Andrew Pinckney 

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business

“Middle child from a big family, passionate yogi, former teacher but a lifelong student.”

Hometown: Williamstown, MA

Fun Fact About Yourself: When I was 13, I hiked across the Pyrenees in Spain with my grandfather, three cousins, and one of my four brothers.

Undergraduate School and Major: Furman University, Economics major

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Pearson Education, Product Manager

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My first job out of college was with Teach For America teaching high school math in Charlotte, NC. During my second year of teaching, my principal tasked me with leading the sophomore-level math team through the transition to Common Core standards. As a relatively new teacher, I had the opportunity to lead a team of five teachers, impacting hundreds of students over the course of the year, and build a curriculum that aligned to the standards and improved our students’ critical thinking skills.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Curious. At accepted student weekends and DC social events for the incoming class, I’ve been impressed with the diversity of backgrounds, interests, and intellectual curiosity that has driven my classmates to pursue their MBAs at Darden.

What makes the case method so attractive as a means to learn and become a better manager? There are a couple of obvious benefits: learning to think critically to solve business problems and working collaboratively with the class or section to get to a solution. I think what I’m most attracted to about the case method is learning from the various ways my classmates will work through a case. Given the diversity of backgrounds, I’m excited to build out my own management toolset based on the experiences and approaches of my class.

Aside from your classmates and cases, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you?  Community. Everyone I’ve met who attends or graduated from Darden spoke so passionately about their time there. Not only had they learned a great deal and built a strong business foundation thanks to the academic rigor of the case method, but they’d made lifelong friends across industries, companies, functions, and geographies. I was looking for a place where I could grow my skills, but also build lifelong relationships and Darden seemed the perfect fit.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Pride at Darden. I can’t wait to help make Pride at Darden an active and leading group on campus, both in terms of building an inclusive space for all LGBTQ+ students and also educating the Darden community on how best to be effective allies.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? “Tell me about yourself – you have 30 minutes.” This is the general structure of the Darden interview. I knew it was coming, but still fitting your life, education, and professional experiences into 30 minutes is daunting. I ended up loving the interview, though, as it turned into a relaxed conversation with my interviewer about my various experiences and how those experiences aligned well with Darden.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career?  I’ve approached education from multiple angles so far in my career – including teaching high school students, training adults to become teachers, building training programs for employees, and developing educational products and tools. Business school gives me the opportunity to round out these experiences and develop a core set of business skills and knowledge. I’d like to combine these skills with those I’ve developed in my career to help solve educational problems, particularly in building and delivering programs to address the growing skills gap.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Just one! The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Going back to school full-time, I knew I wanted to be challenged academically while also building a lifelong network of smart, interesting peers. Those were my two driving factors as I evaluated potential fit at business schools. Tactically, I visited a number of schools, spoke with current students, attended classes, and, of course, did hours of research online. Darden fit the bill perfectly for me.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? One of the defining moments of my life was my first day living in Cameroon, West Africa. When I was ten, my family picked up our lives from a comfortable college town in Northwestern Massachusetts and moved – with six children – to a town in Cameroon. I remember vividly the culture shock of leaving a comfortable New England home to live in the developing world. Even at that age, I knew I would never see the world the same way and was impressed by how incredibly different life was in Cameroon from my experience. That time living abroad continues to shape who I am today and how I view the world.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Running an ed-tech company focused on upskilling or reskilling workers in roles at risk of being lost to AI.