From the Dean

Feb. 25, 2025

Dear Jepson School Alumni and Friends,

February has been an exciting month, marked by two winter storms that transformed our campus into a snowy wonderland. But even more exciting was the return to campus of 40 alums who led the school’s annual Jepson EDGE Institute on Feb. 16. During this daylong professional development program for juniors, alumni frequently mentioned how their leadership studies education benefits their careers.

Indeed, it does! The winter issue of The Jepson Update offers stories of remarkable alumni using their leadership education daily: A UPS executive leading a company-wide transformation, a lobbyist advocating for a premier research and teaching hospital, a filmmaker racking up national and international awards for her first short film, and a financial planner building a nationally recognized wealth management practice.

Our faculty, too, are leaders. Take, for example, Dr. Terry Price, a philosopher who researches leadership ethics. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia recently named him a recipient of its Outstanding Faculty Award, the highest honor for faculty at Virginia's public and private colleges and universities.

Our students continue to thrive by embracing the many curricular and co-curricular opportunities afforded them, including faculty-mentored research, study abroad, and credit-bearing internships. This month alone, seven students have presented or will present their research at conferences in Los Angeles, Denver, and Richmond.

Also, this month, we welcomed the McDowell Institute’s inaugural practitioner-in-residence, Greg Lukianoff, president and CEO of the civil liberties nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). He engaged students and faculty from across campus in lively discussions about free speech in higher education.

Jepson remains an exciting place to be! You contribute to our success through your gifts of time, talent, and resources, for which I am most grateful. Please stay engaged with the school by attending our upcoming Jepson Leadership Forum presentations and McDowell Institute public lecture, donating to the Jepson School during UR Here Giving Day on April 9-10, following us on social media, and reading the latest issue of The Jepson Update.

With gratitude and best wishes,

Sandra J. Peart
Dean and E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies
President, Jepson Scholars Foundation