Associate professor of public policy Andrew Pennock has received the 2025 All-University Teaching Award from the University of Virginia. The awards, presented annually, honored nine UVA faculty members who demonstrate exceptional dedication, passion, creativity, and equity in their contributions to the University’s teaching mission.  

“Andy embodies the qualities of an outstanding educator and colleague,” said UVA Batten dean Ian H. Solomon, who nominated Pennock for the award. “He is deeply committed to his students, a leader in the advancement of teaching at the Batten School, and a model for innovative pedagogy at the University.”

A 2023 Fulbright Scholar, Pennock joined Batten in 2015 after holding highly impactful teaching positions at Brown University and the University of North Carolina. Batten faculty are frequently recognized as outstanding teachers.  

“It's a tremendous honor to be in that group of amazing colleagues that I've worked with for the last decade and to be recognized alongside them,” he said. “While each of us matters individually, we succeed in the context of the Batten culture and community.”

Pennock teaches three courses in the core MPP curriculum: Leadership in the Public Arena, where students learn to navigate the politics of change in public organizations, and Applied Policy Project I and II — capstone courses in the final year in which students bring value to a real-world client through applied policy analyses.  

In addition, he offers an elective course, Virginia Politics and Policy, in which students take a trip to Richmond to witness policymaking firsthand. Within Batten, Pennock serves as the faculty director of the MPP Orientation Program and as coordinator of the Applied Policy Project. Pennock also recently served as the co-chair of the influential Generative AI Task Force for the University at-large.  

Pennock is quick to credit the people and resources at Batten as essential to helping faculty like himself fulfill the school’s academic mission and foster an environment where students blossom into agents of change even beyond Grounds. “The staff support is outstanding. The school has really invested in structures that allow and facilitate excellent teaching,” he said.  

“I've also been blessed with this remarkable series of excellent teaching assistants who enable the learning to become personalized, so every student gets the kind of individual attention they deserve.”

Lauded by colleagues and students alike for his ability to inspire deeper and outside-the-box thinking, as well as meld classroom concepts with real world applications, it is witnessing his students improving the world around them as evidence of the impact of their Batten education that brings Pennock the most satisfaction.

“One of my favorite parts of being a professor is staying connected with graduates on LinkedIn. I'm linked to hundreds of former students, and it's incredibly fulfilling to watch their careers progress and see the impactful projects they take on — even three, five, or ten years after graduation.”

A Hendersonville, North Carolina native, Pennock recently saw a former student working in the North Carolina legislature on disaster relief from Hurricane Helene for his hometown, which was particularly meaningful to him.  

Looking ahead, Pennock is more convinced than ever of the importance of the Batten School and its role in educating the next generation of responsible citizen leaders.

“The nation is grappling with how to redefine how it expresses its core values of liberty, responsibility, and community,” he said. “We need people who can take on that challenge in ways that are responsive to their particular communities, do it in ways that are evidence-based, and do it in ways that can create real change.”

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