CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The University of Virginia has named Yael Grushka-Cockayne, an award-winning teacher, scholar and academic leader, to become the Darden School of Business’s 10th dean on Aug. 1, according to the University publication UVA Today.

According to the announcement, the current Darden Vice Dean will become the first woman to lead the school in its 70 year history, succeeding Scott Beardsley, who left the post in January to become the University’s 10th President.

Grushka-Cockayne, who has been at Darden since 2009, is the Landmark Communications Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School, also serves as senior associate dean for the Full-Time MBA program and the academic co-director of the LaCross Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Business.

As one of her academic specialties is use of AI in business, according to UVA Today, she also holds a courtesy appointment as professor of data science in the School of Data Science.

“A lot of what’s going on in data science actually builds very naturally from topics we’ve been covering in quantitative analysis for years,” Grushka-Cockayne said in a video included in her Darden School profile. “What we can do now with data science and the machinery just opens our world up that much more.”

She previously served as a faculty representative on the Darden School Board and oversaw the Darden School’s professional degree programs in the Washington metro area.

“Darden’s strength has always been its people and the deeply human approach to business education: rigorous, student-centered, grounded in discussion, community, and committed to developing responsible leaders who are prepared to make a positive impact in the world,” Grushka-Cockayne said. “In an age of artificial intelligence and constant change, our mission is more relevant than ever.”

“Yael is exactly the kind of leader this moment calls for,” Beardsley said to UVA Today as Grushka-Cockayne predecessor. “She believes deeply in Darden’s student-centered learning model and understands how business education must evolve in a world shaped by data, artificial intelligence and global complexity. That combination of continuity and forward-looking leadership will serve Darden exceptionally well.”

Prof. Grushka-Cockayne has taught the core “Decision Analysis” course, an elective she designed on project management and an elective on data science at Darden. according to her Darden profile.

She has served as the leader of the open enrollment courses “Project Management for Executives” and for multiple custom programs such as AARP’s Executive Leadership Program.

Her bio noted, “Before starting her academic career, she worked in San Francisco as a marketing director of an Israeli ERP company. As an expert in the areas of project management, Prof. Grushka-Cockayne has served as a consultant to international firms in the aerospace and pharma industries. She is a member of INFORMS, the Decision Analysis Society, the Operational Research Society and the Project Management Institute (PMI). “