Darden Donor’s Latest Gift Will Establish University Professorship in Business Ethics

University News

Darden Donor’s Latest Gift Will Establish University Professorship in Business Ethics

January 2, 2024 • By David Buie-Moltz, Buie-MoltzD@darden.virginia.edu David Buie-Moltz, Buie-MoltzD@darden.virginia.edu

The University of Virginia president and provost will appoint the Stephen E. Bachand University Professorship, which will focus on the field of business ethics.

UVA President Jim Ryan announced in late December a $5 million commitment from Stephen E. Bachand, a 1963 MBA graduate of the Darden School of Business, and his wife, Phyllis, to create the Stephen E. Bachand University Professorship, intended to focus on business ethics.

The gift will be matched with an additional $5 million from the University’s , for a total investment of $10 million.

“I’m deeply grateful to Stephen and Phyllis Bachand for their generous investment in a university professorship in business ethics,” Ryan said. “Their gift will help foster vibrant teaching, learning and research in the field, which will help strengthen ethical business practices in organizations beyond Grounds. It’s a great example of what it means for a university to be both great and good.”

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University professorships are awarded to exceptionally distinguished professors who are held in the highest regard by their national and international academic peers, and whose scholarship transcends the boundaries of a particular school, or is interdisciplinary in nature. University professors can teach in any discipline on Grounds. The holder of the Stephen E. Bachand University Professorship in the field of business ethics will be appointed by the University’s president and provost.

“�鶹�ƽ�� Darden School of Business has had a transformative impact on me and my career,” Bachand said. “To this day, I remain inspired by the school’s mission to develop responsible leaders and foster ethical practice in business, and I want to help elevate that critical work. I see the university professorship as a powerful vehicle to cultivate an enduring legacy of ethical thinking and practice, impacting not just individuals, but generations of business leaders and organizations worldwide.”

This new university professorship builds on Bachand’s previous giving to the Darden School to benefit first-generation students, of which he was one.

Stephen and spouse by a bouquet of flowers

Stephen E. Bachand, a 1963 MBA graduate of the Darden School of Business, and his wife, Phyllis, committed $5 million to create the Stephen E. Bachand University Professorship.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Bachands for their continued support of the University and Darden,” Darden Dean Scott Beardsley said. “Business leaders with an ethical foundation are critical to society, and Darden was one of the very first business schools to include ethics in the core curriculum.”

The Stephen E. Bachand University Professorship of Business Ethics will reach across Grounds and beyond disciplines. Bachand’s gift strengthens the University’s commitment to interdisciplinary and interschool collaboration and will serve as a catalyst for future innovative scholarship and increased student involvement, Beardsley said.

The Bachands’ $5 million gift benefits from a one-to-one match from UVA to reach the endowment required for a University Professorship.

Bachand is the former president and chief executive officer of Canadian Tire Corporation. He has been a loyal donor to the Darden School, having made his first gift in 1972.

“Stephen and Phyllis’ longstanding support of the and first-generation scholars, and now the establishment of a university professorship in business ethics, are truly inspirational and will move both UVA and Darden forward,” Beardsley said.