‘Inside UVA’: Hardie Says ‘It’s Been One of the Honors of My Life’ To Serve as Rector

Jim Ryan, president of the University of Virginia: I wonder what kind of advice you would give to alumni who are looking to stay connected or to engage with the University.

Robert Hardie, rector of the Board of Visitors: You and I both are huge fans of athletics. Support our athletic teams and make sure to turn on the TV when they’re on and root them on, because that’s very important in this day and age, especially looking at the economics of college athletics.

Ryan: Yeah, that’s exactly right. I mean, now part of the funding that will go to schools, at least within the ACC, depends on viewership. So you literally can help out UVA athletics just by turning on the game.

Hardie: Yeah, I’ve told some people, even if you’re out running errands and you need to do something else, if you have five televisions on in your house, that would be a good thing. Turn them all on to UVA.

Ryan: Hello, everyone. I’m Jim Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, and I’d like to welcome all of you to another episode of “Inside UVA.” This podcast is a chance for me to speak with some of the amazing people at the University, and to learn more about what they do and who they are. My hope is that listeners will ultimately have a better understanding of how UVA works and a deeper appreciation of the remarkably talented and dedicated people who make UVA the institution it is.

Today’s guest is someone who has played a key role in shaping the University and whose connection to UVA runs deep, a triple Hoo with degrees from both the College and the Darden School of Business. He’s a current rector of the Board of Visitors, and has served on the Board for a total of 12 years. He’s also a successful business leader, serving as co-chairman of H7 Holdings and Level One Partners, and a board member for several companies and foundations.

For all of his professional success, his loyalty to UVA has remained constant, stretching back to his time as a student when he lived on the Lawn and was the managing editor of the Cavalier Daily to today, where he helped steer the University’s long-term direction. Robert Hardie, welcome to “Inside UVA.” And thank you very much for being here.

Hardie: Thank you, Jim, for having me. I really appreciate it.

Ryan: So, you are rector of the Board of Visitors. Your term of two years is coming up to a close on July 1. I, obviously, having worked closely with you and benefited from working with you, know what a Board of Visitors is, and know what a rector does. But I wonder for those who aren’t so sure, what is a Board of Visitors and what does the rector do?

Hardie: The Board of Visitors is the governing body of the University. So we help set policy, we approve the budget, we vote on tuition, and we are basically the body that was set up by Thomas Jefferson to oversee the overall strategy of the University.

The rector is the name of the person who normally would be referred to as “the chairman of the board” on any other board. The rector works closely with the administration daily with other members of the board, and especially chairs of the various committees. It’s a full-time job with daily responsibilities, and you must be available.

The first rector of the board was Thomas Jefferson, and I’m the 50th rector of the University. So, it’s been one of the honors of my life to serve in this capacity, and I feel fortunate to be able to give back to the University that changed my life.

Ryan: So, speaking of that, you are a rare triple Hoo, having earned your undergraduate, MBA and Ph.D. degrees from UVA. Can you take us back to your time as a student? What originally drew you here, and why did you have such a difficult time leaving?

Hardie: Great question. I think it’s a question that we should ask all UVA alumni. It seems like none of them want to leave. And so, when they call and tell me that “I want to come back to Charlottesville,” I tell them, “It’s not a very nice place to live. You should stay where you are, because there have been so many that have come back.” So, it’s hard to keep the UVA alum from returning to Charlottesville.

But I really became a fan of UVA as a 10-year-old watching wonderful Wally Walker lead the UVA basketball team to its first-ever ACC championship. And it reminds me of something that you and I both like to say, and that is, “Athletics is the front porch of the University.” It is how many of us become aware of UVA.

So, when I enrolled as a student in August 1983, I was trying to find my place, and I ended up working as a sportswriter at the Cavalier Daily, which I loved. Then I was a sports editor, and then managing editor, and in doing that work, I found a group of truly committed students. I loved being a journalist, and to this day, sometimes think that I should have stayed a journalist, but I’m happy with what I’ve done.

The physical footprint of the school is so much different, and the student body was so much smaller then. But you know now there’s so many extraordinary buildings, and we have twice the number of extraordinary students, at least from that time.

Ryan: So, you were a first-generation college student. What was it like to be the first in your family to attend college?

