Resources Faculty & Staff Directory Faculty & Staff Directory A B C D E (-) F G H J K L M O P (-) R (-) S T V W Facet Last Name - Directory Staff (-) Faculty Facet Person Type - Directory Economics Political Science Domestic Policy & Politics Education Leadership Environmental Policy Health Policy National Security Crime and Justice Ethics International and Global Affairs Racial Justice and Equity Social Equity Social Psychology Facet Area of Focus - Directory Department of Politics School of Law Department of Economics Miller Center National Security Policy Center School of Education and Human Development School of Nursing Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service Facet UVA Partner - Directory National Security Policy Center Facet Batten Department - Directory George Foresman NSPC Executive Director & Senior Advisor gwf3n@virginia.edu 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. Read full bio Galen Fountain Lecturer 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. Read full bio Leora Friedberg Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy; Chair, Department of Economics lfriedberg@virginia.edu 434-924-3225 Monroe 257 (appointment only) 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. Read full bio Margaret Foster Riley Professor of Law and Public Policy mf9c@virginia.edu (434) 924-4671 580 Massie Road, Room WB347 Margaret Foster Riley is a professor of law and public policy at the Batten School, a professor of law at UVA's School of Law and has a secondary appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Riley has written and presented extensively about biomedical research, genetics, reproductive technologies, stem cell research, animal biotechnology, health disparities and chronic disease. She serves as chair of UVA’s Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee and as legal advisor to the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board, which is responsible for reviewing all human subject research at UVA involving medically invasive procedures. Read full bio Kimberly Jenkins Robinson Professor of Law, Education and Public Policy Kimberly Jenkins Robinson is a professor of law, education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Robinson is a national expert who speaks domestically and internationally about educational equity, equal educational opportunity, civil rights and the federal role in education. Her work proposes innovative legal and policy solutions to ensure that all children receive equal access to an excellent education. Read full bio Gerard Robinson Professor of Practice in Public Policy and Law gtr4v@virginia.edu Garrett Hall L031 As of fall 2023, Gerard Robinson is a professor of practice in public policy and law at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the School of Law at the University of Virginia. As a Fellow of Practice at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, Robinson has written about K-12 and higher education, public policy, economic mobility, after-school programs, and race. Robinson will teach on education, prisons, and public policy. Read full bio Christopher J. Ruhm Professor of Public Policy and Economics ruhm@virginia.edu 434-243-3729 Garrett Hall 108 Christopher J. Ruhm is a professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Ruhm’s recent research has focused on the role of government policies in helping parents with young children balance the competing needs of work and family life, and on examining how various aspects of health are produced – including the growth and sources of drug poisoning deaths in the United States, the rise in obesity and the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and health. Read full bio James Savage Professor of Politics and Public Policy jds2y@virginia.edu (434) 924-3750 Gibson S483 James D. Savage is a professor of politics and public policy at the Batten School and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. His research and teaching focus on comparative budgetary, fiscal, and macroeconomic policy, with an emphasis on the United States, the European Union, Iraq and Japan. He is particularly interested in the development of macrobudgetary rules, procedures, and institutions in these countries, and how they influence fiscal outcomes. Read full bio Abigail Scholer Batten Family Bicentennial Distinguished Leadership Professor of Public Policy hyf6dz@virginia.edu Garrett Hall 107 As of Fall 2023, Abigail Scholer is Batten Family Bicentennial Distinguished Leadership Professor of Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Broadly, she researches the dynamic, complex, and often confounding world of human motivation and self-regulation: What makes us reach for the stars, huddle in a corner, get out of bed, help others, break our diets, save for retirement, follow rules, and color outside the lines? 