Great careers are made with good people, and better questions.
This week I spoke with Michael Lenox, 1994 UVA grad who’s now the Interim Dean at Darden School of Business.
The Rundown:
COLD OPEN: UVA → MIT → NYU → Duke → Back to UVA
TURNING POINT: Learning what kind of leader to be
STEAL THIS: Sourcing motivations
INDUSTRY INSIDER: What do people misunderstand about higher education?
IF I WERE YOU: Invest in yourself, and don’t let others define what success looks like for you
COLD OPEN
How Did You Get Your Start?
I came to UVA doing systems engineering, truthfully, because I was good at math and people told me I should do it. I had no idea how to turn it into a career.
I interviewed for tech consulting jobs, again, because people said, this is what you should do. I landed at the old Coopers & Libran, which is now PWC, doing database information systems for government clients right out of Roslyn, Virginia.
As I started that journey, I asked myself what I wanted out of my career, and I wasn't certain it was consulting.
I thought about a job that I’d never want to retire from, rather than the one that may get me to retirement as quickly as possible. Two of my mentors, Yacov Haimes in the Engineering School and Ernest Mead, a music professor who taught the Lawn Seminar, inspired me to go back to school and get my PhD.
To this day, I don’t live it down, but I didn’t tell my wife at the time I applied for the PhD program. I did it on a whim, and as ridiculous as it sounds, I only applied to MIT and happened to get in.
So I went to Boston, studying engineering systems with a focus on technology management and policy. I became interested in business, and ended up getting a job at the Stern School at NYU after I graduated.
I spent 3 years there, then moved to Duke as a faculty member for 6 years, and finally had an opportunity to come back home to UVA.
I didn’t get the job at UVA because I was looking for one. It was pretty random. I had been invited to give a talk at UVA, and when I was there, they mentioned the opportunity. I was well settled at Duke, tenured even, but I always dreamed of coming back to UVA.
I joke that I wandered in the darkness for 15 years, going to Boston, New York, and North Carolina to find my way back to Charlottesville.
I ran the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Darden for my first 8 years. I served as, now, President Beardsley's, but at that time, Dean Beardsley's Chief Strategy Officer at Darden.
The last two years, I was asked by the President and Provost to lead UVA Innovates work, and for the last four weeks, I was asked to be the Interim Dean at Darden.
It's been quite the journey, and I have no idea what’s to come up next.
PRESENTED BY NEXT GEN @ UVA
Graduating in May? Come pick up your caps, gowns, tassels, and post-grad resources at GradFest 2026 (and a chance to win more graduation tickets)!. Stop by UVA Bookstore anytime between 9AM and 4:30PM from Monday, Feb 16 to Friday, Feb 20.
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Gift Amounts
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TURNING POINT
What’s A Challenge You Faced Early On?
When I was an undergrad at UVA, I was the chairman of the honor committee, and it was challenging navigating what kind of leader I wanted to be.
I decided to focus on listening and knowing when to not be in the spotlight. I remember we had one case centered around race that was very open to the public. As chairman, people thought my role would be to defend, but instead, I just listened. It’s a powerful skill, and I'm still working on being a good listener.
It’s interesting to see how those who had this position before and after me approached the same challenge.
The chairman who served before me was what I’d call an aspirational leader – someone who, by just the way they engage with people and the world, people wanted to follow her. The one who came after me was a former Navy SEAL, who commanded respect with a slightly more authoritarian manner (not in a negative way, but just different).
I see myself more as a visionary leader, who likes to set a vision and say, let's all come along for the ride.
STEAL THIS
What’s A Question You Love To Be Asked (Or Asking)?
I always like to find the motivation behind something, so asking “Why?”
Even simpler questions like, “Where are you from?” or “How did that impact you?” can get to the why behind something.
INDUSTRY INSIDER
What Do People Misunderstand About Higher Education?
Lots of people, especially at Darden being a business school, come in thinking the university is run like a business or hierarchical organization. I always say that’s the wrong mental model.
For better or for worse, we are much more like the federal government. We have an executive branch where you have the president, provost, and all the deans and support staff of that branch.
We have this thing called the faculty senate, which functions much more like the House of Representatives or the Senate.
Faculty view themselves, as they should, as compatriots with the administration and executing the mission of the university, less so than just employees.
I can tell you as a dean right now, the dean doesn't tell the faculty what to do.
In terms of their research and teaching, they have a lot of freedom to pursue what interests them. Part of the joy of being a professor is having those opportunities.
In terms of our stakeholders, the list is immense. Being a public university, we obviously have Richmond and the governor's office, the General Assembly, and the citizens of Virginia who care very deeply about what we do.
IF I WERE YOU
Do You Have Any Advice For Students?
Invest in yourself. Think about what feeds your passion and purpose moving forward.
Your passion can come from other things besides your job and career, but it really helps if they’re aligned. Especially since you spend so much time working.
I’m thankful every day that I found my way to being a college professor. And as I said, it wasn't where I started nor where I thought I was going as an undergraduate.
I know this can be stressful. Like, oh my God, I keep being told I have to find my purpose.
You don’t need to find it right away, and you definitely don’t need to have everything figured out when you’re 22. Take your time, have lots of different experiences, and see where that emerges. Don't get fooled that the various paths that others define as success are the paths for you.
I worry about that for both our undergrads and our MBAs that we get pulled into certain trajectories that are viewed as “where the top students go”. I have so many stories of friends or former students that went the non-traditional route and have absolutely flourished and succeeded by every measure.
And they didn't play that game that so many of our students do. And there's nothing against that – you can have an amazing career pursuing those kinds of prestigious jobs.
But it clearly is not the only way.
CLOSING TIME
What To Do Next
Reading is great — but putting yourself out there, meeting new people, and finding opportunities is what this is all about.
4 things to do right now:
Find a UVA alum and send them a cold message.
Follow up in a week if they don’t respond.
Prepare for the meeting, and talk to them
Explore a new industry:
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