Hardie: It’s something I’m really proud of, and I know you’re a first-generation college student, too, and so, and you’re really appreciative of that. I’m from Roanoke and being a first-generation college student, my parents stressed education as the vehicle for a meaningful life, so they made sure that all my brothers and sisters, before me – I’m the youngest of five – went to college, so I was able to see what an impact it had on their lives. So, when the time came for me to go to college, I was ready and was fortunate enough to enroll at UVA and have the great experiences that they had at their respective institutions.

Ryan: And I heard from someone that at one point in your career, you considered becoming a college president. How did that interest emerge? And are you relieved that you took a different path?

Hardie: I’m very much relieved, Jim.

Ryan: Thanks.

Hardie: I think, as I heard you quote it recently, being a college president is no way to make a living.

Ryan: That’s what Bart Giamatti said, who was the president of Yale when I was there.

Hardie: Yeah, yeah, no, it’s a tough environment. But after I finished my Ph.D., I was fortunate enough to go work for the legendary Leonard Sandridge. And I loved working for Leonard. He gave me everything to do, every different task, and I thought it would pique my interest in being a college president. It did exactly the opposite: made me not want to be a college president.

Plus, you know, Jim, I can’t run as fast as you. So, ‘Runs With Robert’ probably wouldn’t have worked. 

So, I think it helped convince me that I needed to pursue my professional calling, which I started off out of college as a businessperson, went back to Darden and got my MBA and Ph.D., that I probably should go and seek that out rather than trying to be a college president.

Ryan: So, going back to your time as rector, what have been some of the most rewarding aspects of it, and what have been some of the more challenging aspects of it? You hinted at one piece of it, which is that it’s very time-consuming.

Hardie: It really is. It takes an extraordinary amount of time. But, you know, I was thinking about that the other day and what it really meant. And it’s been a great journey. You know, I was thinking about this: As of July 1, I will have served on the board 4,380 days. And that’s a lot. So that’s a lot of days. So, on my 12 years of tenure, I will miss it, but it was time, you know.

I think about working on trying to provide, like you, the University with the resources necessary to provide the world-class educational experience that it provides, to provide that special sauce we all talk about, which is the UVA experience, which just nobody seems to figure out. They just know that once they’ve gone through four years at UVA, they’ve experienced it. It’s really amazing. I think it revolves around student self-governance and the honor system and love of our athletic teams, the beauty of Charlottesville, the just, you know, the extraordinary autonomy that students are given.

So, it’s been, it’s been a great thing. But being rector, you know, it has been a difficult time, especially with all the changes in higher education over the last four or five years. So, I’m glad that we’ve been able to try to keep our board together and focus on what’s important, and that is educating these fantastic young people that come to UVA, providing great care for our patients at UVA Health, pursuing great research and, you know, building lifetime relationships so these people can go off and change the world.

Ryan: You have been connected to UVA since 1983 and have seen it through a number of different roles that you have taken on or played. And you hit on this a little bit, but I’m curious – what stands out to you as the biggest changes over that time period? And what has UVA been able to preserve during that time period?

Hardie: No, that’s a great question. I mean, I think that we would all say that the introduction of social media and artificial intelligence has really changed the way we interact and learn. You know, granted, we still receive fantastic instruction from great professors, but there are just so many more sources of information now, that I think that’s really changed somewhat, the University. Also the size of the University; we talked about the physical plant. So much bigger, right?

But I think there, you know, certain parts of the DNA that still remain and that are really critical. And that’s, you know, receiving a world-class educational experience, the honor system, student self-governance, love of our athletic teams, the relationships you build here, and some of the other things I mentioned just about for whatever reason. There’s something in the water in Charlottesville that when the students come here, they leave with an affinity that I think is unparalleled in higher education. I’ve had several friends who went to other universities say, “I don’t know what it is about you UVA people, but you seem to love your school more than anybody else I’ve ever met.” I think it’s true.

Ryan: Yeah. So, speaking about something in the water, I have noticed that there are an extraordinary number of UVA alums who are married. I met my wife, Katie, when we were first-year law students here, and I know that you and Molly met here. How did you meet?

Hardie: I was a second-year student at Darden, and it was getting close to December, and I didn’t have a date for the holiday formal. I wasn’t doing a very good job of asking for dates. I was at a restaurant lamenting the fact that I didn’t have a date, and a classmate of mine handed me a piece of paper and said, “Here, this is my sister’s number. You should call her; you two have a lot in common.” 

I was almost certain that he thought I would never call her, but I was a second-year Darden student with a phone number and a name, so I was going to make the call. I called. 

