UVA Darden Community Celebrates Life of Professor John Colley

In the auditorium of Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia, just down the Lawn from where he once lived proudly in Pavilion VIII, friends and family celebrated the life and impact of Professor John Colley at a memorial event held 1 May.

A pioneering professor at the Darden School of Business, Colley taught at the School for 50 years before retiring in 2017, becoming beloved by generations of students and alumni for his enduring devotion to the UVA and Darden communities.

“My dad would be so pleased to see you all here today in this setting in Old Cabell Hall because he saw himself as part of the whole university. Living in Pavilion VIII was the highlight of his life. He loved UVA, loved Darden, loved his colleagues and loved his students,” said Colley’s eldest child, Dr. Larry Colley, who welcomed attendees on behalf of the Colley family. “Darden was a second family to my dad.”

Colley died in his home in Charlottesville on 15 July 2020. The celebration of life event was delayed almost two years due to the coronavirus pandemic and held at the end of the first in-person Darden Reunion Weekend in three years, allowing hundreds of former students and friends to come together to celebrate Colley’s incredible impact.

Among Colley’s many accolades and awards, he was elected graduation faculty marshal by Darden students seven times across five decades; he received the UVA Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award and the Gordon F. Rainey Jr. Award for Vigilance to the Student Experience from the UVA Society of the Purple Shadows; and in 2010 he won the Thomas Jefferson Award, the University’s highest honor recognizing excellence in service to the University. Colley was a member of the Raven Society and Seven Society.

The awards and his impact stemmed from Colley’s unique ability to form bonds with generations of students, and many returned to the celebration of life to speak to the power of their relationship with Darden’s legendary professor.

In his welcome, Dean Scott Beardsley set the stage for remembrances from family and friends, reminding attendees of Colley’s request that he would like people to remember that he was “single-mindedly focused on the development of a world-class, top business school.” Darden continues that work today, Beardsley said.

One of many former students to offer reflections, Terry Daniels (MBA ’70) said Colley was one of only two teachers in his life who had a “profound influence” on him.

Arriving at Darden two weeks after returning from the Vietnam War, Daniels recalled feeling overwhelmed by the challenging technical aspect of the required “Quantitative Analysis” course taught by Colley. He expressed his concerns to Colley, who asked Daniels why he had decided to go to business school. Colley pointed out that a successful business career did not mean you had to be an expert on all subjects, but that you needed to be aware of how all the various business disciplines, from marketing to quantitative analysis, can be brought to bear to help make the right business decisions. It was an aha moment for Daniels that he said has been instrumental in his success.

The anecdote offered an insight into Colley’s unwavering focus on shaping Darden as a prestigious school known for its general management education. Thanks to Colley and many of Darden’s foundational leaders, the School consistently ranks at or near the top of all MBA programs for general management.

Darden Professor Jacquie Doyle, a former student of Professor John Colley who now carries on his legacy teaching classes they developed together over the years, offered the closing keynote at the celebration of Colley’s life.

Daniels and a parade of former students, colleagues and friends offered remembrances of Colley, many about the frequent basketball games he and Professor Alec Horniman played against students at UVA’s Memorial Gymnasium over the years or returning to Darden each year to help teach in Colley’s courses.

Jim Walker (MBA ’75) shared how Colley recruited and developed him — as he did so many former students who went on to become C-level leaders — to teach in his classrooms.

“For three years, I came to class and he told me to just listen,” Walker said. “I got to watch him in action. He said, ‘We are conducting an orchestra, not playing an instrument. Don’t say anything.’”

Walker has served for more than 30 years as an adjunct faculty member for a course created by Colley, now led by Professor Jacqueline Doyle (MBA ’89; Ph.D. ’95), herself a former Colley student and mentee.

“John Colley was the single most important influence in my life,” Walker said, crediting Colley with making him a better father, husband and businessman.

Robert Hardie (MBA ’95, Ph.D. ’99), vice rector of the UVA Board of Visitors, recalled creating two courses with Colley, his Ph.D. adviser, and teaching more than 200 classes with him. “Mr. Colley and I spent a lot of time together. A lot!” Hardie joked. “Each meal, each interaction, each exchange was a gift, a world of knowledge imparted on me.”

David Webb (MBA ’77) reflected on the impact Colley made on Darden as a whole as part of a cohort of young professors who came to the School in its early days. “It is wonderful to reflect upon how John, the young Top Gun operations specialist from Hughes Aircraft, and a small group of now legendary professors came to Darden in its formative years and established the School’s remarkable and enduring culture of excellence, accomplishment and goodwill,” he said. “They set the standard.”

UVA basketball legend and Associate Director of Athletics Barry Parkhill called Colley an “icon” at Darden and the University as a whole, placing him on UVA’s Mount Rushmore.

A Hero’s Farewell

Darden School Foundation President Michael Woodfolk, who worked with Colley for more than 20 years, captured how the beloved professor was able to develop the dedicated following of former students who gave back time, talent and treasure year after year to support him.

“He made every one of you feel like you were the most important person in the world.”

Doyle — Colley’s former student, colleague and co-teacher in class — closed her keynote address at the celebration by quoting her mentor. She said he wrote about his time at Darden that “the experience here was exhilarating, creating a bond between the faculty and our students that persists to this day. When we attend a class reunion, we do not see former students, we see family.”

She recalled that Colley would end his talks to students and alumni with a parting thought: “Remember your obligation to go out and make us heroes!”

“I know that for many of us,” Doyle said, “he was the hero who guided us as we ventured forth, and encouraged, inspired, advised and redirected us along the way.”

A Legacy That Continues to Make an Impact for Darden Students

Closing his remarks, Walker shared many of his favorite Colley sayings, including “diversity in the classroom creates diversity of thought; diversity of thought leads to better decisions” and “find students who want to run up hill.” The statements reflect Colley’s passion and dedication to make Darden the business school of choice for top MBA candidates year in and year out.

Beardsley noted during his welcome remarks that, at Colley’s retirement, a group of former students stepped up to complete the endowment for the Darden Jefferson Fellowship program in his honor and a Darden professor holds a chair in his name. Other legacies established in his honor supporting students include the Colley Raven Scholarships and the John Colley Award.

“In so many ways, his spirit shines on,” Beardsley said.

At the conclusion of the service, Woodfolk announced that Darden and UVA have agreed to name an iconic space at the Darden School in Colley’s honor. The skylight dome located at the top of PepsiCo Forum in Saunders Hall will now be known as the Colley Cupola. It is the highest point at the School, and it looks down on the site for First Coffee, the daily ritual started by Colley decades ago – and still observed today – to encourage faculty and student interaction.

The Virginia Gentlemen led attendees at the celebration of John Colley’s life in a rendition of The Good Old Song, one of the legendary professor’s favorite UVA traditions.

Associated with this new space, The Darden School Foundation and Darden School aim to raise $5 million in honor of Colley that will be designated to the new Colley Faculty Excellence Fund. The fund will support faculty excellence through activities such as faculty development that strengthens Darden’s mission to improve the world by inspiring responsible leaders through unparalleled learning experiences at Darden. For more information and to support this effort in honor of Colley, contact Carter Hoerr at hoerrc@darden.virginia.edu.

Among the many touching speeches, the celebration of Colley’s life also included musical performances of songs that were meaningful to him in life. With one final touch emphasizing Colley’s dedication to UVA and students, the Virginia Gentleman — UVA’s well-known group of a cappella undergraduate student singers — closed the ceremony with a rousing rendition of “The Good Old Song,” leading hundreds of Colley’s supporters to all join hands and sing a song for dear old UVA.