Darden CEO Leadership Program

Professor Doug Thomas is the Academic Director of the Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning and the Henry E. McWane Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. He is a global expert in supply chain management, production and inventory planning, and logistics performance. He has taught executive programs across four continents and consulted with leading organizations including ExxonMobil, IBM, Accenture, and the U.S. Marine Corps. He earned his B.S. in Operations Research from Cornell University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Jung Family Associate Professor of Business Administration Daniel Murphy's research centers on cost effective strategies to prevent and mitigate recessions while safeguarding sustainable public finances. His work blends theoretical and empirical methods, with particular emphasis on how policies affect different segments of society and on the interplay between housing markets and the broader macroeconomy.

Rory McDonald is the John Tyler Associate Professor of Business Administration at Darden where he teaches "Disruptive Strategy: Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise." McDonald was named one of the world's top 40 business school professors under 40 by Poets and Quants, and his article "What is Disruptive Innovation?" was named as one of Harvard Business Review's Definitive Management Ideas. He is the co-author (along with Christopher Bingham) of the recent book, "Productive Tensions: How Every Leader Can Tackle Innovation's Toughest Trade-Offs," (MIT Press).

Prof. Grushka-Cockayne is an award-winning teacher, winning the Darden Morton Leadership Faculty Award in 2011, the University of Virginia's Mead-Colley Award in 2012 and the Darden Outstanding Faculty Award in 2013 and 2022, the Faculty Diversity Award in 2013 and 2018, the University of Virginia All University Teaching Award in 2015, the Executive MBA Transformational Faculty in 2024, and the Part Time MBA Transformational Faculty in 2025.

Bidhan ("Bobby") Parmar is the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and the Shannon G. Smith Bicentennial Professor of Business Administration. Parmar teaches First Year Ethics, Second Year electives on collaboration, and creative and critical thinking at the Darden School of Business. He was named one of the top 40 business school professors under 40 in the world and has won several teaching and research awards.

Antoinette Dale Henderson is an internationally recognized expert in leadership communications with over 25 years of experience. She has held senior roles at leading PR consultancies and is the founder of the Gravitas® Program, which equips women leaders with the skills to communicate effectively and command respect. Antoinette's methodology emphasizes the importance of gravitas in leadership, a quality that empowers leaders to inspire, influence, and navigate change successfully.

Graeme Codrington is an award-winning futurist, keynote speaker and researcher who helps global leaders make sense of disruption and convert uncertainty into strategic advantage. He is co-founder and lead futurist of TomorrowToday Global, speaks to more than 100,000 people annually, and is recognised internationally (2x TEDx speaker; TEDx Global Top Pick). Graeme has authored multiple best-selling books and holds advanced qualifications from several universities.

Andy Lopata is a relationships strategist and keynote speaker whose work has influenced companies like PayPal, GlaxoSmithKline, and Brother. He's written six books (the latest being The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring in Spring 2024), holds the PSAE "Hall of Fame" award in the UK & Ireland, and is a Fellow of the Learning & Performance Institute. Andy is frequently quoted in the media (FT, Sunday Times, The Independent) and helps leaders harness authentic networking and referral-based growth.