U.Va. Darden’s Beardsley recognized as ‘Dean of the Year’ by Poets & Quants

Scott Beardsley is the second Darden dean to receive honor

Published December 14, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Scott Beardsley. Photo courtesy Darden School of Business

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business announced Monday that Dean Scott Beardsley was named “Dean of the Year” by Poets & Quants, an online publication and forum dedicated to business schools.

Poets & Quants recognized Beardsley’s flexible approach to the application process during the pandemic, as well as the school’s teaching excellence and its expansion beyond Charlottesville. He is the second dean from U.Va.’s Darden School of Business to receive this honor, with Dean Emeritus Bob Bruner recognized in 2011.

“Unlike most deans, Scott has done a deep comprehensive McKinsey study of Darden,” Michael Woodfolk, president of the Darden School Foundation and the school’s chief fundraiser, said in a statement. “As part of that study, he has looked at what are the strong arteries that flow to the heart of the school. One of those arteries is the student experience, and he has been determined to make sure it remains the best there is.”

Beardsley is the 10th person to be honored by Poets & Quants, with previous winners including leaders from the Harvard Business School, the Yale School of Management, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and IE Business School in Spain.

The ninth Darden dean, Beardsley began his tenure at the beginning of the 2015-2016 academic year and was recently appointed to a second five-year term. He is also the school’s Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration. He holds a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining U.Va., he worked for 26 years at New York-based global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co, most recently serving as senior partner and an elected member of McKinsey’s global board of directors.