Experience Darden

Experience Darden #238: Student Spotlight | Malcolm Stewart (Class of 2024)

In this episode of the podcast, we talk with Malcolm Stewart. Malcolm is a second year student in Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024, and he applied to Darden through the Future Year Scholars program, our deferred enrollment program for undergraduates in their final year of study or full-time masters students who have not held a full-time work position. We talk with Malcolm about his background in asset management, his decision to pursue an MBA, what led him to Darden, how he spent his summer, the impact of his Darden experience and more.

Experience Darden #237: Faculty Spotlight | Ayana Younge

In this special edition of the podcast, we catch up with Ayana Younge. Younge is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Leadership and Organizational Behavior area at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and her research lies at the intersection of emotions, social hierarchy, and interpersonal processes. We talk with Younge about her journey to Darden, what it’s like to teach in Darden’s core curriculum, her elective – People, Purpose and the Power of Relationships, as well as her work with the PhD Project. Founded in 1994, The PhD Project seeks to diversify corporate America by diversifying the role models in the front of classrooms. Learn more.

Experience Darden #236: Faculty Spotlight | Allison Elias

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Allison Elias. Elias teaches courses about communication and negotiation in Darden’s MBA and Executive MBA programs, and we recently connected with her to discuss her journey to Darden, her elective – Women, Gender and Work – as well as her 2022 book, The Rise of Corporate Feminism. Elias was a nominee for the 2022 Outstanding Faculty Award at Darden, and her elective, Women, Gender, and Work, was rated among the top 10% of all Darden electives (according to student ratings regarding course content and instructor quality).

Experience Darden #235: Entrepreneur Spotlight | Peter Hamilton, ema.ai

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Peter Hamilton. Peter is a JD/MBA student in UVA Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024, and he is also a founder. We recently connected with Peter to talk about his MBA journey as well as his current venture, ema.ai, an AI-powered personal assistant company that focuses on applying conversational AI to consumer products.

Experience Darden #234: Anton Dominic Dela Cruz, President, Pride at Darden

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Anton Dominic Dela Cruz. Anton is a second year student in UVA Darden’s Full-Time MBA program, and he is also the President of Pride at Darden student organization. We talk with Anton about his decision to pursue an MBA, what he enjoys about learning through the case method, Pride at Darden’s plans for the months ahead and more. Pride at Darden (PAD) is a student club that is dedicated to promoting an inclusive, open and welcoming environment for LGBTQ students, educating and improving awareness of LGBTQ issues within Darden and the surrounding Charlottesville area, and facilitating networking with other LGBTQ communities, other business schools and with diversity-friendly employers.

Experience Darden #233: Student Organization Spotlight | Black Business Student Association

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Chidiadi “Rising” Onyeukwu and Beza Bisrat. Rising and Beza are second year students in Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024, and they are members of the Black Business Student Association (BBSA) leadership team – Rising serves as the President and Beza is the VP Careers and Academics. We talk with Rising and Beza about their respective MBA journeys, BBSA’s plans for the coming months, their advice for prospective students and more.

Experience Darden #232: Entrepreneur Spotlight | Grace Collins and Ellie Jamison, Play Henry

In this episode of the podcast, we continue our periodic spotlight on student founders at Darden in a conversation with Grace Collins and Ellie Jamison. Grace and Ellie are second year students in Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024, and their venture, Play Henry, offers a fresh take on pickleball apparel and equipment – “from court to cocktail.” We talk with Grace and Ellie about their MBA journeys, what inspired their venture, their experience in the UVA’s summer iLab incubator, what’s next for Play Henry and more.  

Experience Darden #231: In Conversation | Interim Dean Jeanne Liedtka

In this special edition of Darden Admissions’ podcasts, we’re excited to share a recent conversation between Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke and Interim Dean of the Darden School of Business Jeanne Liedtka. In this wide-ranging conversation, Liedtka reflects upon her tenure at the Darden School, what drew her to the field of Design Thinking, what she loves about Charlottesville, the impact of the Darden academic environment and more. This episode is essential listening.

