The Batten Institute for

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

and

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

is one of the Centers of Excellence at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

Darden Graduate School of Business Administration The Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration (branded as the Darden School of Business) is the graduate business school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. The school offers ...

. It was founded in 1999 with a $60 million gift to the Darden School from alumnus

Frank Batten Frank Batten (February 11, 1927September 10, 2009) was an American billionaire businessman, and co-founder of the first nationwide, 24-hour cable weather channel, The Weather Channel. His media company, Landmark Media Enterprises, once owned nine ...

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Landmark Communications Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC (a spinoff of Landmark Communications, Inc.) is a privately held technology company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. History The ''Norfolk Landmark'' was established in 1873. It had various editors. K. C. Murray ...

, founder of

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel ...

Function

The Institute publishes a series of white papers on entrepreneurship and innovation topics. The Executive Director of the Institute is Omar Garriott, a longtime tech executive and entrepreneur.

Programs and events

The Batten Institute operates the i.Lab at the University of Virginia, located at the Darden School of Business. Through this lab, the institute hosts a business incubator program for University of Virginia students and members of the local community. Additional entrepreneurship programs and events are hosted at the i.Lab through the year. In partnership with other schools at the University of Virginia, the Batten Institute sponsors a series of three annual competitions which educate students across the University on entrepreneurial methods. The Batten Institute Fellows Program brings visitors to the Darden School of Business for short and long-term visits.

References

{{authority control Business schools in Virginia