Meet Virginia Darden’s MBA Class Of 2026

‘BRING YOU’RE A-GAME TO CLASS’

“The case method allows you to gain insights from countless perspectives on the same subject matter while learning from your peers as you do it,” explains Brittany Terrell. “My classmates come from different industries across different companies all over the world – and so do the cases we’re reading about. I can’t imagine a better way to get a more well-rounded business education. The pressure is on in every class for all of us to be prepared to contribute to the classroom. At the same time, the pressure is also off because there’s always going to be something we don’t know. Everyone in the class has a perspective we don’t have and an experience we’ve never encountered before. We’re all learning at the same time, and we all have something to gain from each other.”

One alum, Peter Lee Hamilton, describes the Darden classroom as “super-charged” – a derivation of the popular “high touch, high tone, high octane” maxim about the school’s approach to casing. It is culture, in the words of Ian Berry, that enforces a “natural accountability” for classmates to “bring my A-game to class.” For Psalms Morales, the case method “illustrates the variety of ways a problem can be addressed and solved.” In fact, the case method contains a certain amount of magic, adds Sam Fortuño, a Princeton grad who went to work for Fannie Mae.

“When you walk into the room you have no idea where that conversation will start and how you’ll eventually arrive at a managerial decision. Some of our cases will lead with an introduction followed by an initial vote on what the protagonist’s decision should be. As the discussion continues, you may be presented with new information by a peer who has firsthand experience in the field, or the professor may incorporate a new data point to consider. It encourages you to be a responsive manager, and not just a champion of a viewpoint. You must weigh the new qualitative and quantitative information against your preconceived understanding of the case and not be afraid to change your mind. Sometimes, a single anecdote told by the person sitting next to you can influence the way everyone sees the case and flip the vote.”

”QUINTESSENTIAL” COLLEGE TOWN

While Darden is regaled for teaching excellence and casing mastery, it flies below the radar in Entrepreneurship. In this area, the school ranked 10th in P&Q’s 2025 World’s Best MBA Programs For Entrepreneurship. According to P&Q research, 99% of Darden MBAs took an Entrepreneurship class in 2023-2024 – and 42.5% of faculty taught at least one course in the subject. The school also ranked 3rd for startup funding, budgeting $10,769 per student for ventures. What’s more, Darden maintains the Batten Institute, an “innovation engine” that supports programming, services, and research in entrepreneurship, venture capital, and sustainability. The Institute also covers the costs of the Darden World Courses and Exchange program, where student can spend a week overseas to learn.

“The dedicated team at the Batten Institute has put together exciting programs advancing technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the University of Virginia,” explains Oladimeji Ojo. “This (past) summer, the institute nurtured 28 ventures with compelling products, technologies and services through its i.Lab Incubator program. This initiative offers an excellent opportunity for founders and builders seeking to pursue an MBA at the Darden School.”

Maximilian Martin, a 2024 alum and founder of CoFund, also touts the Charlottesville startup ecosystem, where local entrepreneurs generously provide feedback to student questions and pitches. That’s not the city’s only charm. Evan Wieczore calls Charlottesville the “quintessential college town.” Look no further than campus, with its Jeffersonian Classicism: Roman columns, spacious lawns, and shuddered red brick buildings: clean, disciplined, ornate. Around town, students can hit the local breweries and galleries. Outside campus, they’ll find plenty of picturesque trails along the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“Charlottesville is one of the most heavenly places on earth,” says Malcolm Stewart. “A smaller college town, it punches far above its weight in terms of bars and restaurants, with access to many beautiful hikes and dozens of cideries, distilleries, and wineries only a short drive away. What I loved most about Charlottesville though was the ways that it fully fit into my life. Picture walking to school and coming across a buck in the mornings, having student access to the incredible squash facilities at the Boars Head Club, going on walks on local farms, being able to have a great afternoon with friends at a local winery, or having easy driving access to DC to visit my family – Charlottesville truly became my home over the course of my graduate study.”

CLASS TRADITIONS

That sense of home is reinforced by many of Darden’s traditions. One is Thursday Night “Cold Calls” – or “Darden Fridays” since students don’t take classes on Fridays notes alum Peter Lee Hamilton. Before classes, Darden MBAs also partake in First Coffee, where students and faculty gather to sample brews and connect.

“This ritual is a main feature of Darden’s community, offering a unique opportunity to engage with peers and faculty in meaningful dialogue,” shares Oladimeji Ojo. “It is one of the reasons I chose Darden. I hope to develop relationships with 1-2 classmates and future executives per day over the next two years.”

Let’s not forget the all-important Darden Cup, an intersectional competition for pride and points. In this friendly rivalry, the five sections compete in everything from trivia to basketball to charitable giving. “Throughout the course of the year, the sections compete in a series of events such as Lawn Games, Trivia, and the Ultimate Relay Race,” writes Sam Fortuño. “Not only is it a great time, but it really brings your section together (professors included) and helps build relationships in a way that directly translates back to the classroom. The next time you get up to speak in front of your peers, you might be more willing to take a risk or disagree with one of your peers because you have built that level of comfort with each other.”

AN INTERVIEW WITH DAWNA CLARKE

What can Darden applicants, students, and alumni expect from the program in the future? Here are some thoughts from Dawna Clarke, Darden’s senior associate dean of admissions and P&Q’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement winner.

P&Q: What have been the two most important developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will they have on current and future MBAs?

