About News News Subscribe International and Global Affairs Health Policy Humanitarian Policy Economics Leadership Advocacy Education Global Politics & International Relations International Development Research and Commentary Facet Area of Focus - News Ian H. Solomon Craig Volden Brian N. Williams Christine Mahoney Benjamin Castleman Gerald Warburg Gabrielle Adams Philip Potter Daphna Bassok Jay Shimshack John Holbein Lucy Bassett Andrew S. Pennock David Leblang Allan Stam Raymond C. Scheppach Sarah Turner Sophie Trawalter Timothy L. Davis Bala Mulloth Benjamin Converse Sebastian Tello Trillo Eileen Chou Jeanine Braithwaite Jennifer Lawless Jill Rockwell Todd S. Sechser Alexander Bick James H. Wyckoff Paul S. Martin Peter Johannessen Steve Hiss Daniel W. Player Gerard Robinson Laura Toscano Michael D. Williams Noah Myung William Shobe Brooke Lehmann Harry Harding James R. Detert Jazmin Brown-Iannuzzi Jeff Chidester Kyle S. H. Dobson Larry Terry Margaret Foster Riley Molly Lipscomb Abigail Scholer Adam Leive Allison Atteberry Andrew Simon Brad Carson Derek Wu Frederick P. Hitz Galen Fountain Gerald Higginbotham Isaac Mbiti Michele Claibourn Sally Hudson Tim Layton Xiao Wang Adam Roux Amanda Crombie Andy Ortiz Ashley Jardina Brendan J. Boler Brooke Ray Charles J. Rush Charles J. Rush Diane Biesecker George Foresman Jieun Pai Justin H. Kirkland Kimberly Jenkins Robinson Melissa Thomas-Hunt Pam Cipriano Paul Becker Tim Layton (-) Kirsten Gelsdorf (-) Christopher J. Ruhm Facet People - News UVA Humanitarian Collaborative Facet UVA Partner - News Research and Commentary Faculty In Action Accolades Facet News Type - News Apr 28, 2025 UVA Batten a Hub for Health Economics Research The health economy is one of the most extensive and complex systems in modern life, impacting people on a deeply personal level. UVA Batten is honored to have three outstanding faculty members whose research expertise is focused on various policy aspects of the field, including Medicaid and Medicare, COVID-related mortality rates, and other topics. Learn more Jul 30, 2024 How State Policies Impacted Death Rates During COVID In a paper published in JAMA Health Forum, Professor of Public Policy and Economics Chris Ruhm finds that stringent COVID-19 restrictions saved lives during the pandemic based on a state-by-state analysis of health policies and COVID deaths. Learn more Apr 11, 2024 Compassion in Action: Contemplative Science and Practice in the Classroom and the World In March 2024, Batten School Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer joined dozens of scholars and others from around the world in Dharamsala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama and explore ways to bring contemplative science and practice into teaching, research, policymaking and leadership in all sectors. Learn more Mar 14, 2024 Dean Solomon, Professors Gelsdorf and Scholer to Meet with the Dalai Lama Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer will travel to Dharamsala next week with leaders from UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center to spend a week with practitioners and researchers in the contemplative sciences from around the world. They will also have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Learn more Dec 13, 2023 Ruhm Named SEA Distinguished Fellow Chris Ruhm, Batten professor of public policy and economics, has received a Distinguished Fellow Award from the Southern Economic Association in recognition for his “substantial record of exceptional scholarly achievement and long-term involvement and service to the association.” Learn more Dec 01, 2022 Want To Help Save the World? This New Book Club Offers a Novel Approach Humanitarian Policy News and facts about humanitarian crises don't drive people to action, but a good fiction book might. Batten School professor Kirsten Gelsdorf and Humanitarian Collaborative practitioner fellow Adrienne Ghaly created a book club that might save the world. Learn more Jun 23, 2022 We May Not Have Been as Anxious, Depressed in Pandemic's First Year as Once Thought Health Policy Findings from the Batten School's Christopher Ruhm and colleagues at Harvard question the accuracy of the CDC’s Household Pulse survey on mental health. Learn more June 15, 2022 Batten Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching, Service, Research and Engagement This academic year, Batten School professors won a slew of internal and external recognitions for excellence in teaching, service, research and engagement. Learn more Jun 06, 2022 Kirsten Gelsdorf: Examining Today’s Humanitarian Crises and Organizations Humanitarian Policy Global Politics & International Relations International and Global Affairs Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy professor Kirsten Gelsdorf spoke to UVA Lifetime Learning's podcast about the current state of worldwide humanitarian crises and organizations poised to address them. Learn more Mar 21, 2022 Batten’s Gelsdorf Speaks with The Washington Post, NPR’s Marketplace About the Humanitarian Crisis in Ukraine Humanitarian Policy As Russia’s war in Ukraine closes in on a month, news outlets across the country continue to turn to Batten Professor Kirsten Gelsdorf for insight into the humanitarian side of the crisis. Learn more Mar 12, 2022 Humanitarian corridors could help civilians safely leave Ukraine – but Russia has a history of not respecting these pathways Humanitarian Policy International and Global Affairs As experts on international humanitarian policy and relief efforts, Batten's Kirsten Gelsdorf and co-author Jacob Kurtzer write that while humanitarian corridors could create safe exit routes out of besieged cities – and allow aid