Faculty & Staff Directory

Nick Elacqua

Nick
Elacqua

Lab Manager, APPLE and SCABL Labs

Nick Elacqua is the Lab Manager for the Applied Public Policy and Leadership Experiments (APPLE) Lab and the Social Cognition and Behavior Lab (SCABL) in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.

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Essence Ellis

Essence
Ellis

Academic Operations Manager

Essence Ellis joined the Batten School in 2024 as the Academic Operations Manager. Essence supports students and faculty by maintaining academic records and providing general programmatic assistance. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Randolph-Macon College and completed her Master of Divinity at Yale Divinity School. A native of Charlottesville, she enjoys spending time with her loved ones and traveling when possible.

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Bevin Etienne

Bevin
Etienne

Assistant Professor of Commerce and Public Policy

Bevin Etienne is assistant professor of commerce and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Etienne has extensive teaching and course development experience in the areas of sustainability, entrepreneurship, energy, and engineering design. He emphasizes the importance of capacity building in promoting sustainability and social entrepreneurship in developing countries as well as the role of open source in innovation and entrepreneurship.  

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Sean Michael Flattery

Sean Michael
Flattery

Assistant Director of Events and Operations

As assistant director of events and operations, Sean Michael supports the Batten School’s mission by ensuring the efficient planning and execution of key events and daily operations. Before joining Batten, he was assistant technical director at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Va., and previously toured nationally as an actor and deck manager, coordinating performances and technical operations in over 100 venues across 36 states, Toronto and off-Broadway.

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Brian Ford

Brian
Ford

Senior HR Business Partner

As an HR leader with 20 years experience, Brian Ford currently is the Sr. HR Partner for the Batten School and McIntire School of Commerce. Prior to UVA, he led the Employee Experience function for the eastern US region at VMLY&R. In this capacity, he and his team drive culture, talent management and the overall employee experience for offices such as New York, Atlanta & Miami. Prior to VMLY&R, Brian was Chief People Officer at Fusion Media Group and had sr. leadership roles at Ogilvy, LG Electronics and Mercedes-Benz USA.

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regina ford

Regina
Ford

Business Services Specialist

Regina Ford is the Business Services Specialist for the Batten School and supports multiple areas of our Finance and Business Servcies team.  She has extensive knowledge and experience as a fitness professional in health and wellness ranging from management to multi-faceted trainer and instructor. She also has more than 17 years of experience in the trade show industry. 

She earned her bachelor's degree in social work from Shippensburg University with a minor in psychology and art.

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George Foresman

George
Foresman

NSPC Executive Director & Senior Advisor

George Foresman has over three decades of leadership experience in government and business. While serving as Virginia’s homeland security secretary, Foresman was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security.

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Galen Fountain

Galen Fountain is a lecturer at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Previously, he served for nearly two decades as Clerk of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies and prior to that as Counsel to the Senate Committee on Small Business. 

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Leora Friedberg

Leora
Friedberg

Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy

Leora Friedberg is an associate professor of economics and public policy at the Batten School and an associate professor and Vice Chair at UVA's Department of Economics. Her focus is on labor economics, including research on social security, aging and retirement economic impacts.

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