Inc: “Harvard Business School’s $699 boot camp for aspiring entrepreneurs—led by AI clones of university faculty—is getting high marks since its rollout in April.

“My students love it,” said Flybridge Capital co-founder Jeff Bussgang, a senior lecturer at Harvard whose digital doppelganger is part of the innovative program.

The eight-week online course, dubbed HBS Foundry, uses AI-generated versions of faculty members to help participants refine business ideas rehearse investor pitches, and prepare for customer interactions.

“Great founders are everywhere,” the Foundry website says. “Access to the right tools, networks, and guidance is not. HBS Foundry closes that gap to bring more high-potential founders and ideas to market.”

To read the full article, click here.

DON’T MISS: THE B-SCHOOLS THAT CONNECT STUDENTS TO TIME’S BEST STARTUP INCUBATORS & ACCELERATORS

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Meet Virginia Darden’s New Faculty Members

Darden School of Business: “A new academic year brings six new faculty members and scholars to the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, with expertise spanning analytics, communication, finance, marketing and strategy.

Here’s a look at the newest members of the Darden community.

Michael Berthold, Bodily Bicentennial Professor in Analytics 

Berthold joins Darden as a visiting scholar for the 2026–27 academic year. He previously held a machine learning chair at the University of Konstanz and later co-founded the open-source analytics company KNIME, where he served as CEO and helped grow the company to more than 250 employees.

While at Darden, Berthold will focus on writing and curriculum development based on lessons from his transition from professor to CEO.

To read about five additional faculty members joining Darden this summer, click here.

DON’T MISS: WHY DARDEN’S PROFESSORS ARE THE BEST MBA TEACHERS ON THE PLANET

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Ravi Bapna Named Dean of Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business

Santa Clara University: “Santa Clara University Provost and Executive Vice President James M. Glaser has appointed Ravi Bapna as the next dean of the Leavey School of Business. Bapna, a distinguished scholar, executive educator, and expert in artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and digital transformation, will assume his role on September 1, 2026.

Bapna comes to Santa Clara from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, where he served as the Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Business Analytics and Information Systems, associate dean for executive education, and academic director of both the Carlson Analytics Lab and the Analytics for Good Institute.

As dean, Bapna will serve as the Leavey School’s chief academic and executive officer, overseeing its undergraduate, graduate, and executive education programs, as well as its faculty and research institutes. He will lead the school’s strategic direction, building upon Leavey’s strong national rankings, including top-ranked professional MBA programs, while expanding its visibility, philanthropic engagement, and strategic ties across Silicon Valley and global markets. He will also serve as the Mario L. Belotti Professor of Business and a member of the Leavey faculty, continuing his commitment to student learning and scholarship across all business disciplines.

To read more, click here.

DON’T MISS: SANTA CLARA LEAVEY — THE OTHER B-SCHOOL IN THE HEART OF SILICON VALLEY

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ADDITIONAL STORIES

UC Berkeley Startups Generate $300 Million Countywide, According to Haas School of Business

Riverside’s Online MBA Program To Cut Tuition By 50% For UC Faculty And Staff

Touro University Launches New Integrated School of Business

Andrew Gaudes Named Interim Dean of Sacred Heart University’s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology

Manhattan University Names Grishma Shah Interim Business School Dean

Stakeholder Theory Community Honors Professor Ed Freeman’s Impact on Business and Academia

What’s Next? Four Goizueta MBA Graduates Share Their Professional Bucket Lists

Harvard Business School’s Linda Hill to Receive Lifetime Award from the Institute for Management Studies

 

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