We had a blind date, decided it wasn’t so bad, and ended up getting engaged nine months later. So, I guess it all worked out. It worked out pretty well.

Ryan: Molly was in the medical school at that point, right?

Hardie: So, she was doing her premedical work at VCU, and in fact, she was fairly intent on going to VCU for medical school. But when we met and I brought her down, I said, “Let me show you the Grounds, and let me show you UVA medical school.” And literally after a day, she said, “I’m pretty sure this is where I want to go.” So, she got into UVA med school, and she started when I graduated from Darden. She started med school.

Ryan: So, your first date was at the Darden formal?

Hardie: No, we actually decided that we better meet before then, just to make sure it wasn’t a complete disaster. So, I asked her brother, “What did she do in high school?” He said, “Well, she played soccer.” And I said, “OK.” Well, UVA had a really good men’s soccer team at that time, and a bunch of them. And I said, “Well, maybe you should come down, and why don’t we just go to a soccer game?” And then we went, and we had coffee, and she left and I left, and we both said, “Well, that wasn’t too bad.” And, I said, “Maybe we should try it again.” And she said “sure.”

Ryan: Well, you went about it in a much smoother and smarter way than I did. I actually introduced myself to Katie at the Law School formal in our first year while she was dancing with someone else.

Hardie: So, you cut in?

Ryan: Well, I didn’t actually. I chickened out and introduced myself to the person she was dancing with, but I think she figured out what I was trying to do.

Hardie: So, what happened after that?

Ryan: Well, we ultimately got married. 

So, you mentioned the UVA soccer team. You have been a longtime fan of UVA sports and an incredibly generous supporter of UVA athletics across a host of different sports. I’m curious, do you have a few or one favorite sports moment?

Hardie: Yeah, I think pretty much everybody would have to say that winning the basketball championship, you know, in 2019, might have been the culmination of a litany of fantastic successes in UVA sports. That was just phenomenal.

I will say the women’s swim and dive team recently has been a lot of fun.

Ryan: Yeah, well, a record-breaking five national championships in a row is pretty remarkable. You have followed closely – and I know we have worked on this – the changing landscape of college athletics. What are your thoughts on that, and how it will affect UVA?

Hardie: Well, I’m very concerned about it, as I know you are. It’s come so quickly, and the rules are not set, and so schools are operating with imperfect information, and nobody’s really sure what they can do and what they can’t do. I’m confident that UVA will always continue to follow its model of the true student-athlete in pursuing that. I think the both of us want that to happen. And it looks like, with all of the athletic success that our teams have had, they’ve also had academic success in being named All-ACC Honor Roll or All-American Academic. But at the same time, you know, it’s going to be more difficult to compete on the field or in the pool or wherever you want to.

So, you know, I hope that there are some guardrails that are put in place, either by Congress, or we’ve talked about the House settlement. I think they need to come, and I think they need to come quickly. And hopefully they are definitive, because, as we know, anything that’s uncertain will just cause schools, once again, to act in ways that they’re not sure are legal or illegal. Just uncertain. So, I do think this will continue to be a place where young people who are talented in athletics and want the full experience will find UVA very enticing and will want to come here. I just hope that we and our conference are not so far behind some of the other conferences with the amounts of resources they have from their television contracts and other things.

Ryan: Well said, I’m optimistic about the settlement of the House litigation in terms of providing some guardrails and creating at least somewhat of a level playing field, but we’ll see.

Hardie: Well, maybe you can join Nick Saban in being the heads of the committee.

Ryan: No one’s called me yet. 

So, a lot of alumni, as you know, are interested in staying involved and staying connected to UVA, and you have obviously done that. I wonder what kind of advice you would give to alumni who are looking to stay connected or to engage with the University?

Hardie: Well, I think it’s critical that they do. I heard at Final Exercises we now have more than 275,000 living alumni. And that network and the support that the alumni provide to the capital campaign, to the schools, to the health system, etc., is absolutely critical. I mean you and Mark Luellen and Peter Grant led the campaign that is going to raise close to $6 billion, if not more than $6 billion, which is a billion dollars more than you hoped to raise. And that comes from alumni and others who just love the school. So obviously, giving back financially is always wonderful.

But if you can’t give back financially, give back your time. You know, seek out where, maybe the school you where you attended, if one of the 12 schools, and start there. Or, you know, be a very active member of the alumni association. Come back to reunions, offer yourself up as a volunteer for the local Jefferson Scholar nominating committees, reading applications. They’re just so many ways to stay involved. 

