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Almost 200 people came to Garrett Hall to hear from renowned civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson, recipient of the 2025 Thomas Jefferson Medal in Citizen Leadership. He spoke with UVA Batten Dean Ian H. Solomon, who introduced Stevenson as a "fierce moral advocate," with an abiding dedication to helping the poor, the incarcerated, the wrongly accused, and others whom society largely has forgotten or neglected.

The tools to bring podcasts to market have never been more accessible, but doing a project well and gaining traction is a more complex story. Award-winning podcaster Rob Sachs, who is vice president of audio at Foreign Policy magazine, joined us for Batten Hour this week to workshop ideas on how to produce and sustain a compelling podcast.

From his vantage point as an economist and analyst for the past four decades, Paul Decker sees the world on the cusp of a new era of policymaking driven by the unprecedented availability of data and by artificial intelligence. Decker was the featured speaker at this week’s Batten Hour. He is president and CEO of Mathematica, an employee-owned data analysis, research, and evaluation firm with global reach.

Before he’s even graduated from UVA Batten, Jacob Rizzio already has hands-on public policy experience, from interning on various planning projects with York County, Virginia, where he’s from, to the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C. His favorite memory from his time at Batten? Read his spotlight to find out.

Renowned international constitutional law expert and the longest-serving professor at UVA, A.E. Dick Howard has been selected as this year’s Outstanding Virginian. The award is given by a committee of Virginia General Assembly, on which UVA Batten Dean Ian H. Solomon serves, to honor those whose contributions, achievements, and leadership inspire citizens of the commonwealth.

UVA Batten assistant professor Derek Wu has received an early-career grant award to continue his work identifying ways to strengthen social safety net programs in Virginia.

Nonprofit founder and history-making elected official A’dorian Murray-Thomas shared her experience, strength, and hope from the perspective of a young leader with students during Monday’s Batten Hour. Her talk was equal parts inspiring and inquisitive, exploring the power of youth storytelling, service, and transforming trauma into fuel for social change.

Twenty UVA students and staff traveled to Norway over spring break for an immersive study abroad experience to learn about alternative systems for incarceration. It was part of the UVA Batten course, LPPS 5670: Education in the U.S. and International Prison Systems.

In its 5th biennial report on the effectiveness of U.S. senators and representatives, the Center for Effective Lawmaking found that despite deep political and procedural disruptions, the 118th Congress passed hundreds of laws. It also noted that the exit of some of the highest-scoring members may strain the lawmaking capacity of Congress in the years ahead.

In a very special event at Garrett Hall this week, Martin Luther King, III told stories of his childhood and shared his lifelong vision of building a stronger, more connected and caring community, which is the theme of his new book. The event was sponsored by the UVA Center for Politics, where King is a professor of practice, and hosted by the UVA Batten School.

UVA Batten assistant professor Andrew Simon and his co-authors explore the “racial excellence gap” in primary and secondary schools in their article, published in Nature, one of the world's leading scientific journals.

Dr. Maya Haasz, a pediatric emergency room physician and an associate professor at the University of Colorado, is an expert in firearm injuries among youth — the leading cause of death of people under 20 in the United States. At this week's Batten Hour, she discussed the importance of changing cultural norms in order to address the epidemic.