Isaacson, Miller Assists UVA in the Recruitment of 10th President
February 4, 2026 – Boston-based Isaacson, Miller recently assisted in the recruitment of Scott C. Beardsley as the 10th president of the University of Virginia (UVA). John Isaacson, Keight Tucker Kennedy, John Muckle, Kelly McLaughlin, and Kristen Andersen led the assignment. Past president Jim Ryan resigned in June 2025 under pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice, which investigated the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. “As stated at the outset of this search, we have been committed to an inclusive, transparent and thoughtful process to ensure the next president of the University of Virginia is equipped to play a critical role in the future of our great institution,” Rachel Sheridan, board rector and chair of the special committee, said. “After careful deliberation and close consultation with the UVA community and stakeholders throughout the process, including faculty, staff, students, alumni and parents, we are honored to announce Dean Beardsley as the university’s next leader.”
“We are pleased to have served the special committee on the presidential search and been a part of one of most robust and comprehensive searches for a candidate at an unprecedented scale,” said Mr. Isaacson. “The board, united in their work to conduct a comprehensive national search, looked carefully at an impressive talent pool of highly credible candidates and selected 10 for interviews. Together they identified a strong, small group of the most serious candidates, almost all of whom had deep UVA histories that would be the envy of any university in the country. Dean Beardsley rose to the top.”
“Scott Beardsley is a seasoned and collaborative leader,” interim president of the University of Virginia Paul Mahoney said. “I have worked with Scott for the past decade and know him as a person of talent, energy and passion for higher education. When I took the reins as interim president, I said that my job was to set up the 10th president for success. I will leave office confident in having done so. The university has achieved operational stability and reached a favorable agreement with the Department of Justice. I’m proud of what we accomplished and look forward to working closely with Scott to ensure the smoothest possible transition.”
Mr. Beardsley was the dean of the UVA Darden School of Business. An experienced academic leader and professor, board chair/director and senior executive, he will bring the skills and experience that helped make the Darden School the top public business school in the country to his new role as UVA’s next president. During his tenure at UVA, he has successfully worked under three Virginia governors, with a fourth set to be inaugurated next month. He has served three university presidents and worked with six Darden School Foundation board chairs. Prior to Darden, Mr. Beardsley was a senior partner based in Belgium at McKinsey & Company, where he was among the fastest to rise to senior partner.
In 1819, Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and inaugurated a bold experiment – a public university designed to advance human knowledge, educate leaders, and cultivate an informed citizenry. Today, the Charlottesville-based university has a strong arts and sciences faculty, a broad range of professional schools and a strong academic medical center. UVA has almost $15 billion in endowments and investments. One of the largest employers in central Virginia, the university employs nearly 30,000 people, including about 16,000 faculty and staff, and nearly 12,000 UVA Health employees.
Nationally Recognized Search Firm
A nationally recognized search firm focused on recruiting transformational leaders for mission-driven organizations, Isaacson, Miller has conducted thousands of placements over more than three decades. More than half of the firm’s work has been in academia, involving university presidents, college chancellors and deans. The firm has filled top leadership posts at Wellesley College, Washington State University, Miami University, Howard University, Bowdoin College, Dartmouth, NYU, Virginia State University, and the University of North Carolina, among others.
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Mr. Isaacson, the firm’s chair, founded Isaacson, Miller in 1982. He has led searches in many areas of the firm’s practice. Mr. Isaacson has helped the firm develop its cumulative knowledge of the craft of search and has attended, with increasing interest, to the missionary purposes of institutions, the political and economic disciplines of specialized markets, and the emotional and intellectual learnings that leaders acquire in a committed working life.
A member of Isaacson, Miller’s team since 2014, Ms. Tucker Kennedy brings diverse experience in non-profit and higher education organizations to her practice. She has worked on several presidential searches, including those for Spelman College, Hamilton College, Converse College, Duke University, Johnson C. Smith University and Elizabeth City State University. Additionally, Ms. Tucker Kennedy has played a key role on several student affairs searches for Ohio State University, Washington University in St. Louis, Princeton, MIT and Cornell. As a search consultant, she has worked with historically black colleges and universities, women’s colleges, and K-12 education and advocacy organizations.
Mr. Muckle heads the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) practice area for the firm, building scientific capacity at many leading academic institutions. He also has engaged in a number of the firm’s most recent university president and provost searches. In addition, Mr. Muckle is a leader in the firm’s healthcare practice, where he oversees the recruitments of deans, department chairs, division chiefs, and biomedical center and institute directors. He has assisted clients such as Duke University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Iowa, and the University of Pennsylvania, among other leading academic healthcare organizations to attract talent at all levels.
Ms. McLaughlin joined Isaacson, Miller as a managing associate in 2021. She primarily focuses on higher education leadership searches, previously serving Boston University, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia, William & Mary, and others in their searches for senior leaders.
Ms. Andersen joined Isaacson, Miller as a senior associate in 2021 and her work has focused on higher education leadership roles. Her notable placements include dean of the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University, vice provost for enrollment at UNC-Chapel Hill, dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Pittsburgh, provost and dean of the College of the Holy Cross, and dean of Newcomb-Tulane College at Tulane University.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
