Yesterday, UVA President Terry Sullivan announced my intention to transition back to Darden’s faculty at the end of my second term as Dean, July 31, 2015. I call on the Darden Community to support the Dean search process with advice, nominees, good will, and the patience that a major executive search demands. The Search Committee will be chaired by Professor Ken Eades and is chartered by UVA’s Provost, John Simon. Their search process will be thorough, professional, and engaging of all of Darden’s constituencies. Given the healthy lead time, I’m confident that the search will be a success.

My choice to return to teaching and writing was the result of a lot of personal reflection and discussion with family, colleagues, alumni, and, of course, the President. It’s been no secret: most colleagues have known about my intention since 2011. But the most frequently asked question is this: if I’m happy and Darden is in a good place, why let up? Here’s my thinking:

  • We’ve finished much of what I hoped we would achieve when I accepted the deanship in 2005. Darden has challenges and opportunities ahead–and the school is in great shape to meet them: the world’s best faculty (say several rankings); distinguished Grounds; devoted alumni; transformational learning experience; awesome students; and large endowment. I didn’t accomplish all that; the whole community did. I’m just pleased to have had a voice in the chorus.

  • I love to teach and write, for which I entered academic life. Being Dean is quite exciting but crowds out the deep reflection required to teach, research, and write very well. And it takes a heavy commitment of time and energy to advancing the school–I’ve averaged 145 days out of town per year for the past nine years.

  • Ten years is a nice round number—think of it as the “Goldilocks” tenure, long enough to have an impact, and short enough to ensure fresh perspective with some regularity. In comparison, the median tenure of a business school dean is about four years—this is not long enough to drive real change in academia. And what a ten years it will have been: Global Financial Crisis, Great Recession, the events of June 2012, Capital Campaign, EMBA, GEMBA, diversity, sustainability, globalization, MOOCs, and more.

  • Darden houses impressive talent and has good depth of leadership. The rising faculty and staff leaders are stars. I’m confident that they will sustain Darden’s momentum and good direction.

In view of these, and of the fact that I’ll be 65 in October, this next year seems like a good pivot point in my own journey. It’s been a deep honor and very fulfilling to serve Darden for a while as Dean.

Onward and upward!