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Clearing the Path

May 9, 2023 Erica Hulse
Virginia Denny

“It began earlier than it actually began,” shared Virginia Denny, Assistant Dean for Executive Education, reflecting on her extensive educational consulting and training career. “I was a kid that just loved to learn…I’ve been about learning my whole life.”

Little did Denny know that an unexpected learning opportunity at the University of Kentucky would set the trajectory for her entire professional career. An undergraduate communications and psychology student, she was advised to seek out and soon earned an internship assignment to work with Kentucky state government. That experience served to fuel her life-long passion and talent for training leaders to lead.

 I fell in love with UofL, and the people here, and the possibilities,” she shared. “Everywhere you turn, there’s another opportunity to learn.”

Virginia Denny

Denny eventually developed and successfully ran her own consulting company for several years before being hired by the College of Business to assist in developing Executive Education programming. When the Executive Education department shifted into the Delphi Center, Denny turned her attention toward continuing to deliver training to this area of UofL. Eventually, she was hired by UofL to continue her work as an employee at the Delphi Center. With the opportunity to work full-time at the University, she realized she had found a professional role where she could continue to train while gaining knowledge. “I fell in love with UofL, and the people here, and the possibilities,” she shared. “Everywhere you turn, there’s another opportunity to learn.”

With the implementation of the Online Programs Office, Denny returned to the CoB, with the Executive Education department eventually also returning to the College. She credits key OPO and Executive Education employees who have successfully developed and implemented initiatives that aided these departments’ growth. Noting the power of giving creative space to her staff to allow them to flourish and take their work to the next level, Denny noted that “Individually connecting with the strengths and potential of each individual and creating a space for that individual to shine and grow [is important], whether that means someone stays with me in that growth or moves on to something important to them in a different way.”

Currently, the Executive Education department provides learning and development for businesses and organizations such as Beam Suntory, Joint Special Operations Command, Home of the Innocents, YUM! Brands, and Louisville Metro Police Department. They also provide innovative and future-focused leadership training opportunities for UofL alums and the greater Louisville community. Large “current topics” events also serve the learning needs of the business community. Denny explained that “We don’t know what the jobs of the future are going to look like. We are in this time of rapid growth and uncertainty, so we’ve all got to keep learning. For example, we run Navigating Leadership Now every year so people can get the most current knowledge about what’s changing in leadership.”

There’s probably not a whole lot more important than caring about each other; the rest seems to work its way out one way or another if we just do that.”

Virginia Denny

Denny encourages those in leadership roles to make space for people to excel and then stand by for their staff members to engage their strengths and forge their own unique paths. “Sometimes it is truly uncovering the way. That’s a much subtler thing.” Additionally, she stresses the importance of leading from a place of compassion and understanding. “There’s probably not a whole lot more important than caring about each other; the rest seems to work its way out one way or another if we just do that.”