‘A Little More Space.’ McIntire Breaks Grounds on Eye-Popping Expansion Project

Beyond being known for its world-class faculty, interdisciplinary research centers and cross-school academic programs, a dynamic dean, creative students and engaging alumni, McIntire, Ryan said, operates a lot like family.

“And like any big and growing family,” he said, “sometimes you just need a little more space.”

The school’s getting just that.

Shumway Hall, powered by a $30 million gift from The Chris and Carrie Shumway Foundation, is at the heart of this expansion project. Anticipated to be a hub for Commerce School students and pan-University collaboration, this modern, high-tech, student-focused building will include flexible classrooms, unique event spaces, tech and innovation labs, a café, and versatile student study and lounge areas.

Of the $30 million gift, most will go toward the innovative building while $5 million will establish a professorship to study and teach at the intersection of biomedical science and business. The gift advances collaborative efforts between the McIntire School and the UVA School of Medicine to create educational offerings that integrate business concepts into biomedical science and health care leadership studies.

Chris Shumway, a 1988 McIntire alumnus, hopes his foundation’s investment helps students and faculty recognize their personal goals and leads them to having a lasting impact on society. (Photo by Dan Addison, University Communications)

“Ultimately, we need more global citizens who can transform society and create a sense of community to find what unites us,” said Chris Shumway, a 1988 McIntire School alumnus. “McIntire students, faculty and administrators perpetuate a culture of community that continues after graduation, and has had a profoundly positive effect on those who’ve been associated with the school.

Shumway emphasized that the McIntire School’s mission is to develop global citizens to transform society and commerce.

“This is what it’s all about. How can we help create the best global citizens who have the skills to innovate and build a better society? I hope this investment from our foundation helps many students and faculty to recognize their personal goals, as well as create that lasting impact on society,” he said.

As the managing partner of Shumway Capital, Shumway oversees investments in a wide range of long-term, high-growth businesses. Besides being a trustee for his foundation, Shumway serves on McIntire’s foundation board of trustees and chairs the board of the Stamford School for Excellence, a free, public pre-K-to-fourth-grade charter school in Stamford, Connecticut. He also serves as a visiting professor at McIntire, teaching “global macro investing.”

Ryan called Shumway “one those of alumni that every president and dean wishes they had” and recognized his tremendous advocacy for UVA.

McIntire School Dean Nicole Thorne Jenkins honored Shumway by gifting him a University chair engraved with his name, graduation date and a memorial plate that reads, “Building the Next Century.”

Dean Jenkins said the story of Shumway Hall is a “story of the Commerce School having a need and Chris and Carrie Shumway having a collaborative vision for a highly modern space that is completely centered on the student experience.” (Photo by Dan Addison, University Communications)

“Chris,” Jenkins told him, “when a University gives a chair such as this to an alum, it is because we view your contributions, the ones that you’ve made to your profession, to your alma mater, and to the broader community as being on par with that of our most esteemed colleagues.

“For us, it is the most prestigious acknowledgement that we give in the McIntire School of Commerce. So, Chris, congratulations on this recognition. It’s extremely well deserved.”

McIntire School’s expansion project will also include a new ADA-compliant pathway from Brandon and Jefferson Park avenues to the school and the rest of Grounds. The expanded complex will provide a main entrance to the University and a pass-through from the newly revitalized Brandon Avenue corridor to the Lawn.

“When I think about thousands of people, from students to visitors to Charlottesville residents, passing through a beautiful and welcoming new McIntire School complex as they enter Grounds,” Ryan said, “it’s a reminder about why we do what we do. As a public university, we are a place that serves the public good, and McIntire, as ever, is squarely focused on that mission through its emphasis on commerce for the common good.”

McIntire School’s Cobb Hall, constructed in 1917, will soon be renovated to include an elegant entry lounge, two cluster classrooms, a comfortable double-height solarium and multiple group study spaces, all while maintaining its Jeffersonian exterior.

As evidenced by Youngkin’s appearance – something noted by UVA Rector Whittington Clement – this project’s importance plays loudly around the state.

Youngkin said she was honored to be on Grounds, particularly in front of a McIntire School building where “the school has been leading in terms of churning out the best and the brightest to American businesses,” she said.

She, too, thanked Shumway and was optimistic about the McIntire School’s role in impacting Virginia business for years to come.

“There is a lot of excitement in the Commonwealth about businesses moving here, growing here, investing here and being a place where McIntire students can build their lives,” Suzanne Youngkin said. “And that’s what we want. We want them staying here in the Commonwealth and we are determined to make it a place of innovation and excitement, and we’re glad to be partnering with each of you on that.”

Jenkins said the expansion project is scheduled for completion by spring 2025.