Darden MBA Legacy: Father and Son Share Global Food Festival Experience Over 20 Years Apart

When Omar Khan (McIntire ’19, MBA ‘26) stepped onto Flagler Court last fall for the beloved Darden School of Business Global Food Festival, it wasn’t his first time taking in the infectious energy of the annual event. It had been over two decades, but the memories from the 2003 festival where Khan raced around while his mom served up homemade Pakistani kebabs and chai came rushing back.

“Everything felt a bit bigger when I was a kid, but I remember it was super lively,” Khan recalled. “My parents were both involved in the festival itself and got together with another Pakistani family to serve food. I mostly remember running around with the other kids and trying everything.”

Fawaz Khalil and young Omar Khan (far left) at the 2003 Global Food Festival, representing Pakistan with family and friends.

In a group photo from that day, a young Omar stands grinning with his father, Fawaz Khalil (MBA ’05), smiling behind him. With another photo taken 21 years later, the scene has come full circle: Khan is back on the same Grounds, this time as a Darden student himself, continuing a family legacy that began decades earlier.

“It felt a little strange to be back,” he said with a laugh. “But tasting that food always reminds me of home. It felt more like carrying the tradition forward than presenting it for the first time, which is probably how it felt for my parents back then.”

Khan (second from the right) at the 2024 Global Food Festival, representing Pakistan with friends.

Khan’s journey to Charlottesville began in Dubai, where his family lived before relocating to the United States while his father pursued his MBA at Darden. “It was the first U.S. city I ever lived in, so it has stuck with me,” he shared.

Khalil reflects fondly on his time at Darden in the early 2000s, proud that his son is following in his footsteps.

“It’s been amazing to watch my son experience UVA and now Darden, walking the same paths and traditions I once did while creating his own memories,” Khalil said. “Darden was such a formative chapter in my life, and to see my son now writing his own story here is incredibly meaningful.”

Khan with his father during a recent family visit.

The Darden of today, Khan said, shares many similarities with the Darden his father described: tight-knit cohorts, long days of case prep and weekends spent recharging with classmates.

The father-son duo also noticed a few differences in their Darden experiences. “My dad told me back then, maybe two people from his class went to top consulting firms. The recruiting outcomes are just on a different level now.”

Khan himself is headed to UBS after graduation, having accepted a role in the firm’s healthcare investment banking group in New York. Before Darden, he spent five years at Microsoft in Seattle, working in corporate finance. And before that? UVA undergrad.

This weekend, Khan will be back at the Global Food Festival representing Pakistan once more. Khan may be older, but Darden and the festival are still part of the same story that connect him to his father.

“It’s not just about a shared degree,” says Khalil. “But about being connected through the values, friendships, and experiences that Darden instills across generations.”