Clarke: “As of June 30, the total impact of our current capital campaign is greater than $587 million, already exceeding our initial goal. I mention that because those funds result in tangible improvements for current and prospective students and alumni. We’ve launched many new scholarships, helped recruit and retain the world’s best faculty with 30 new faculty chairs, and advanced a Grounds improvement plan that has already brought us incredible new spaces and is paving the way on new residential housing for students in Charlottesville.

We recently dedicated the Tahija Arboretum & LaCross Botanical Gardens on the Darden Grounds in Charlottesville, meaning the Class of 2026 will be the first to enjoy the new space for the duration of their student experience. The arboretum and gardens include more than 200 distinct botanical varieties and more than 100,000 plants across several acres next to The Forum Hotel. The Darden Grounds were already some of the most attractive in the world, and this enhances the beauty while adding real functionality, with an outdoor classroom space and countless quiet spaces for studying, sharing a meal with friends, or just taking a pause amid a busy day.

Sometimes, the philanthropic activities at an institution can seem removed from the day-to-day experience of the student, and it’s important for us to be able to show how this incredible generosity is powering and strengthening so much of what we love about Darden.”

P&Q: Every January, P&Q publishes a “10 Business Schools to Watch” feature that highlights how schools are raising the bar and enhancing the student experience through innovation or expansion in programming or resources. What is one innovation that sets your school apart from your peer programs and makes you a business school to watch? Why is it so groundbreaking?

Clarke: “Darden received a transformational gift of more than $100 million in 2023 from David M. LaCross and his wife, Kathleen O. LaCross. The gift is powering a number of incredible innovations at Darden that current and future students will enjoy. In addition to helping to grow the new botanical gardens, the gift is funding research and instruction in artificial intelligence through Darden’s LaCross Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Business.

AI is obviously drawing an enormous amount of attention and capital right now, and we believe Darden has a unique opportunity to offer a unique contribution. Darden is a world-leader in business ethics, and we are already seeing AI introduce unique and pressing ethical issues. Darden graduates will be uniquely positioned to both understand the many versions and applications of AI and its incredible applicability, but also how to use AI responsibly to lead companies and organizations through an incredible period of change.”

P&Q: What types of programs do you offer to sharpen your students’ soft skills? What areas do you emphasize and how do you instill these skills in your students?

Clarke: “Many professors and students at Darden don’t use the hard versus soft distinction. Darden prepares students for global business leadership, imbuing them with the ability to make difficult decisions and lead through uncertainty. That takes people skills and an ability to see the big picture — what we might call an enterprise-view.

Darden students do take required courses in human-centered areas such as Leadership Communication, Leading Organizations and Business Ethics. And, of course, the case method classroom and learning teams refine those interpersonal skills and leadership traits. If a Darden student graduates with world-class quantitative abilities, but an inability to work effectively on a team, to negotiate in good faith, or to see beyond their own self-interest, then we have not served that student well.

One anecdote you hear over and over again from alumni is an initial belief that the Leadership and Organizational Behavior courses would be of minimal use —a “soft” class for students eager for hard skills. Instead, returning alumni will say it’s classes like “Leading Organizations,” with a focus on managing conflict, designing and managing teams, giving and receiving feedback, and managing culture, that alumni report using every day of their working lives.

At Darden, we believe performance in business is driven by bringing people together to create value for business and society. Through our unique, energetic learning model, Darden will build a student’s leadership capacity — growing hard and soft skills — at a higher and faster rate to prepare graduates for the ever-changing world of business.”

P&Q: What types of programming – through classroom instruction, extracurriculars, and treks – does your school offer to expose students to country-specific and global business practices? What have students told you were the most educational and fun aspects of these activities?

Clarke: “All students in the Full-Time MBA may take a Darden Worldwide Course and receive a scholarship covering the program fee. Courses take place in countries around the world, and classes have included “Luxury and Exports” in Italy, “Artificial Intelligence” in Germany, “Creativity and Design” in Spain and “Sustainability and Ecotourism” in Costa Rica, to name a few. Darden also offers various global client projects and exchange programs.

Students often take more than one global course, and some consider it a highlight of their MBA. For students interested in global business, getting out into the world and learning alongside leaders in Morocco, or Vietnam or Iceland for even a short period of time can be enormously impactful.”

P&Q: What are the most exciting new courses that your school is offering to MBAs this school year? What makes them so unique and valuable?

Clarke: “New classes this year include “Managing Economic Uncertainty,” taught by Professor Bo Sun; “Private Equity,” taught by Professor Elena Loutskina; “Venture Capital Finance,” taught by Professor Rus Abuzov and “Minds and Machines: Flourishing in the Age of AI.” All of the classes are in areas of critical global importance and of great interest to Darden students, and all are taught via the case method, meaning students aren’t passive absorbers of information, they are active participants in their own.”

P&Q: Who are two new professors who’ve joined your faculty in the past year? What do they teach and how will they be difference-makers in your MBA program?

Clarke: “Professor Sam Levy recently joined our already incredible Marketing team. He brings an interest in statistics, machine learning and economics to marketing areas such as branding and customer relationship management and digital privacy. He is doing really interesting work on what he calls “digital twins” — simulations that allow a company or individual to map out all manners of alternate scenarios.

Professor Pnina Feldman teaches in the Technology and Operations Management area, and she has an interest in the impact of consumer behavior on pricing and operational decisions, research on topics such as food delivery platforms, reselling tickets and congestion pricing.

Both professors fit the unique Darden mold: Passionate professors who are serious about teaching while maintaining a connection to the world of practice and conducting important research with real-world applicability.”