UVA Darden Bestows Genovese Fellowships to Three First Year Students

Frank Genovese (MBA ’74) came to the University of Virginia Darden School of Business 11 April to once again engage in what he described as “one of life’s greatest joys”: giving away money to deserving Darden students.

First Year students Molly Duncan, Benjamin Meltzer and Barker Squire were the latest recipients of Genovese’s generosity, with each receiving the prestigious Frank E. Genovese Second Year Fellowship, an award worth roughly $63,500 intended to cover the second year of the Darden MBA program.

Genovese said 2016 represented the 25th year of presenting the award, with Duncan, Meltzer and Squire joining the elite company of 65 previous awardees.

Noting the effectiveness of compounding interest, Genovese said he originally endowed the fellowships with a gift of $1 million, and since that time, over twice that amount has been given away to deserving students from endowed funds.

The Fellowships are awarded to students who are in the top 30 percent of the First Year class after their first semester and who also express a desire to seek employment in direct operating management positions in decentralized manufacturing companies or to own their own businesses.

Squire said he was “absolutely honored” to merely be one of the eight finalists for the award, much less one of the three recipients. The First Year student said he looked forward to making good on the Fellowship’s charge to “go out and run a business and give back to Darden.”

Genovese, who was introduced by Senior Associate Dean for Degree Programs Peter Rodriguez as a “tremendous friend” and “one of the most generous benefactors to the Darden School,” said he chose to award the Fellowships as his way of “rewarding Darden” for the profound effect it had on his life.

Genovese has owned and operated many companies in his career, and has returned to Darden frequently to teach the course “Acquisition of Closely Held Enterprises.”

He is a member of the Darden Society, in recognition of his leadership in annual giving, a recipient of the Charles C. Abbott Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a Darden alumnus by the alumni association in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the Darden School, and a member of the UVA Board of Visitors.