The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors unanimously selected Scott C. Beardsley, dean of the Darden School of Business, as the university’s next president effective Jan. 1. The vote, taken by a GOP-appointed board chaired under Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees, closes a contentious search that faculty and state Democrats asked the board to pause pending a change in governance. Beardsley, a longtime Darden dean and former McKinsey partner, inherits a campus split over last year’s federal settlement and the ouster of the prior president. The board said Beardsley’s administrative record and fundraising success position him to steady the institution, while critics warned the timing risks a fraught transition with the incoming Democratic governor and a newly constituted board. University stakeholders flagged immediate issues he will face: rebuilding trust with faculty and the state legislature, responding to federal oversight questions, and navigating political scrutiny over campus diversity and governance decisions.