Experience Darden #230: Meet Victoria Velasquez, Full-Time MBA Class of 2024

In this episode we catch up with Victoria Velasquez. Victoria is a second year student in UVA Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024, and she is also President of Darden’s Consulting Club. We talk with Victoria about her background, her decision to pursue an MBA, what led her to Darden as well as what drew her to leading the Consulting Club. She also shares the Consulting Club’s plans for the months ahead and how the club supports students with an interest in consulting.

Experience Darden #229: Faculty Spotlight | Jim Zuffoletti (MBA ’05)

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Jim Zuffoletti. Jim is a Darden alum, graduating in the Full-Time MBA Class of 2005, and he recently returned to Darden to serve as Entrepreneurship Community Director for the Batten Institute as well as an instructor for the Venture Velocity course. We talk with Jim about his background, his passion for entrepreneurship, what the Venture Velocity course is all about, his advice for prospective students and more.  

Experience Darden #228: Tips for Round 1 Applicants with Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke

The Round 1 deadline for Darden’s Full-Time MBA program is 4 October! In the spirit of the season, we catch up with Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke to hear her tips and advice for Round 1 applicants.

Experience Darden #227: Spotlight on the Darden Diversity Conference

This year’s Darden Diversity Conference will take place late October 2023, with the virtual event scheduled for 23 October and the in-person event planned for 28-29 October. In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with three first year students in Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2025 who attended last year’s Diversity Conference – Matt Au, Brianna Huff and Luis Otero. We talk with Matt, Brianna and Luis about their respective MBA journeys, the role the Diversity Conference played in their MBA research processes as well as why they think prospective students should attend this event.

Experience Darden #226: Meet Sid Parekh, Full-Time MBA Class of 2024

During this episode, we catch up with Sid Parekh, a second year student in UVA Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024. We talk with Sid about his decision to pursue an MBA, what led him to Darden, as well as his engagement with the Student Admissions Committee (SAC) and his leadership roles with Darden’s Consulting Club and the Community Consultants of Darden student organization.

Experience Darden #225: Meet Alex Hickey, President, Darden Wine and Cuisine Club (WACC)

In this episode of the podcast, we talk with Alex Hickey. Alex is a second year student in Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024, and she is also the President of the Darden Wine and Cuisine Club (WACC). We talk with Alex about her background, how she decided to pursue an MBA, what led her to Darden, her experience serving as social rep for her first year section, WACC’s plans for the months ahead and more.    

Experience Darden #224: Re-Air: Office Hours with Bob Bruner

We’re excited to re-share one of our favorite conversations from earlier in the year – our Office Hours interview with Dean Emeritus Bob Bruner. As a financial economist, Bruner is best known for his research on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and financial panics. He served as dean of the Darden School from 2005 to 2015, and, this May, he retired from the Darden School in May after 41 years of service and leadership. In this conversation, we talk with Bruner about what led him to Darden, his passion for the case method, his interest in financial crises, what the panic of 1907 can tell us about financial crises generally, his thoughts on the recent Silicon Valley Bank collapse and more.  

Experience Darden #223: Pre-Matriculation Support for Full-Time MBA Students

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Managing Director of Admissions Whitney Kestner to talk about the support available to Full-Time MBA students prior to the start of school. In this wide-ranging discussion we touch upon a host of resources including CDWhy, Accounting MOOCs, B-Ready, Darden Before Darden, International Student Orientation Program (ISOP), the ‘Hoo Crews and more.

Experience Darden #222: Office Hours Spotlight | In Conversation with Professor Tim Laseter

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcast, we share a recent installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Tim Laseter (MBA ’94, PhD ’03). Laseter is a member of the Technology and Operations Management faculty, and he teaches courses in operations strategy, innovation and emerging technology at Darden. He maintains his connections with practitioners by serving clients as a senior advisor, speaker, workshop facilitator, and expert witness. In this conversation we talk with Laseter about his background, what led him to Darden for his MBA, what he enjoys about teaching, as well as how he discovered his interest in operations. We also discuss several of his courses, including Operations Strategy, Digital Operations, Emerging Topics in Technology & Operations, his Darden Worldwide Course and a new course he has helped develop for Darden Executive Education, “Unlocking Value of AI, Blockchain and Digital Assets.”

