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Phil Potter's leadership, knowledge of the intelligence world and commitment to public service, including as founder of UVA Batten’s National Security Policy Center, has culminated in his appointment as the inaugural director of the newly launched National Security Data and Policy Institute, a project of UVA and the Department of Defense.

Two recent UVA Batten graduates had a rare opportunity last summer to support one of the country’s leading organizations working on global hunger. Sadie Rogerson and Emma Nardone were selected to participate — with full funding — in a pilot of the UVA Batten Humanitarian Collaborative Fellowship program.

Meet Rodney Rhodes, BA ‘23. While at Batten, Rhodes was a teaching assistant and Lead Batten Ambassador. He also participated in UVA Equity Center’s program as a career counselor for underrepresented youth in the local community. He’s currently an associate at the Public Service Leadership Institute.

Eddie Bocanegra with the U.S. Department of Justice, and Nancy La Vigne of the National Institute of Justice of the United States joined Assistant Professor Kyle S.H. Dobson for a panel discussion about policy solutions to gun violence.

Dean Ian Solomon talks with award-winning film producer and director Nicholas Ma about his latest work, “Leap of Faith," exploring whether we can disagree and still belong to each other in a divided world.

For a very special Batten Hour this week, speakers with two organizations working with veterans, active duty service members and their families shared insights about how the current elections system is broken and how a variety of fixes can lead to more accountability of elected leaders, and a stronger democracy for all.

UVA Batten Associate Professor Ashley Jardina joined several other UVA political experts on a panel this morning at Garrett Hall for a post-election analysis. The event was co-hosted by Batten, the Karsh Institute of Democracy and the Miller Center, and was moderated by Batten Dean Ian H. Solomon.

The Center for Effective Lawmaking is marking an extremely successful year with the release of its annual report. Founded in 2017 as a joint venture between UVA Batten and Vanderbilt University, the center’s trusted methodology and analyses have been cited in hundreds of news articles across the U.S., and widely used by lawmakers and their staffs.

For today’s UVA Batten Hour, students with the Center for Politics “Hoos Vote” initiative presented on ways to vote tomorrow Election Day. Third year foreign affairs majors Ella Doddridge and Zoe Shook shared key points:

Nick Bloom is internationally renowned for his research on working from home, which became a worldwide phenomenon during the Covid pandemic. Bloom, the William Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford University, was our guest speaker at this year’s Merrick Lecture, hosted in partnership with the UVA Department of Economics.

UVA Batten student Hana Bakhit (MPP '25), who is from Sudan, organized and moderated a panel of experts to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis occurring in the country. The panelists included representatives of the World Food Programme-Sudan, DT Institute and USAID.

As an elected official in Maricopa County, Arizona, in 2020, Bill Gates saw first-hand the troubling impacts of election conspiracies, experiencing intense pressure to alter the county's elections process, even facing threats of violence. Since then, he's been an outspoken advocate for election workers and democracy; he spoke at Garrett Hall for this week's Batten Hour.