UVA Darden’s Batten Institute Announces the Kathryne Carr Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation today celebrates and honors the memory of the first director of the W.L. Lyons Brown III i.Lab Incubator program, Kathryne (Kathy) Carr, by announcing the Kathryne Carr Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence. The award will recognize and reward the i.Lab Incubator founder or founders who best represent the values, strength and determination embodied in Kathy’s incomparable approach to creating and growing new ventures.

The award was officially introduced during a special announcement by W.L. Lyons Brown III (MBA ’87) at the Batten Institute’s 15^th Anniversary celebration at the i.Lab on 4 November.

Throughout her career, Kathy applied her natural ability to envision how the collaborative sum of talent and ideas can improve the success of all entrepreneurs. She provided this insight with great humor and optimism. Her guidance was underscored by pragmatism and real-world experience of measurable impact to the i.Lab community, as well as innumerable other founders across the globe whose ventures she helped build over the course of her lifetime.

“The i.Lab Incubator required an exceptional leader to unlock the enormous potential of the program, and we found that leader in Kathy Carr,” said W.L. Lyons Brown III (MBA ’87), founder of Altamar Brands. “Kathy gave selflessly of her spirit and experience, held a high expectation of integrity, and shared her boundless faith in those who innovate. Darden established this award to carry on the work she began, and to recognize the impact of an extraordinary leader in the UVA and broader entrepreneurial community.”

The primary objectives of The Kathryne Carr Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence are to inspire excellence and to encourage the creation of new ventures in the i.Lab. The goal is to provide an incentive and an encouragement to “carry on,” as per Kathy’s example. This endowed award will be considered annually and will grant no less than $25,000 to the chosen recipients in its inaugural year, and it shall not exceed $100,000 in any given year thereafter. It will be awarded for the first time in 2016. More information on the award is available here.

“Kathy spent her final years in service to her family, which included her Darden i.Lab family,” said Philippe Sommer, director of the i.Lab and the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Darden School of Business. “Though we lost a great colleague and friend, Kathy set the bar for the type of program the School wanted to establish, a program characterized by the highest degree of integrity, an unapologetic pursuit of excellence and a ton of moxie. We are incredibly grateful for the example Kathy provided, and we are pleased to join with her family to celebrate her legacy today and in the years ahead.”