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. Read full bio Beth Schueler Assistant Professor of Education and Public Policy beth_schueler@virginia.edu Ruffner Hall 268 Beth Schueler is an assistant professor of education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Schueler studies education policy, politics, and inequality with a focus on efforts to improve low-performing K-12 schools and districts. Read full bio Todd S. Sechser Professor of Politics and Public Policy tsechser@virginia.edu S182 Gibson Hall Todd S. Sechser is a professor of politics and public policy at the Batten School and the Pamela Feinour Edmonds and Franklin S. Edmonds Jr. Discovery Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia. Sechser is also a Senior Fellow at UVA's Miller Center. His research interests include coercive diplomacy, emerging technologies, nuclear security and political violence Read full bio Jay Shimshack Professor of Public Policy and Economics jay.shimshack@virginia.edu 434-243-7318 Jay Shimshack is a professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Shimshack's research focuses on environmental regulation, environmental economics, corporate social behavior, and applied microeconomics for public policy. Read full bio William Shobe Research Professor of Public Policy; Director, Center for Economic and Policy Studies, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service shobe@virginia.edu 434-982-5376 William Shobe is research professor of public policy at the Batten School and the Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies at UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Shobe's current research includes emission market and auction design, environmental federalism, improved economic modeling of Virginia’s economy, state economic development incentives and state economic forecasting. Read full bio Shelly Smith Associate Professor of Nursing and Public Policy srp5k@virginia.edu (434) 924-1268 McLeod 4055 Shelly Porter Smith is an associate professor of nursing and public policy at Batten. Prior to her appointment at UVA, Smith mentored faculty scholars in legislative advocacy, proposal and grant writing, and authoring policy briefs and white paper as a Translational Research Fellow in Residence at VCU in addition to serving as director of nursing graduate programs. Smith is a long-time preceptor to UVA nurse practitioner master's students, and part of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority’s nursing preceptor incentive program work group. Read full bio Ian H. Solomon Dean and Professor of Practice of Public Policy Garrett Hall 200 Ian H. Solomon is dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, where he leads a multidisciplinary faculty in creating new knowledge and developing leaders who can solve humanity’s greatest policy challenges. Trained as a lawyer, Solomon is a devoted student and teacher of both negotiation and conflict resolution. Read full bio Allan Stam University Professor of Public Policy and Politics stam@virginia.edu 434-924-0828 Allan C. Stam is a University Professor of public policy and politics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research focuses on the dynamics of armed conflict between and within states. Stam has also worked on several survey-based projects including surveys conducted in Russia, Rwanda, India and the United States. Read full bio
George Foresman NSPC Executive Director & Senior Advisor gwf3n@virginia.edu 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. Read full bio
Galen Fountain Lecturer 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. Read full bio
Leora Friedberg Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy; Chair, Department of Economics lfriedberg@virginia.edu 434-924-3225 Monroe 257 (appointment only) 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. Read full bio
Margaret Foster Riley Professor of Law and Public Policy mf9c@virginia.edu (434) 924-4671 580 Massie Road, Room WB347 Margaret Foster Riley is a professor of law and public policy at the Batten School, a professor of law at UVA's School of Law and has a secondary appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Riley has written and presented extensively about biomedical research, genetics, reproductive technologies, stem cell research, animal biotechnology, health disparities and chronic disease. She serves as chair of UVA’s Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee and as legal advisor to the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board, which is responsible for reviewing all human subject research at UVA involving medically invasive procedures. Read full bio
Kimberly Jenkins Robinson Professor of Law, Education and Public Policy Kimberly Jenkins Robinson is a professor of law, education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Robinson is a national expert who speaks domestically and internationally about educational equity, equal educational opportunity, civil rights and the federal role in education. Her work proposes innovative legal and policy solutions to ensure that all children receive equal access to an excellent education. Read full bio
Gerard Robinson Professor of Practice in Public Policy and Law gtr4v@virginia.edu Garrett Hall L031 As of fall 2023, Gerard Robinson is a professor of practice in public policy and law at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the School of Law at the University of Virginia. As a Fellow of Practice at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, Robinson has written about K-12 and higher education, public policy, economic mobility, after-school programs, and race. Robinson will teach on education, prisons, and public policy. Read full bio