to reach people within Ukraine – they are only part of the solution to protecting civilians during war. Learn more Aug 21, 2021 Batten Experts Discuss Humanitarian Response to Earthquake in Haiti with BBC, Christian Science Monitor Humanitarian Policy International and Global Affairs Batten School experts are weighing in on the international humanitarian response to the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook Haiti last weekend. Batten professor Kirsten Gelsdorf, who worked in 2010 as the Humanitarian Advisor to President Clinton in his role as the UN Special Envoy for the Haiti Earthquake, spoke to The Christian Science Monitor and alum Makayla Palazzo (MPP ’18) joined "BBC World News" live from Port-au-Prince. Learn more Pagination Current page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Next page Next › Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Apr 28, 2025 UVA Batten a Hub for Health Economics Research The health economy is one of the most extensive and complex systems in modern life, impacting people on a deeply personal level. UVA Batten is honored to have three outstanding faculty members whose research expertise is focused on various policy aspects of the field, including Medicaid and Medicare, COVID-related mortality rates, and other topics. Learn more
Jul 30, 2024 How State Policies Impacted Death Rates During COVID In a paper published in JAMA Health Forum, Professor of Public Policy and Economics Chris Ruhm finds that stringent COVID-19 restrictions saved lives during the pandemic based on a state-by-state analysis of health policies and COVID deaths. Learn more
Apr 11, 2024 Compassion in Action: Contemplative Science and Practice in the Classroom and the World In March 2024, Batten School Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer joined dozens of scholars and others from around the world in Dharamsala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama and explore ways to bring contemplative science and practice into teaching, research, policymaking and leadership in all sectors. Learn more
Mar 14, 2024 Dean Solomon, Professors Gelsdorf and Scholer to Meet with the Dalai Lama Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer will travel to Dharamsala next week with leaders from UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center to spend a week with practitioners and researchers in the contemplative sciences from around the world. They will also have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Learn more
Dec 13, 2023 Ruhm Named SEA Distinguished Fellow Chris Ruhm, Batten professor of public policy and economics, has received a Distinguished Fellow Award from the Southern Economic Association in recognition for his “substantial record of exceptional scholarly achievement and long-term involvement and service to the association.” Learn more
Dec 01, 2022 Want To Help Save the World? This New Book Club Offers a Novel Approach Humanitarian Policy News and facts about humanitarian crises don't drive people to action, but a good fiction book might. Batten School professor Kirsten Gelsdorf and Humanitarian Collaborative practitioner fellow Adrienne Ghaly created a book club that might save the world. Learn more
Jun 23, 2022 We May Not Have Been as Anxious, Depressed in Pandemic's First Year as Once Thought Health Policy Findings from the Batten School's Christopher Ruhm and colleagues at Harvard question the accuracy of the CDC’s Household Pulse survey on mental health. Learn more
June 15, 2022 Batten Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching, Service, Research and Engagement This academic year, Batten School professors won a slew of internal and external recognitions for excellence in teaching, service, research and engagement. Learn more
Jun 06, 2022 Kirsten Gelsdorf: Examining Today’s Humanitarian Crises and Organizations Humanitarian Policy Global Politics & International Relations International and Global Affairs Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy professor Kirsten Gelsdorf spoke to UVA Lifetime Learning's podcast about the current state of worldwide humanitarian crises and organizations poised to address them. Learn more
Mar 21, 2022 Batten’s Gelsdorf Speaks with The Washington Post, NPR’s Marketplace About the Humanitarian Crisis in Ukraine Humanitarian Policy As Russia’s war in Ukraine closes in on a month, news outlets across the country continue to turn to Batten Professor Kirsten Gelsdorf for insight into the humanitarian side of the crisis. Learn more
Mar 12, 2022 Humanitarian corridors could help civilians safely leave Ukraine – but Russia has a history of not respecting these pathways Humanitarian Policy International and Global Affairs As experts on international humanitarian policy and relief efforts, Batten's Kirsten Gelsdorf and co-author Jacob Kurtzer write that while humanitarian corridors could create safe exit routes out of besieged cities – and allow aid to reach people within Ukraine – they are only part of the solution to protecting civilians during war. Learn more
Aug 21, 2021 Batten Experts Discuss Humanitarian Response to Earthquake in Haiti with BBC, Christian Science Monitor Humanitarian Policy International and Global Affairs Batten School experts are weighing in on the international humanitarian response to the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook Haiti last weekend. Batten professor Kirsten Gelsdorf, who worked in 2010 as the Humanitarian Advisor to President Clinton in his role as the UN Special Envoy for the Haiti Earthquake, spoke to The Christian Science Monitor and alum Makayla Palazzo (MPP ’18) joined "BBC World News" live from Port-au-Prince. Learn more