Spring has sprung around the Darden School of Business University of Virginia. Photo/Andrew Shurtleff Photography, LLC.

Virginia Darden Launches New Data Science Program Series

The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business is launching a series of new programs on data science in business.

The new program series, titled the Foundations of Data Science for Business Leaders, is a partnership between Darden, the School of Data Science, and the McIntire School of Commerce at UVA. Designed for senior business leaders, the Foundations of Data Science for Business Leaders is designed to allow leaders to explore the ways that industries, companies, and leaders are capitalizing data, analytics, and technology, according to a press release.

“The proliferation of data and analytics has created unprecedented opportunities and unimaginable risks for many industries and companies,” Professor Yael Grushka-Cockayne, senior associate dean for professional degree programs at the Darden School, says in the press release. “These courses, which bring together top faculty from across UVA, will allow leaders with a variety of backgrounds to capitalize on the rapidly changing technical landscape and execute superior business strategies across teams and organizations.”

EXPLOSION OF DATA & ANALYTICS

The study of data and analytics at b-schools has exploded in recent years.

According to a P&Q study of the top 100 b-schools, roughly one-third have rolled out business analytics programs in recent years.

“Business analytics is determining the winners and losers in most industries,” Kenneth Gilbert, an emeritus prof at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville Haslam College of Business, says in an interview with Forbes.

At UVA, the new program series will address just that.

“The intersection of data science and business practice offers many opportunities for the innovative application of analytic methods and tools to real-world business challenges,” says Phil Bourne, dean of the UVA School of Data Science. “Our partnership with Darden and McIntire offers a powerful platform of unique expertise and resources to benefit leaders in business and society.”

EXPLORE KEY TOPICS

The Foundations of Data Science for Business Leaders will combine readings, lectures, case discussions, simulations, demonstrations, and workshops to cover topics such as “Strategic Use of Data,” “Data Science Methods and Applications,” and “Managing Information for Analytics.”

“McIntire, Darden Executive Education and the School of Data Science will help business leaders better understand and appreciate the full research cycle — design, data acquisition, analysis, insights and action — and integrate the learnings immediately in their organizations,” Trey Maxham, associate dean for business analytics at the McIntire School, adds.

Sources: University of Virginia, Poets & Quants, Forbes