Alexander B. “Alec” Horniman, who served for 54 years as a professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, died Nov. 9 in his sleep at his Charlottesville home, family said.
Horniman, 89, retired in 2021 as the Darden School’s Killgallon Ohio Art Professor of Business Administration. He was the founder and first executive director of the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics, according to his obituary in the Darden Report.
“Alec loved teaching. He was first and foremost a teacher, and it brought him indescribable joy,” said his wife, Eva Clorisa Phillips. “He loved Darden, and he loved the University. It’s that simple.”
In a message to the Darden community on Monday, Sankaran Venkataraman, the Darden School’s senior associate dean for faculty and research, said Horniman was part of the “second wave” of faculty members to join Darden.
“He has had profound and transformational impact on thousands of MBA students and executive education participants during his time as a professor,” Venkataraman said. “Alec’s primary purpose in his professional life was to share his vast and deep knowledge about human psychology with his students for their growth and development. He had a mesmerizing presence in class and was one of the master-teachers of Darden.”
In addition to his wife, Horniman is survived by their daughter, Eva Alexandra Phillips of Pittsburgh, and children from a previous marriage, including daughter Rebecca Horniman Norton and grandchildren Emma Olivia Norton and Chase Alexander Norton, all of Asheville, North Carolina; and son, Theodore (Theo) Perry Horniman of Los Angeles.
