Experience Darden

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcast, we share the 13th installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Manel Baucells. Baucells teaches quantitative analysis courses in Darden's MBA and Executive Education programs. Baucells' research focuses on incorporating psychological realism into consumer behavior models by considering factors such as reference point formation, mental accounting, psychological distance, anticipation, fatigue, and satiation; and examines how these factors influence risk and time preferences, consumer choices, and managerial decisions. We talk with Manel about his interest in quantifying the unquantifiable, why he’s passionate about the case method, as well as his research around attaining happiness. He also shares insights about Darden’s newly re-launched PhD program as well as his Behavioral Decision Making elective.

Senior Assistant Dean for Admissions, Dawna Clarke, joins us for our annual spotlight on the new Full-Time MBA application. Dawna shares insights about the application, including her favorite essay question, tips for choosing a recommender, advice for candidates considering a test waiver request and more. She also talks about the importance of approaching the MBA application process with both joy and excitement.

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcast, we share the 12th installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor June A. West. West is the Marjorie R. Sands Associate Professor of Business Administration, and she specializes in organizational communication, leadership, strategy, and change management. She teaches in Darden’s MBA, Executive MBA, Executive Education programs, iLab Innovation Incubator and the Center for Global Initiatives, where she offers for students a global course that takes place in Bahrain, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. In the year ahead, she will also be teaching the Leadership Communication course in Darden’s newest MBA format, Part-Time MBA. We talk with June about her interest in communications, what led her to Darden, and why she’s so passionate about working with students. She also reflects upon her work with Darden’s Partnership for Leaders in Education (PLE), a program with UVA’s School of Education, as well as her current research interests, including hot topics in communications.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with June Sun. June is a student in UVA Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2023, and she is the Chief Investment Officer for Darden Capital Management, an organization comprised of 24 second-year students chosen to actively manage six investment portfolios for the Darden School Foundation, including the newest fund focused on REITs, which launched on 1 April 2022. We talk with June about her journey to Darden, why she’s passionate about Finance, her plans for the summer ahead, what she’s looking forward to accomplishing in her CIO role and more.

In this special episode of the Darden Admissions podcast, we spotlight the recent Finals Exercises at the University of Virginia and the Darden School of Business. Every year, the Darden ceremony features student speakers who are nominated and voted upon by their classmates. We’re excited to share the remarks from Alex Smith (MBA ’22), the Full-Time MBA student speaker as well as Joe Stanley (EMBA ’22), the Executive MBA student speaker. You will also hear reflections and introductions from by the outgoing Darden Student Association (DSA) President DeMario Moore (MBA ’22) and outgoing Executive Student Association (ESA) President Catriona Stadtler-Ayer.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Khushali Shah. Khushali is a student in our Full-Time MBA Class of 2023, and she was recently named Forte fellow ambassador for 2022-2023. She is also VP International for UVA Darden’s Graduate Women in Business (GWIB). We talk with Khushali about her background and her decision to pursue an MBA, as well as what attracted her to the Forte fellow ambassador role.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Nikolaus Jacobs. Nikolaus, or “Niko” as his classmates know him, is a second year student the Full-Time MBA Class of 2022. Niko is originally from Germany and came to the United States for college before spending time working for Google in Ireland. We talk with Niko about his MBA journey and how his career interests have evolved during his time at Darden. He also reflects on the importance of knowing your priorities and values, or as he describes it “your north star”, as you navigate business school.

In this episode of the podcast, we continue our ongoing spotlight on student founders. We catch up Bradley Levergood (Class of 2023) and Maya Singh (Class of 2023) about their venture, Clarifi Technologies, LLC, a product to help students with ADHD stay focused while doing digital work. We also talk with Bradley and Maya about their MBA journeys, how UVA's Entrepreneurship Cup has helped them  along their entrepreneurial path, and what their excited about for Clarifi in the months ahead.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Adriana Gadala-Maria. Adriana, or “Adri” as her Darden classmates know her, is a second year student in UVA Darden’s Full-Time MBA Class of 2022. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about Adri’s journey from the tech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area to Darden community in Charlottesville. She reflects upon her decision to pursue an MBA, what led her to Darden and how she has pursued her passion for venture capital during her time in business school, including internships with Cav Angels, Glynn Capital and Dorm Room Fund, as well as serving as President of the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (EVC) club. This episode is highly recommended for prospective students with an interest in venture capital and/or private equity.  

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcast, we catch up with Raj Venkatesan. Venkatesan is a member of the Marketing faculty at Darden, and he was recently named the Co-Academic Director for the M.S. in Business Analytics program, a one-year specialized masters offered by the UVA Darden School of Business in partnership with UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce. Venkatesan’s areas of expertise are customer relationship management, marketing metrics and marketing analytics, and in this wide-ranging conversation, he reflects upon his background, what led him to Darden, what he’s researching currently and why he’s excited about his role at Co-Academic Director. He also discusses the important role communication and messaging play in analytics, and why the human element may matter even more in the data work of the future.