Newswise — The University of Virginia Darden School of Business and the Darden School Foundation today announce the appointment of Trip Davis as president of the foundation and senior associate dean for external relations.
Davis, age 43, will lead the Darden School’s external relations activities and will oversee core functions of the Darden School Foundation, including development, alumni affairs, communication and marketing, Darden Executive Education and hospitality.
Egon Zehnder International conducted a national search and worked closely with a search committee, comprised of faculty, staff and trustees. The search yielded over 100 nominees and four finalists — three of these finalists did extensive on-Grounds interviews at Darden.
“We are confident that in Trip we have found a dynamic and experienced leader who will energize the School’s mission to improve society and further elevate Darden’s reputation among the world’s leading business schools,” said Darden’s Dean Bob Bruner.
Henry Skelsey, chairman of the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees, emphasizes Davis’ track record of innovation. “Trip is a recognized entrepreneur and general manager who built two highly successful companies from the ground up,” said Skelsey. “He is skilled at managing complex organizations in a global world, and his leadership will be pivotal in meeting Darden’s vision for world-class impact and stature.”
Davis co-founded and served as CEO and chairman of TRX, a global leader in travel technology and data services. He led the company from start-up in 1999 to $118 million in revenue and an IPO in 2005. TRX processes travel transaction data from over 400 sources in 50 countries and employs 800 people in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and India.
Prior to TRX, Davis was senior vice president and general manager of the Travel Industry Practice Group at iXL, and CEO and co-founder of Green Room Productions, an Internet travel services company, which he sold to iXL in 1998. Before starting Green Room, Davis worked in new ventures for The Travel Channel at Landmark Communications. Prior to entering the MBA program at Darden in 1992, he worked as an associate producer for ESPN and Jobson Sailing, covering the America’s Cup.
Davis has served as an adjunct faculty member at Darden and U.Va.’s McIntire School of Commerce, lecturing on such topics as entrepreneurship, financing new ventures and operations. He has co-authored several Darden Business Publishing case studies and, since 2009, has served as co-faculty director of McIntire’s Galant Center for Entrepreneurship, where he worked with donors, faculty and administration to create the Entrepreneurship Track curriculum for fourth-year students.
Davis earned a B.A. in English from Dartmouth in 1990 and an MBA from the Darden School of Business in 1994. He and his wife, Nicol, have three children. He is a triathlete, marathon runner and competitive sailor.
To learn more, contact [email protected] or a member of the Communication Team.
RSS