Nicole Thorne Jenkins will conclude her term as the John A. Griffin Dean of the McIntire School of Commerce on June 30, 2025. Having served as Dean since the summer of 2020, her tenure has been marked by a period of rapid growth and innovation and a successful $250 million campaign completed 17 months ahead of schedule.
“Nicole is a forward-looking leader with a sharp focus on how business and business education are evolving. Her dedication to providing students an unmatched academic experience has led to new ideas and important changes to the undergraduate curriculum,” says John A. Griffin (McIntire ’85), President of the McIntire School of Commerce Foundation Board. “Additionally, Nicole successfully guided McIntire in surpassing its Honor the Future campaign goal, demonstrating her commitment to the School’s mission and its future growth.”
Having started during the height of the COVID-19 global crisis, Jenkins’ first two years at McIntire were uniquely marked by social distancing, masks, and meetings on Zoom. Jenkins successfully led the School through this uniquely challenging time by implementing a faculty-, staff-, and alumni-sourced Strategic Agenda to govern the early days of her administration and fostering a sense of community to ensure the quality of education and the well-being of students, faculty, and staff.
Immediately following the return to in-person learning, she spearheaded the development and implementation of the McIntire School’s Strategic Plan, which focuses on academic, research, and operational excellence. This plan has driven significant modifications to the School’s offerings and infrastructure, namely, approval for second-year undergraduate matriculation in the B.S. in Commerce Program to address shifts in recruiting timelines and the introduction of major new programs, including minors in Real Estate and General Business, an asynchronous learning platform for micro-courses called Commerce Essentials, and a Biotechnology Track in the M.S. in Commerce Program.
McIntire is on track to make the strategic shift to a three-year program with the UVA Class of 2028. The School will welcome its first second-year class in fall 2025. Commerce Essentials enrolled over 800 seats in AY 2023-24—a 300% increase from AY 2022-23. Open to all UVA students, these courses are being incorporated into programs offered by UVA Athletics, UVA Wise, and SCPS. These courses are also available to external learners, with additional distribution options on the horizon. The Biotechnology Track of the M.S. in Commerce Program at McIntire was launched in the fall of 2022 in partnership with the School of Engineering and has more than doubled in size since inception.
Jenkins also developed the ideology of Commerce for the Common Good, an initiative backed by an investment from McIntire alumnus John Connaughton (McIntire ’87) that invites the broader Commerce community to consider commerce as a catalyst for deep and lasting societal impact. The initiative aims to prepare and empower students to become global citizens who can transform commerce and society through their learning, leadership, and legacies. The McIntire School launched 16 signature courses around the topic as well as the Connaughton Speaker series to complement the initiative with poignant conversations underscoring the relevance of commerce as an exchange central to global business and society.
A hallmark of Jenkins’ tenure was her focus on attracting leaders and luminaries into the School’s orbit for signature events. This included Tim Ryan, former Senior Partner at PwC (now Head of Technology and Business Enablement at Citi), in 2021; John Connaughton (McIntire ‘87), Co-Managing Partner of Bain Capital, in 2023; Sonja Hoel Perkins (McIntire ’88), Managing Director of The Perkins Fund and Founder of Project Glimmer, in 2021; and AI Futurist Zack Kass, formally with OpenAI, in 2023. Jenkins onboarded Kass as executive-in-residence contributing to the AI@McIntire initiative. In 2023, Jenkins drove the genesis of a partnership with the Karsh Institute of Democracy to host a series of ongoing conversations at the intersection of capitalism and democracy. The first-of-its kind conversation featured a fireside chat with Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase. Most recently, the McIntire School hosted Jonathan Gray, President and COO of Blackstone, at its annual Fall Forum.
In recent years, Jenkins has expanded McIntire’s global footprint by supporting international programs and partnerships, ensuring that a significant proportion of students graduated with an international experience. Most recently, the School has rebooted its multi-continent M.S. in Global Commerce Program with a new partner, ESMT Berlin. On Grounds, Jenkins has worked to expand McIntire’s physical footprint through the Commerce Expansion Project, a comprehensive renovation of Cobb Hall, a historic 1917 building, and construction of an all-new 74,000-square-foot facility, Shumway Hall, named for McIntire alumnus Chris Shumway (McIntire ’88), which will open in the spring of 2025. In October, the School honored alumnus Ramon W. Breeden Jr. (McIntire ‘56) for his impactful $50 million gift with the dedication of the Breeden Commerce Grounds and Breeden Way, the School’s new address.
Jenkins conceived of and executed the Triple Impact Program, which enabled donors to support the Commerce Expansion Project and create a perpetual cash flow stream for the School—$50 million. She also led the effort to establish the White Ruffin Byron Center for Real Estate, a pan-University initiative housed in the McIntire School—$20 million endowment. These philanthropic successes, coupled with program growth, and a prioritization of operational efficiency have placed the School on a path toward financial sustainability.
Jenkins joined the McIntire School of Commerce from the University of Kentucky, where she was the Vice Dean of the Gatton College of Business and Economics and the Von Allmen Chaired Professor of Accountancy. She has also held faculty positions at Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis. Jenkins earned her Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Iowa and completed her undergraduate studies in Accounting and Finance at Drexel University. She holds a certificate in leadership from Stanford Graduate Business School, is a Certified Public Accountant, and has extensive industry experience, having worked at Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse LLP (now PwC). She currently serves on the boards of The Montpelier Foundation and Strada Education Foundation, and as a trustee for the TIAA-CREF complex mutual funds board.
At the conclusion of her term, Jenkins will take a one-year sabbatical to focus on two entrepreneurial ventures and work on completing a book project.
