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The 'Darden Graduate School of Business Administration', founded in 1954, is the graduate business school associated with the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Darden School is (in the Dean's words) "high touch, high tone and high octane". It is named after Colgate Whitehead Darden, Jr., a former Democratic congressman, governor of Virginia, and president of the University of Virginia.

Contents

Darden MBA

Student Awards/Scholarships

Executive Education

MBA for Executives

Prominent alumni

Clubs at Darden

Batten Institute

Rankings

External links

Videos

References

Darden MBA

Darden offers a two-year MBA program that relies heavily on case-based teaching methods (see Case Study Analysis), similar to teaching methods used in many law schools and at Harvard Business School. Darden teaches solely through the case method, one of the few prominent schools to do so. The Darden case method relies heavily on strong preparation (done both on an individual basis and group basis) and deep discussions within Sections.
The school is known for its particular strength in General Management, and it is regularly ranked by ''Business Week'', the Economist Intelligence Unit,Forbes, US News and World Report and other sources as a top business school in the world.
In 2002, Darden expanded the class size by 20% from 250 to over 300. Darden's Dean, as of August 1, 2005, is Robert Bruner, who is also the school's Distinguished Professor of Business Administration.
George David, 1967 Darden graduate and current CEO and Chairman of United Technologies Corporation, said of his time at the school, "My two years at Darden were the best ones of my life. The intensity was amazing, and the skills acquired life-long. I learned for the first time that classmates and I could push problems around with the sheer force of trying. I am profoundly grateful for this experience." George David was named 2002 CEO of the Year by IndustryWeek, and was voted number 3 in Barron's Magazine's 2006 "World's Most Respected US CEOs."

Student Awards/Scholarships

Darden's top student award is the 'Samuel Forrest Hyde Memorial Fellowship', which is awarded by the faculty to the first-year student who has contributed the most to the welfare of the school and shows the greatest career promise. Darden also awards the 'Frederick S. Morton Leadership Award' to a second-year student in recognition of exceptional leadership.
Darden awards the 'C. Stewart Sheppard Distinguished Service Award' to recognize first-year Darden students for exceptional service to the School. Darden faculty awards the 'William Michael Shermet Award' to fifteen (top 5%) first-year students for exceptional academic performance and classroom contribution.
Darden also awards 'Frank E. Genovese Fellowships' each year in recognition of academic performance and General Management promise.

Executive Education

Darden's Executive Education program continues to be ranked strongly by the The Financial Times (2006). Including:-


★ Number 1 in the World in Open Program Executive Education.

★ Number 1 in Open Program Faculty (for the 3rd consecutive year).

★ Number 1 in Open Program Course Design (for 4th consecutive year).
The program offers both open and custom programs. Executive Education programs include sustainabilty, service excellence, leading strategic change, and bargaining and negotiating.

MBA for Executives

Darden launched an MBA for Executives program in June 2006. The executive program takes 22 months.

Prominent alumni

Darden's list of prominent alumni (in order of graduation) includes:

★ John H. Bryan (MBA '60), CEO and Chairman of Sara Lee from 1976 to 2001.

★ George David (MBA '67), CEO and Chairman of United Technologies Corporation. Voted number 3 in Barron's 2006 "World's Most Respected US CEOs."

★ John D. Shafer Jr. (MBA '68), CEO of Dunkin' Donuts.

★ Rea S. Hederman (MBA '68), Chairman since 1984, New York Review of Books

★ Henri Termeer (MBA '73), the President, Chairman and CEO of Genzyme Corporation.

★ L.F. Payne (MBA '73), former Virginia congressman.

★ Anthony J. Hobson (MBA '74), Chairman, Northern Foods plc, non-exec director of HBOS plc, and Sage Group plc. All in the UK.

★ Roger L. Werner Jr. (MBA '77), founder Speedvision and Outdoor Life Network.

★ Steven Reinemund (MBA '78), the current CEO and Chairman of PepsiCo (has opted to retire in May). Voted number 15 in Barron's 2006 "World's Most Respected US CEOs."

★ Mark B. Templeton (MBA '78), President & CEO, Citrix Systems Inc.

★ Warren Thompson (MBA ’83), President & Chairman and Founder, Thompson Hospitality. The largest minority owned food service company in the US.

★ Frank Batten Jr (MBA '84), CEO of Landmark Communications (owner of The Weather Channel and many newspapers).

★ Edward Swindler (MBA ’84), Executive Vice President, NBC Universal (a division of General Electric)

★ Daniel S. Lynch (MBA '84), CEO of ImClone Systems Inc..

