A longtime professor and current vice dean of the Darden School of Business will become the first woman permanently appointed to lead the school in its 70-year history, University of Virginia officials announced Monday.
Yael Grushka-Cockayne, an award-winning teacher, scholar and academic leader, will become the business school’s 10th dean on Aug. 1.
Grushka-Cockayne, the Landmark Communications Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School, also serves as senior associate dean for the Full-Time MBA program and the academic co-director of the LaCross Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Business. She holds a courtesy appointment as professor of data science in UVA’s School of Data Science. She previously served as a faculty representative on the Darden School Board and oversaw the Darden School’s professional degree programs in the Washington metro area.
Grushka-Cockayne said she is honored to serve the Darden School at a pivotal moment. One of her academic specialties is the use of AI in business, an area of scholarship that is rapidly advancing.
“Darden’s strength has always been its people and the deeply human approach to business education: rigorous, student-centered, grounded in discussion, community, and committed to developing responsible leaders who are prepared to make a positive impact in the world,” Grushka-Cockayne said. “In an age of artificial intelligence and constant change, our mission is more relevant than ever.”
Yael Grushka-Cockayne will become dean of UVA Darden School of Business on Aug. 1. (Contributed photo)
Grushka-Cockayne will succeed Scott Beardsley, who was serving in his third term as the Darden School dean when he became University president in January.
“Yael is exactly the kind of leader this moment calls for,” Beardsley said. “She believes deeply in Darden’s student-centered learning model and understands how business education must evolve in a world shaped by data, artificial intelligence and global complexity. That combination of continuity and forward-looking leadership will serve Darden exceptionally well.”
A deeply engaged teacher, Grushka-Cockayne has taught across the Darden School’s MBA and executive MBA formats, including courses in decision analysis, project management and, more recently, coding with GPT. She has also taught Darden Executive Leadership and Lifelong Learning classes and led global learning experiences in Austria, South Africa, Morocco, Sweden, Israel and Japan and at the Cannes Film Festival. Her research, examining forecasting, project planning, decision-making under uncertainty, business analytics and the use of real-time data and machine learning in complex organizations, has appeared in various leading business journals.
In addition to her time at UVA, Grushka-Cockayne previously served as a visiting associate professor in technology and operations management at Harvard Business School. She was also a visiting scholar and adjunct faculty member in the Department of Technology, Operations, and Statistics at the New York University Stern School of Business.
“Yael is an exceptional scholar, teacher and academic leader whose career reflects the very best of Darden and the University,” Brie Gertler, UVA’s interim executive vice president and provost, said. “Her deep commitment to student-centered learning, her leadership across Darden’s degree programs and her expertise in decision-making, analytics and artificial intelligence make her especially well-suited to lead the school at this important moment.”
Ron Wilcox, NewMarket Corporation Professor of Business Administration and co-chair of the Darden School dean search committee, said Grushka-Cockayne’s candidacy reflected many of the qualities the community emphasized throughout the search.
“Across the process, we heard a clear desire for a dean who understands Darden from the inside and also has the imagination to help the school keep evolving,” Wilcox said. “Yael brings deep academic credibility, a record of program leadership and a distinctive ability to connect Darden’s strengths in teaching and judgment with the realities of a world shaped by data, technology and uncertainty.”
Grushka-Cockayne earned a doctorate in management science and operations, and a Master of Research in decision sciences, from London Business School. She earned a master’s degree in operational research from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and management from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Grushka-Cockayne’s appointment comes at an important and exciting time for the Darden School. The school just wrapped up a $632 million capital campaign and is consistently ranked as the top public business school in the nation, and one of the best overall.
“On behalf of the Darden School Foundation Board, I want to congratulate Yael Grushka-Cockayne and to express our confidence and excitement to work with her to build on Darden’s momentum and position as one of the best business schools in the world,” John Fowler, chair of the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees, said.
Mike Lenox, a renowned business professor and expert in innovation and business strategy, served as interim dean during the search process, ensuring the school’s continued momentum.
“Yael’s leadership, scholarship and deep experience align well with Darden’s core distinctions, which I have worked to emphasize in my time as interim dean,” Lenox said.
Beardsley added, “I am grateful to both Mike and Yael for their leadership. Darden has a world-class bench of faculty talent, and that talent shines especially bright in moments like this one, as we work together to usher in the school’s next era.”
