Darden receives its biggest gift

Published May 23, 2019 by Robert Powell, III

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business has announced the biggest gift in its history.

Frank M. Sands Sr., the founder of Sands Capital Management, is giving $68 million to the graduate business school. Sands received an MBA degree from Darden in 1963.

The gift will establish the Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning, which the school said will enable innovation in degree, non-degree and online programs while help retain and recruit Darden’s top-ranked faculty members.

The gift also is expected to help transform Darden’s educational facilities in Charlottesville.

Sands and his son, Frank Sands, who also is a Darden alum, previously gave $5 million that was used to build Darden’s new campus in Arlington’s Rosslyn district,  U.Va. Darden Sands Family Grounds. That facility opened in March.

Combined with university matching funds, the Sands gift will have $82 million in total impact. That amount includes the $68 million gift and $14 million in funds from U.Va.’s Bicentennial Professors Fund, which was launched in 2017.

Announcement of the gift comes at a time when Darden and the university are preparing for the public launch of Honor the Future, U.Va.’s $5 billion campaign.