M. Moszeter (EMBA ’11) Green Alpha Investments

Nikhil Nath (MBA ’00) NSQ Advisors

Ann H. S. Nicholson (MBA ’01) Corning Inc.

Patrick A O’Shea (MBA ’86) Vesttoo Securities (USA)

Chetan Peddada (MBA ’15) RJA Technologies

Alyssa N. Perez-Melendez (MBA ’20) Bain & Company

Alex R. Picou (MBA ’89)

JP Morgan Private Bank

Jason Sinnarajah (MBA ’07) Kansas City Royals

David L. Tayman (MBA/JD ’99) Tayman Lane Chaverri LLP

Deborah B. Thomas (MBA ’89) Somos Inc

Kelly M. Thomson (MBA ’99) Mubadala Capital

Zachary G. Upcheshaw (MBA ’15) Goldman Sachs

Gerrud Wallaert (TEP ’18) Brightmark

Meghan Welch (EMBA ’10) Plaid

Daniele M. Wilson (MBA ’11) Google

Rebecca M. Wilson (MBA ’96) 20/20 Foresight Executive Search

Jose Maria Zertuche (MBA ’00) BlackRock

Shaojian Zhang (MBA ’99) Yushi Consulting

The Darden School offers its condolences to the families of the following individuals whose deaths have been reported to us in the past six months.

Robert M. Bennett (TEP ’66)

Robert H. Carlile (MBA ’66)

Robert M. Cummings (MBA ’73)

Michael A. Dinkin (MBA ’86)

Ms. Nancy Tinnel Emrick (MBA ’86)

William B. Gamble (TEP ’97)

Stephen A. Hansel (MBA ’71)

Stephen D. Hassett (MBA ’89)

Bruce R. Lauritzen (MBA ’67)

James L. LeNoir (MBA ’75)

J. Alexander McMillan III (MBA ’58)

Richard E. Nashner (MBA ’74)

Robert B. Parks (MBAJD ’82)

William E. Powell (MBA ’66)

Ronald L. Race (MBA ’74)

Ms. Teresa E. Schiff (MBAJD ’84)

Walter W. Scott (MBA ’64)

P. Gregory Shelly (MBA ’75)

Benjamin John Simonett (MBA ’15)

Robert E. Wheaton (MBA ’78)

Richard H. Wider (TEP ’83)

Jackson M. Young (MBA ’70)

PROFESSOR

EMERITUS LESLIE E. GRAYSON

PROFESSOR EMERITUS LESLIE E. GRAYSON , a distinguished professor who not only shaped the Darden School’s international presence but also left an indelible mark on generations of students, passed away on 24 January in New York City at the age of 96.

Born in Hungary, educated at Oberlin College and the University of Michigan, and recruited from Harvard Business School to Darden by Dean Charles Abbott, Grayson was instrumental in developing Darden’s international business education. He introduced students to a world beyond American borders through his popular elective courses in international business and traveled extensively to develop opportunities for Darden students and recruit international talent to the School.

Grayson’s influence extended beyond the classroom. As director of the Tayloe Murphy International Business Studies Center, he played a critical role in linking Virginia companies with overseas markets, thereby enhancing the state’s global trade footprint. In the 1980s, the Darden Black Business Student Association elected Grayson as their faculty advisor, and he helped the School accelerate its minority student recruiting efforts.

Grayson’s contributions to making Darden a more global institution were recognized through various honors, including a professorship named in his honor, currently held by Professor Ming-Jer Chen, and a white oak in the Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens.

Leslie Grayson and his wife, Olivia, were married 67 years.

Design your development pathway. Alumni receive

University of Virginia Darden School Foundation

P.O. Box 7726

Charlottesville, VA 22906-7726

Change Service Requested

“We desperately need to hasten the transition to a more inclusive stakeholder capitalism. That is a worthy task for our generations, and one to which I am committed.”

— PROFESSOR ED FREEMAN