About Darden's Entrepreneurship Programs:
Darden has one of the leading entrepreneurship programs among all graduate business schools and was ranked number one for faculty by Entrepreneur magazine in 2008.
Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review ranked our graduate entrepreneurship programs in their Top 25 Entrepreneurial Colleges (Grad Programs) in 2008.
At Darden, students can gain valuable experience in launching an entrepreneurial venture while learning from award-winning entrepreneurship faculty and a thriving network of student and alumni entrepreneurs:
- Darden School of Business offers more than 25 academic courses (electives) in entrepreneurship and innovation
- Supports large portfolio of co-curricular entrepreneurial activities, all funded by the Batten Endowment.
- Four major entrepreneurial competitions (including concept and business plan competitions)
- VC bootcamp and E-bootcamp
- Two clubs students can join: the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club (EVC Club) and the E*Society (connects students with faculty and other entrepreneurs across the University of Virginia).
- Students can apply to launch a business in the Darden Business Incubator;
- Recent Darden entrepreneurs have been cited in the New York Times and Fast Company.
Whatever a student's level of interest in entrepreneurship, Darden provides a wide array of opportunities for students to experience the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship, both inside and outside the classroom.
Entrepreneurship Program News
Highlights of the Entrepreneurship Programs in the news, including stories of our student and alumni entrepreneurs, award-winning entrepreneurship faculty, and entrepreneurial competition and course announcements:
Current Academic Year News (2009-2010)
News Archive (Academic Year 2008-09)
History of Entrepreneurship at Darden
The Entrepreneurship Programs at Darden are supported by the Batten Endowment which was established in 1996 through the generosity of Frank Batten, Sr., the former chair of Landmark Communications in Norfolk, Virginia. He envisioned that his endowment would help create a community of scholars and practitioners who would pursue leading-edge research on entrepreneurship and innovation and complement the Darden School’s preeminent educational programs in those fields. The Batten Institute houses the research and thought leadership efforts while the Entrepreneurship Program at Darden offers a portfolio of entrepreneurial learning experiences targeted to the MBA student.
To find out more about the Entrepreneurship Program at Darden, contact:
Philippe Sommer, Director of Entrepreneurship Programs SommerP@darden.virginia.edu, 434-243-2283
MJ Dougherty Toms, Associate Director TomsM@darden.virginia.edu, 434-924-4408