And then, of course, you and I both are huge fans of athletics. Support our athletic teams and make sure to turn on the TV when they’re on and root them on, because that’s very important in this day and age, especially looking at the economics of college athletics.

Ryan: Yeah, that’s exactly right. I mean, now part of the funding that will go to schools, at least within the ACC, depends on viewership, so you literally can help out UVA athletics just by turning on the game.

Hardie: Yeah, I’ve told some people, even if you’re out running errands and you need to do something else, if you have five televisions on in your house, that’ll be a good thing. Turn them all on to UVA.

Ryan: So, Robert, we mentioned that your time as rector is coming to a close, and I’m just wondering how you are feeling and what sort of reflections you have on your time, both as rector and when you served on the board as vice rector and prior to that as a board member.

Hardie: Oh, it’s going to be very bittersweet, as I mentioned earlier how long I’ve served. But Thomas Jefferson called this the Board of Visitors, not the Board of Permanent Members. So, it was not intended for us to stay and to be permanent members of the community. We were supposed to come, do our work, and then leave as any visitor would.

So, it’s time for me to pass the baton to the next rector and the board to help the administration guide the University. So, I believe I’m going to be at peace. My wife Molly thinks that I’m going to be a wreck. But as several rectors before me have said, two of the sweetest words they’ve ever heard are the words “former rector.” So, I think, I think I’ll do that. 

And my kids are excited about me stepping down, because I think they’re tired of hearing me talk about UVA all the time. Although I’m very careful what I talk about; I don’t talk about things that are confidential. But one of my sons said, “Well, now you can, you can work on your handicap, because it needs a lot of work.” It’s pretty bad.

Ryan: So, last question, what advice would you give to future board members or future rectors about how and what it means to lead UVA?

Hardie: Well, I’ve said this repeatedly in board meetings and to anybody, but I think all boards need to operate from a position of assuming good intent. New viewpoints are a good thing, yet when we disagree with the policy or viewpoint, we should do so believing it is a policy disagreement, and the previous policies were made with good intent. I think it’s also important to understand why the current policies were enacted before wanting to change them just for the sake of change.

I also would encourage future rectors and boards to follow the statement of visitor responsibilities and remain a governing body focused on strategy and policy, and not cross the line into the management of the University. We should leave the management of the University to the administration. And we should be there to help the administration and guide them in setting policy and setting strategy, because I think Board of Visitors are here to facilitate progress and to support you, our president, along with your team, the faculty, staff and our incredible students. A former rector likened in his meetings by reminding the other visitors that despite any challenges or problems, UVA is a great University, I think future boards need to remember that.

As I said at the Final Exercises, Jim, and I mean this with all sincerity, I think you’re the best college president in the world, and it’s been a real privilege working with you. It’s also been one of the highlights of my life, and I’m glad we’ve become not only colleagues, but good friends. So, if former boards want to take all of that and use it as a guideline, I think those are the best thoughts I can give them.

Ryan: Well, Robert, I really appreciate that, and it’s been an honor and a pleasure to speak with you today, and a much deeper honor and pleasure to have worked with you, not just over these past two years, but over the last seven.

Hardie: Well, thank you, Jim. As I said, the feeling is mutual. This will be one of the things I miss, but as you said at graduation, I hope you’ll keep the lights on for me. And I know you’ll continue to lead this great university with poise, grace, humility and talent, and we need that at this time in higher education. And I’m very optimistic about where UVA is going to end up after some of this dust settles. It’s a great University, and it will continue to be.

Ryan: I agree and made better by your contributions. So, maybe we can meet up at a men’s soccer game at some point? Bring Molly along.

Hardie: Yeah, we could either do that or I’ll try not to butt in on you and Katie when you’re dancing.

Ryan: OK. All right, Robert, thanks so much.

Hardie: Thank you, Jim. Take care.

Ben Larsen, co-producer of “Inside UVA”: “Inside UVA” is a production of WTJU 91.1 FM and the Office of the President at the University of Virginia. “Inside UVA” is produced by Kaukab Rizvi, Benjamin Larsen, Mary Garner McGehee, Matt Webber and Jaden Evans. Special thanks to Maria Jones and Jane Kelly.

Our music is “Turning to You” from Blue Dot Sessions.

You can listen and subscribe to “Inside UVA” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back soon with another conversation about the life of the University.