Pictured: The Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management hosted the 15th annual University of Virginia Investing Conference (UVIC) in October 2022, exploring themes around investing in a world of rising interest rates and inflation during a time when global economies are slowing.
Dillon Baley (Class of 2024), was accepted to Darden through the Future Year Scholars Program, which invites outstanding college students to join the ranks of a Top 10 business school, before ever gaining work experience. Admitted scholars may then choose to begin their MBA after gaining two to five years of work experience.
With the knowledge that he had a Darden MBA in his future, Baley was able to focus on his interests in finance and energy. During his deferment period before enrolling at Darden, he worked at a valuation consulting firm for a year before moving to Solomon Partners to pursue his interest in investment banking.
Although he was accepted to Darden before gaining much of his professional work experience, Baley said the ensuing years strengthened his conviction that Charlottesville was the best place to continue his development.
“I wanted to build a network of fellow students both professionally and personally, and that sense of community was something I was looking for,” said Baley. “I have an undergraduate degree in business, so I wanted a program that had a focus on developing skills you can’t necessarily learn from a textbook or attending a lecture.”
Now at Darden with the support of a scholarship offered by the Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management, Baley is interested in eventually moving from an advising role to a decision-making position, ideally in a private equity context involving a mix of investing and operational know-how.
Baley said he hopes to be a connector for private equity paths, playing a part in formalizing prospects for interested students even as he attempts to make the most of his experience through clubs like Darden Capital Management, the student-run investment group that manages roughly $25 million in endowment money.
Read the full story on the Darden Report.
Applications for the Future Year Scholars Program are now open, with April and August 2023 deadlines.
