3 UVA Darden Students Receive Genovese Fellowships

Three hard-working members of the Class of 2020 on 22 April received fellowships that will cover the cost of their Second Year at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

Alumnus Frank Genovese (MBA ’74) returned to the School for a special First Coffee to announce the recipients of the Frank E. Genovese Second Year Fellowship, an award given to rising Second Year students interested in pursuing a career as a general manager or owner-operator of a business. Students in the Top 30 percent of the First Year class after their first semester are eligible to apply for the fellowship.

The recipients of the 2019 fellowships are rising Second Year students Stephen Joy, Wei Zhou and Logan White. Now in its 28th year, more than 70 Darden students have received Genovese Fellowships.

Zhou, who plans to intern at Amazon over the summer to explore the role data analytics play in helping established companies remain entrepreneurial, said the award would give him the momentum to apply his Darden education into his future business practices in China.

“I gratefully appreciate the generous support from Frank and the committee,” said Zhou.

White, similarly, said he was thrilled to be a fellowship recipient.

“I’m extraordinarily grateful to Frank and the committee for this opportunity,” said White. “Frank’s generosity has a huge impact on the Darden community, and I’m honored to be a part of that going forward.”

Added Joy: “I’m incredibly grateful to Mr. Genovese and the committee for welcoming me into the esteemed group of Genovese Fellows. I appreciate this opportunity, and I hope to be able to further contribute to Mr. Genovese’s lasting legacy at Darden going forward.”

Genovese, an Abbott Award recipient who has served on the Darden School Foundation Board of Trustees and returned often to lecture at the School, has called his experience at Darden a major turning point in his life, one that inspires him to give back to the School.

Encouraging similarly minded students to “give early, because all it does is grow,” Genovese noted that initial gifts totaling $2 million have provided for more than 70 fellowships, and the fellowship’s endowment stands at nearly $6 million, ensuring additional Genovese Fellowships for generations to come.