Christopher J. Ruhm Professor of Public Policy and Economics ruhm@virginia.edu 434-243-3729 Garrett Hall 108 Christopher J. Ruhm is a professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Ruhm’s recent research has focused on the role of government policies in helping parents with young children balance the competing needs of work and family life, and on examining how various aspects of health are produced – including the growth and sources of drug poisoning deaths in the United States, the rise in obesity and the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and health. Read full bio
James Savage Professor of Politics and Public Policy jds2y@virginia.edu (434) 924-3750 Gibson S483 James D. Savage is a professor of politics and public policy at the Batten School and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. His research and teaching focus on comparative budgetary, fiscal, and macroeconomic policy, with an emphasis on the United States, the European Union, Iraq and Japan. He is particularly interested in the development of macrobudgetary rules, procedures, and institutions in these countries, and how they influence fiscal outcomes. Read full bio
Abigail Scholer Batten Family Bicentennial Distinguished Leadership Professor of Public Policy hyf6dz@virginia.edu Garrett Hall 107 As of Fall 2023, Abigail Scholer is Batten Family Bicentennial Distinguished Leadership Professor of Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Broadly, she researches the dynamic, complex, and often confounding world of human motivation and self-regulation: What makes us reach for the stars, huddle in a corner, get out of bed, help others, break our diets, save for retirement, follow rules, and color outside the lines? 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. Read full bio
Beth Schueler Assistant Professor of Education and Public Policy beth_schueler@virginia.edu Ruffner Hall 268 Beth Schueler is an assistant professor of education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Schueler studies education policy, politics, and inequality with a focus on efforts to improve low-performing K-12 schools and districts. Read full bio
Todd S. Sechser Professor of Politics and Public Policy tsechser@virginia.edu S182 Gibson Hall Todd S. Sechser is a professor of politics and public policy at the Batten School and the Pamela Feinour Edmonds and Franklin S. Edmonds Jr. Discovery Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia. Sechser is also a Senior Fellow at UVA's Miller Center. His research interests include coercive diplomacy, emerging technologies, nuclear security and political violence Read full bio
Jay Shimshack Professor of Public Policy and Economics jay.shimshack@virginia.edu 434-243-7318 Jay Shimshack is a professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Shimshack's research focuses on environmental regulation, environmental economics, corporate social behavior, and applied microeconomics for public policy. Read full bio
William Shobe Research Professor of Public Policy; Director, Center for Economic and Policy Studies, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service shobe@virginia.edu 434-982-5376 William Shobe is research professor of public policy at the Batten School and the Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies at UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Shobe's current research includes emission market and auction design, environmental federalism, improved economic modeling of Virginia’s economy, state economic development incentives and state economic forecasting. Read full bio
Shelly Smith Associate Professor of Nursing and Public Policy srp5k@virginia.edu (434) 924-1268 McLeod 4055 Shelly Porter Smith is an associate professor of nursing and public policy at Batten. Prior to her appointment at UVA, Smith mentored faculty scholars in legislative advocacy, proposal and grant writing, and authoring policy briefs and white paper as a Translational Research Fellow in Residence at VCU in addition to serving as director of nursing graduate programs. Smith is a long-time preceptor to UVA nurse practitioner master's students, and part of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority’s nursing preceptor incentive program work group. Read full bio
Ian H. Solomon Dean and Professor of Practice of Public Policy Garrett Hall 200 Ian H. Solomon is dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, where he leads a multidisciplinary faculty in creating new knowledge and developing leaders who can solve humanity’s greatest policy challenges. Trained as a lawyer, Solomon is a devoted student and teacher of both negotiation and conflict resolution. Read full bio
Allan Stam University Professor of Public Policy and Politics stam@virginia.edu 434-924-0828 Allan C. Stam is a University Professor of public policy and politics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research focuses on the dynamics of armed conflict between and within states. Stam has also worked on several survey-based projects including surveys conducted in Russia, Rwanda, India and the United States. Read full bio