★ Steve M. Hankin (MBA '86), CEO of Sentient Jets.

★ Mark Sanford (MBA '88), Governor of South Carolina.

★ Martina Hund-Mejean (MBA '88), Treasurer of Tyco International Ltd.

★ Naren K. Gursahaney (MBA '89), President of Tyco Engineered Products and Services

★ James Geisler (MBA ’93), Vice President Finance, United Technologies Corporation.

★ Trip Davis (MBA ’94), President & CEO, TRX, Inc.

★ Doug Lebda, founder of Lending Tree, which was conceived as business plan during his first year. Doug left Darden (Class of 98) to pursue the business.

★ Dustin Masaru Shindo (MBA ’99), Chairman & CEO and Founder, Hoku Scientific.

Clubs at Darden

★ 'Darden Student Association' (Darden Student Governing Body)

★ Asian Business Club @ Darden

★ Athletics and Recreation

★ Black Business Student Forum (BBSF)

★ Business Technology Club

★ Christian Fellowship

★ Christmas-In-April (CIA)

★ Cold Call Chorus

★ Cold Call Chronicle

★ Darden African Business Organization (DABO)

★ Darden Automotive & Racing Team (DART)

★ Darden Follies - Darden's annual student run comedy retrospective. One of the film skits from 2006's is available here on google video.

★ Darden Jewish Student Association (DJSA)

★ Darden Military Association

★ Darden Partners Association (DPA)

★ Darden Private Equity Club (DPEC)

★ Darden Rowing Club

★ Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club

★ The European Society at Darden (ES@D)

★ Gays, Lesbians, and Allies at Darden

★ Hispanic American Network at Darden (HAND)

★ International Business Society

★ Latin American Student Association (LASA)

★ MBA/JD Society

★ National Association of Women MBAs (NAWMBA)

★ Net Impact

★ Outdoors Club

★ Outreach at Darden

★ Sky Club at Darden

Batten Institute

The Batten Institute is a prominent institution at the Darden School of Business. A leading business think-tank, the Batten Institute invests in applied research and knowledge transfer programs on the frontiers of change in organizations, markets, and technologies. The Institute is a nexus of practitioners and scholars who foster new practical knowledge about business innovation and change.^[1] The Institute was founded in 1996 and fortified in 2000 by a record $60 million gift from UVa alumnus Frank Batten, Sr., retired Chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications and founder of The Weather Channel.^[2]
Batten Institute programs include the Darden Progressive Incubator, which assists students in taking ideas from concept to viable business; the UVa Business Plan and Business Concept Competitions; the Batten Fellows Program, which brings prominent thought and education leaders and high-potential young professionals to the school to conduct research and interact with students. Through these programs, the Institute provides:^[2]

★ Sponsorship of intellectual capital

★ Industry speakers

★ Conferences on topics such as business innovation and change

★ Support for Darden’s entrepreneurship curriculum

★ Scholarships for Darden MBA students who exemplify the Institute’s mission

★ Sponsorship of the Journal of Business Venturing

Rankings

Darden is regularly ranked as being among the top business schools in the world. Its current rankings (updated April 2007) are as follows:

★ Forbes ranked number 4.

★ Wall Street Journal ranked number 11.

★ US News and World Report ranked number 12 in 2008. (13 in 2007, 14 in 2006)

★ Business Week ranked number 15 in 2006. (12 in 2004)

★ Financial Times ranked number 14 globally. (ranked number 1 globally under "best in general management")

★ Economist Intelligence Unit ranked number 10 USA and number 13 globally.

★ Financial Times ranked Darden Executive Education number 1 in the World for Open Program Executive Education.

External links

★ Darden official site

★ Darden News

★ Darden Executive Education

★ Darden MBA for Executives

★ Darden Business Publishing

★ The Batten Institute (Darden's Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurship & Innovation)

★ Olsson Center for Applied Ethics (Darden's Center of Excellence for Business Ethics)

★ Dean Robert Bruner's personal page at Darden

★ Weather at Darden

★ Directions to Darden

Videos

★ Promotional video for military applicants

★ Darden Students were challenged to create a promotional video. The three finalists can be seen here.

★ Darden Follies 2007 Promotional Video - Follies is the end of year comedy show run by students

★ Darden Daze. A skit from the 2006 Follies Show

References

1. Darden Graduate School of Business (2006). http://www.darden.edu/html/standard.aspx?menu_id=72&styleid=2&id=814
2. Ibid
3. Ibid