Experience Darden #221: Full-Time MBA App Launch | Dawna Clarke, Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke

Darden’s Full-Time MBA application is now live, and in honor of the occasion, we recently caught up with Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke to talk about this year’s application. During this conversation, we discuss this year’s short answer questions, choosing a recommender, Darden’s Full-Time MBA test waiver request process and more.

Experience Darden #220: Alison Neveu, VP of Admissions, GWIB

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Alison Neveu. Alison is a student in Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024, and she is also VP of Admissions for the Graduate Women in Business (GWIB) club. We talk with Alison about her background, how she decided to pursue an MBA, her experience serving as a General Equity representative for her First Year section, what attracted her to the VP of Admissions role and much more.

Experience Darden #219: Student Spotlight | Kate Gomeliuk

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Kate Gomeliuk. Kate is a student in UVA Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2024, and she is also the VP International for Darden’s Graduate Women in Business (GWIB) student organization. We talk with Kate about her decision to pursue an MBA, what led her to Darden, navigating the first year of business school as a parent, how she decided to serve on the GWIB leadership board and more.

Experience Darden #218: Spotlight on Learning Team 6

In this episode of the podcast, we continue our ongoing series on the learning experience at Darden with a conversation with seven students in the Full-Time MBA Class of 2024 who comprised Learning Team 6 – Alyssa Tulabut, Lindsey Moran, Maryeliz Point, Peter Hamilton, Max Redpath, Rauf Aziz and Gerardo Molina Rodriguez. The team discusses how they established their team culture, how they worked together, how their Learning Team shaped their first year experience and more. Did you know? All Darden students are assigned a 5-6 person Learning Team, and this team is an important academic resource, particularly during the core curriculum.

Experience Darden #217: Office Hours Spotlight | In Conversation with Professor Yiorgos Allayannis

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcast, we share a recent installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Yiorgos Allayannis. Allayannis is member of the Finance faculty and an expert in corporate finance, risk management, financial institutions and international finance. His work has examined the impact of derivatives on risk and firm value, corporate governance and its influence in a firm's use of derivatives for hedging, as well as firms' financial and operational hedging strategies. Other work has examined volatility and its implications for firm value distinguishing between earnings and cash flow volatility. In this conversation, we talk with Allayannis about what led him to Darden, teaching Finance through the case method as well as his popular elective, Financial Institutions and Markets. We also discuss a number of the cases he has written across a wide range of topics, including crypto, decentralized finance, green bonds, fintech and more.

Experience Darden #216: Learning Through the Case Method with the Full-Time MBA Class of 2024

During this episode, we continue our spotlight on learning through the case method with a conversation with three students in our Full-Time MBA Class of 2024 – Alex Esposito, Ryan Smith and Vince Wang. In this conversation, Alex, Ryan and Vince reflect upon their decision to pursue an MBA, what led them to Darden, what they enjoy about learning through the case method, how Darden has prepared them to lead in ambiguous situations, their advice for prospective students and more. Alex, Ryan and Vince also share their favorite case from the First Year core curriculum.

Experience Darden #215: MSBA Spotlight with Professor Raj Venkatesan

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we catch up with Professor Raj Venkatesan. Raj is a member of the Darden Marketing faculty, and he is also a co-Academic Director for UVA’s MS in Business Analytics, a partner program between the Darden School of Business and the McIntire School of Commerce. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk with Raj about his background, what he loves about the MSBA program, how the program’s curriculum keeps pace with technological advancement, what skills will define the analytics professional of the future and more.

Experience Darden #214: Entrepreneurship Spotlight | Rooney Lee, Newsublease

In this episode, we continue our ongoing spotlight on entrepreneurship at Darden with a conversation with Rooney Lee, a recent graduate in our Full-Time MBA Class of 2023. We talk with Rooney about Newsublease, a network providing affordable, short-term housing for MBA, Law and Medical students he launched with two of his classmates, Xinyi Jiang and Shreyas Adiyodi. He reflects upon the inspiration for Newsublease, how the UVA E-Cup helped him refine his business concept, what’s next for Newsublease, his plans for the summer and more.