The ExecMBA Podcast

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Amy Jackson. Amy is a second year student in our Executive MBA Class of 2023, and she recently began a new role as Chief Early Learning Strategy Officer at Primrose Schools, a national system of accredited private preschools that provides premier early education and child care experience for children and families. During this conversation, Amy reflects upon her MBA journey, what led her to Darden, how Darden has helped her navigate her new role and more.

During this episode, we catch up with Erika Keough. Erika is a second year student in our Executive MBA Class of 2023, and we recently connected with her to talk about her decision to pursue an MBA, what led her to Darden, what she loves about her classmates, as well as how the program pushed her to explore an entrepreneurial path. Erika also discusses her new venture, Le Breton Group, a people and talent advisory and consulting services for Early Stage to Series B startups.  

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Billy Hughes. Billy is a GEMBA format graduate in our Executive MBA Class of 2020, and he is currently an AVP for Anti-Corruption and Third-Party Risk Management for Victoria’s Secret. We recorded this episode in Spring 2022 when we first saw Billy’s job update on LinkedIn, and during this wide-ranging conversation, Billy discusses his MBA journey, his passion for ethics and compliance, how the GEMBA format has helped him in his work with Victoria’s Secret and more.

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 Peter Debaere. Debaere is a member of the Global Economies and Markets faculty at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and he is an international economist with a focus on international trade, multinationals and trade policy. He is also a water expert. In this conversation, we talk with Debaere about his interest in Economics, what led him to Darden as well as his elective courses – The Economics of Water and Managing International Trade and Investment. He also discusses, To America and Back Again¸ the new book he co-wrote his brother about their grandmother’s exceptional life.

Boldly going where no Darden podcast episode has gone before. Our first podcast conversation with a Learning Team! In this episode, we catch up with five (of seven) second year students in the Executive MBA Class of 2023 who are on Learning Team 2 – Johnny Carpenter, John Grant, Catherine Kenney, Kuleen Mehta and Remington Roth. The students talk about how their team formed, set norms, developed their work approach and most importantly supported each other during the program. As is noted during the conversation, learning at Darden is a team sport. 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.

Big news! Welcome to our first podcast interview with two students from Darden’s newest MBA format – the Part-Time MBA. In this conversation we catch up with Parker Lapeyre and Max Godwin, first year students in UVA Darden’s Part-Time MBA Class of 2025 and co-Presidents of the Part-Time MBA Student Association (PSA). We talk with Parker and Max about their backgrounds, what led them to Darden, how things are going for their class, their goals for the PSA, their advice for prospective students and more. Essential listening!

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 Luca Cian. Cian is a member of the Marketing faculty at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and his research area is consumer behavior, with a focus on sensory marketing, aesthetics, and human-machine interaction. In this conversation, we talk with Cian about his background, his passion for teaching, his research in artificial intelligence, “word of machine” recommendations and more.

In this special edition of the podcast, we are excited to share another installment from our ongoing Women@Darden event series featuring Professor Mary Margaret Frank. Frank is the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development, the John Tyler Professor of Business Administration and the Institute for Business in Society Academic Director at the Darden School of Business. Her expertise is in the integration of business and public policy, including cross-sector collaborations. She is a former board member of Veru Inc., (formerly known as the Female Health Company), which works with public-private partnerships that empower women to fight HIV globally, especially in Africa. She is also an expert in regulated disclosure focusing on tax, financial accounting and patent reporting. During this conversation moderated by Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke, Frank reflects upon her background, how she helps prepare faculty to teach at Darden, her passion for her students, her experience leading Darden Worldwide Courses in Africa and more.

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 Pedro Matos. Matos is the academic director of the Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management and a member of the Finance faculty at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. His research focuses on the growing importance of institutional investors in financial markets worldwide, and in this conversation, we talk with Matos about his background, his work with the Mayo Center, his role as advisor to Darden Capital Management, his passion for ESG (Environmental Social Governance) investing and more.

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 Yo-Jud Cheng. Cheng teaches in the Strategy, Ethics and Entrepreneurship area at Darden, and her research focuses on corporate governance and top executives in public companies. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk with Cheng about her background, what led her to Darden, and what she enjoys about teaching Strategy in the first year core curriculum. She also shares insights about several recent corporate governance scandals as well as the important role corporate boards play in shaping a company’s strategic direction.