The Darden School of Business improves society by developing principled leaders for the world of practical affairs. This drives everything we do. We follow a three-pronged approach to achieving our mission – student-centered learning, thought leadership and active engagement with the business community.

Like all major business schools we appreciate that business is increasingly complex and requires the ability to operate in the context of the broader society. Our students start by learning to master the foundations of business. This is no longer enough; today's business environment requires graduates to have the ability to address issues that cross functional boundaries with

• Global perspective,
• An innovative and entrepreneurial mind-set,
• Ethical grounding,
• Commitment to diversity,
• Respect for sustainability, and
• Technological sophistication.

Our first priority is teaching and learning. Our top-rated faculty develops leaders through a highly engaged learning process that requires active student participation; we have created a community and environment that reinforces this. Darden’s distinctive educational approach results in graduates who have a real world understanding of global business, decision making skills biased toward action, a collaborative approach to leadership, and personal integrity. Our students are able to build on traditional functional skills, determine the inter-connections across the organization, and engage their colleagues, resulting in effective enterprise leadership.

We are committed to creating new knowledge. Our faculty members are pre-eminent scholars whose research advances managerial practice. In addition, Darden has several research centers of excellence that focus on key issues that drive today’s economy and management practices. The centers leverage faculty research in entrepreneurship and innovation, business ethics, and international issues.

Darden commitment to scholarship includes creating innovative teaching materials. Our faculty create most of the material used in Darden classrooms, and we are a leading provider of cases and simulations used at other top business schools.

We maintain a strong link with business, constantly engaging with practicing managers in a variety of ways. Faculty members teach executives who enroll in short programs for leadership development. Our faculty works with executives world-wide to help them address pressing business problems. This experience and perspective is invaluable in informing our research and our teaching.