Newswise — CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — 20 November 2014 — The University of Virginia yesterday announced that U.Va. Darden School of Business Dean Robert F. Bruner and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe will address the graduating Class of 2015 during Finals Weekend, to be held 15–17 May.

On Saturday, 16 May, McAuliffe will address graduates of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. On Sunday, 17 May, Bruner will speak to graduates of the University’s other 10 schools, plus the first graduates from the U.Va. Data Science Institute. Bruner will also speak at Darden’s Final Exercises the same day.

U.Va. Darden Dean Robert F. Bruner

Bruner joined the Darden faculty in 1982 and became the eighth dean of the Darden School in 2005. In April, he announced he would step down at the end of the current academic year after a successful tenure that included being named 2011 “Dean of the Year” by CNNMoney/Fortune and Poets and Quants, a media outlet dedicated to graduate business education.

“Bob Bruner’s impact on Darden has been transformational and will carry the school forward,” U.Va. President Teresa A. Sullivan said when Bruner announced his intent to step down as dean at the end of his current term. “Darden is recognized worldwide for student satisfaction and for delivering the best graduate business education experience. Bob and his team have achieved this reputation through curricular innovations, the launch of two new formats of the Darden MBA, an unrelenting search for top faculty and student talent and attention to every detail of the academic experience.”

Under Bruner’s leadership, Darden is consistently listed among the world’s best graduate business schools. In early October, The Economist magazine ranked Darden’s MBA program No. 3 in the world.

Among business school deans, Bruner is recognized as a pioneer in the use of social media. He started his popular and wide-ranging Dean’s Blog in 2006 and is a prolific tweeter. He has encouraged leading-edge efforts in technology at Darden, including the school’s 2009 collaboration with Amazon to pilot e-readers in the classroom and the 2013 delivery of several massive open online courses on the Coursera platform. More than 600,000 people registered for the courses.

An expert in finance and management, Bruner has received numerous awards for teaching, research and case writing. Six times, Darden students selected him as a faculty marshal in recognition of his teaching excellence; five times he was cited for teaching excellence in the biannual “BusinessWeek Guide to the Best Business Schools.” In 1995, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia gave him its Outstanding Faculty Award.

Born in Chicago and raised in Wisconsin, Bruner received a B.A. from Yale University and MBA and DBA degrees from Harvard University. A master of case study instruction, Bruner teaches and conducts research in finance and management and has served as a visiting professor at the international graduate business school INSEAD; at IESE, the graduate business school of the University of Navarra; and at Columbia University Business School. He has written or co-written some 300 case studies and several books, including Deals From Hell, Applied Mergers and Acquisitions, Case Studies in Finance and The Panic of 1907: Lessons Learned From the Market’s Perfect Storm.

Bruner and his wife, Bobbie, have two sons. After a year’s sabbatical, Bruner will return to the classroom in 2016.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe

Sworn in as Virginia’s 72nd governor in January, McAuliffe has worked to grow and diversify Virginia’s economy and encourage more businesses across the nation and globe to locate in the Commonwealth.

Before entering politics, McAuliffe was a banker, real estate developer, home builder and Internet venture capitalist. In 1985, McAuliffe helped found the Federal City National Bank in Washington, D.C. In January 1988, the bank’s board elected McAuliffe chairman at age 30, making him the youngest elected chairman of a federally chartered bank in U.S. history.

McAuliffe’s memoir, What a Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators, and Other Wild Animals, was a New York Times best seller.

He attended Catholic University and Georgetown Law School. He and his wife, Dorothy, have five children.

Previous Virginia governors with U.Va. ties have included University founder Thomas Jefferson; former U.Va. President Colgate Darden; and Gerald Baliles, director and CEO of U.Va.’s Miller Center.

During the early 1950s, former U.Va. President Colgate Darden was instrumental in the creation of the Darden School of Business.

Rotunda Construction Alters Graduation Format

Construction fences encroach on spectator areas on the north end of the Lawn and will prevent the graduation procession from forming on the Rotunda’s north plaza. Students scheduled to graduate in 2015 and later voted last spring to split graduation into two ceremonies rather than move it to another location or further limit the number of guest tickets available per student.

University officials expect approximately 6,500 students to complete degree requirements during the current academic year and graduate in May.This release includes information provided by Dan Heuchert, U.Va. assistant director of media relations and editor of UVA Today.

About the Darden School of Business The University of Virginia Darden School of Business delivers the world’s best business education experience to prepare entrepreneurial, global and responsible leaders through its MBA, Ph.D. and Executive Education programs. Darden’s top-ranked faculty is renowned for teaching excellence and advances practical business knowledge through research. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Press ContactMatt CharlesDirector of Media RelationsDarden School of BusinessUniversity of Virginia[email protected] +1-434-924-7502 Sharing via social media? Please consider tagging us: @DardenMBA on Twitter, UVA Darden School of Business on Facebook. ###