Organizational Behavior, Decision-Making,
& Behavioral Science
Understanding the human and psychological forces that shape institutions, leadership, and collective action, and applying those insights to improve organizational performance and public outcomes.
Overview
Faculty study how individuals and groups make decisions, pursue goals, and navigate hierarchy within institutional settings. Institutions succeed or fail not only because of rules and policies, but because of how people interpret, trust, and act within them. This research illuminates the behavioral foundations of leadership, team dynamics, negotiation, and organizational culture, providing tools to strengthen democratic resilience, improve management practices, and develop more effective public leaders.
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Abigail ScholerBatten Family Bicentennial Distinguished Leadership Professor of Public PolicyAbigail Scholer is Batten Family Bicentennial Distinguished Leadership Professor of Public Policy and professor of public policy and psychology at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Scholer studies fundamental and basic processes related to goal pursuit, decision-making, social regulation, motivated social cognition, and behavior change, with an aim for understanding how these basic processes can be leveraged to address societal challenges and improve people’s lives.
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Eileen ChouInterim DeanEileen Chou is interim dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, leading a multidisciplinary faculty of scholars and practitioners committed to creating new knowledge, developing ethical and effective leaders, and advancing solutions to humanity’s greatest policy challenges.
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Gabrielle AdamsAssociate Professor of Public Policy, Business Administration, and PsychologyGabrielle Adams is an associate professor of public policy and business administration at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and in the Darden School of Business’s Leadership and Organizational Behavior area. Adams studies the processes and dynamics that give rise to ‘good’ decisions, policies and conditions in organizations.
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Gerald HigginbothamAssistant Professor of Public Policy and PsychologyGerald Higginbotham is an assistant professor of public policy and psychology at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Utilizing social and cultural psychological insights, Higginbotham researches the imprint of history on people’s modern social perceptions and policy attitudes, and the psychological underpinnings of how people perceive history and its consequences.
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Benjamin ConverseProfessor of Behavioral Science and Public PolicyBenjamin Converse is a professor of behavioral science and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research focuses on motivation, social judgment, problem solving and decision making. He teaches courses related to leadership and negotiations.
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Kyle S. H. DobsonAssistant Professor of Public Policy and PsychologyKyle S. H. Dobson is an assistant professor of public policy and psychology at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Dobson takes an interdisciplinary approach to organizational studies, focusing primarily on occupations where employees sacrifice their well-being in service to others. His work has focused on police departments primarily, with expansion to schools and other organizations.
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Melissa Thomas-HuntJohn D. Forbes Distinguished Professor of Business AdministrationMelissa Thomas-Hunt is a professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the John Forbes Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business. Thomas-Hunt focuses on leadership, team dynamics, and negotiations and her research studies the factors that unleash, leverage, and amplify the contributions made by individuals, particularly women, underrepresented individuals, and numerical minorities.
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Timothy L. DavisAssociate Professor of Leadership and Public PolicyTim Davis is an associate professor of leadership and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. A clinical psychologist, Davis helps students, executives and teams increase their effectiveness by building resiliency, strengthening community and expanding self-awareness. At Batten, he teaches courses on team leadership, group dynamics and emotional resilience.
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Andrew S. PennockAssociate Professor of Public PolicyAndy Pennock is an associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He serves UVA as the faculty director of Batten’s MPP orientation program, on Batten’s curriculum committee, and as an elected member of the Executive Council of the Faculty Senate. Pennock’s academic research examines public policy in the global economy as well as the scholarship of teaching and learning
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Alexander BickAssociate Professor of Practice in Public PolicyAlexander Bick is associate professor of practice in public policy in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He brings more than twenty years of experience in national security policy and research, including senior roles in the U.S. government, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions.
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Ian H. SolomonSpecial Advisor to the ProvostIan H. Solomon currently serves as the Special Advisor to the Provost. He is president and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, an 85-year-old foundation founded by the grandsons of John D. Rockefeller dedicated to advancing social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. He joined the Fund in 2026 after seven years as dean of the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.