Longtime benefactors John W. Glynn Jr. ’65 and Barbara A. Glynn (GSAS ’67) again demonstrated their dedication to the University of Virginia and their ongoing commitment to strengthen key areas with recent gifts creating endowed professorships for faculty.
The Glynns’ gifts established three professorships, each of which received matching funds through the University’s Bicentennial Professors Fund, resulting in a total impact of $10 million for endowed chairs at the Law School, the Darden School of Business, and the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
“Over the years, John and Barbara Glynn have supported UVA through their time, expertise and incredible generosity,” UVA President Jim Ryan ’92 said. “Their latest gift will do even more, helping us recruit and retain outstanding faculty across the University and preparing our students to lead and serve in their careers and as responsible citizens. On behalf of our community, I would like to express my sincere thanks.”
George Geis leads an Introduction to Law and Business class.
The Glynns, who met at the University, also support UVA Law’s John W. Glynn Jr. Law & Business Program, which integrates courses on business and legal analysis to prepare students for professional careers. Today, 40% of Law School students take courses in the program. The program’s success and a desire to recognize outstanding faculty inspired the Glynn Family to endow the Glynn Family Bicentennial Professorship.
“John and Barbara Glynn’s generous gift gives us an opportunity to raise the already-high profile of the John W. Glynn Jr. Law & Business Program even higher. Endowed professorships enable us to attract and retain faculty members who are both pathbreaking scholars and gifted teachers. The Glynn Family Professorship promises to continue that fine tradition,” Dean Risa Goluboff said. “I am so gratified we will be able to support the leaders of the Program and honor the Glynns for generations to come.”
George S. Geis, director of the program and the William S. Potter Professor of Law, is the inaugural recipient of the Glynn family professorship.
“On a personal level, this is by far the most meaningful academic appointment I have ever received,” Geis said. “I have not really known other chair sponsors, but it has been my pleasure and privilege to spend time with John and Barbara over the past 15 years.”
After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School and the Chicago Booth School of Business, Geis spent five years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he served clients on corporate strategy, mergers, marketing, and other issues. He has also worked with the law firms Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York and Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles. Geis joined the faculty in 2008 and teaches contracts, corporations, accounting, and corporate finance.
The matching funds available through the University were a powerful incentive for the Glynns’ gifts, as well as their goal to keep UVA schools competitive and innovative.
“We are trying to further enhance the attractiveness of our excellent students and the Law and Business Program gives them important tools and background to make them a more competent and effective corporate lawyer,” John Glynn said,
Glynn has played a strong role at the Law School, where he served as a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2013 and managed the Foundation’s endowment. Upon his retirement, he was elected an honorary trustee and continues to serve as an adviser to the investment committee. He is the founder and general partner of Glynn Capital Management and Glynn Ventures, a venture capital fund in Menlo Park, California. He has been active in the VC business on a national level since 1970.
An alumna of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences master’s degree program in intellectual history, Barbara Glynn is a founding member of The Tech Interactive (previously The Tech Museum of Innovation) in San Jose, California. She has been involved at the Graduate School for many years as an active volunteer and today is a College Foundation emeritus trustee, serving on its Northern California Regional Board.
Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.
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