Resources Faculty & Staff Directory Faculty & Staff Directory A B C D E (-) F G H J K L M N O P R S (-) T V W Facet Last Name - Directory Staff Faculty Facet Person Type - Directory Economics Leadership Domestic Policy & Politics Education Health Policy Political Science Racial Justice and Equity Social Equity Social Psychology Facet Area of Focus - Directory Department of Economics Darden School of Business National Security Policy Center School of Education and Human Development Facet UVA Partner - Directory Budget & Finance Dean’s Office Development National Security Policy Center Facet Batten Department - Directory 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. Read full bio Kayla Foliaco Senior Student Services Coordinator kcf8qh@virginia.edu Kayla serves as the Batten School’s Senior Student Services Coordinator. Read full bio 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. Read full bio Brian Ford Senior HR Business Partner ayh2zf@virginia.edu 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. 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 lfriedberg@virginia.edu 434-924-3225 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 Elinor (Ellie) Tappé Executive Director of Strategic Advancement bcm2fj@virginia.edu Elinor Tappé serves as Executive Director of Strategic Advancement where she helps shape and realize the strategic objectives of the Batten School. With a 25-year history in strategic planning and development, Elinor has held a variety of leadership roles in the corporate sector, as well as higher education and nonprofit. Her experience in philanthropy spans more than a decade and includes UC Berkeley, Larkin Street Youth Services and Urban Teachers Read full bio Sebastian Tello Trillo Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics sebastian.tello@virginia.edu 434-924-0903 Garrett Hall Sebastian Tello Trillo is an associate professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He studies health policy in the U.S and Latin America, with a particular focus on understanding how policies affect individuals’ health behaviors and economic outcomes. Read full bio Melissa Thomas-Hunt John D. Forbes Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Public Policy mcth@virginia.edu Melissa 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 at the University of Virginia. 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. Read full bio Kerra K. Thurston Executive Assistant to the Dean kaykay@virginia.edu 434-924-0828 Garrett Hall 200 Read full bio Sophie Trawalter Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Psychology strawalter@virginia.edu 434-243-3726 Sophie Trawalter, Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professor of Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, studies phenomena related to social diversity, specifically how people navigate intergroup contact and intergroup contexts, with a particular focus on how people develop competencies and learn to thrive in diverse spaces. Read full bio Sarah Turner University Professor of Economics, Education and Public Policy sturner@virginia.edu 434-982-2383 Sarah Turner is a University Professor of economics, education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Souder Family Endowed Professor. Much of her research focuses on post-secondary education, where she explores the intersection of education and economics policies. Read full bio Kim Turner Assistant Director of Financial Planning and Analysis Kim joined the Batten School in 2025 after a decade serving as the Finance and Administration Manager for UVA Music in the College of Arts & Sciences. In her current role, Kim focuses on the annual budget, financial reporting, and various other financial functions. An alumna of the University of Virginia, Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Committed to continuous growth, she went on to earn both an MBA and an MS in Public Relations from the University of Maryland University College. Read full bio
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. Read full bio
Kayla Foliaco Senior Student Services Coordinator kcf8qh@virginia.edu Kayla serves as the Batten School’s Senior Student Services Coordinator. Read full bio
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. Read full bio
Brian Ford Senior HR Business Partner ayh2zf@virginia.edu 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. 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 lfriedberg@virginia.edu 434-924-3225 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
Elinor (Ellie) Tappé Executive Director of Strategic Advancement bcm2fj@virginia.edu Elinor Tappé serves as Executive Director of Strategic Advancement where she helps shape and realize the strategic objectives of the Batten School. With a 25-year history in strategic planning and development, Elinor has held a variety of leadership roles in the corporate sector, as well as higher education and nonprofit. Her experience in philanthropy spans more than a decade and includes UC Berkeley, Larkin Street Youth Services and Urban Teachers Read full bio
Sebastian Tello Trillo Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics sebastian.tello@virginia.edu 434-924-0903 Garrett Hall Sebastian Tello Trillo is an associate professor of public policy and economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He studies health policy in the U.S and Latin America, with a particular focus on understanding how policies affect individuals’ health behaviors and economic outcomes. Read full bio
Melissa Thomas-Hunt John D. Forbes Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Public Policy mcth@virginia.edu Melissa 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 at the University of Virginia. 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. Read full bio
Kerra K. Thurston Executive Assistant to the Dean kaykay@virginia.edu 434-924-0828 Garrett Hall 200 Read full bio
Sophie Trawalter Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Psychology strawalter@virginia.edu 434-243-3726 Sophie Trawalter, Batten Family Bicentennial Teacher-Scholar Leadership Professor of Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, studies phenomena related to social diversity, specifically how people navigate intergroup contact and intergroup contexts, with a particular focus on how people develop competencies and learn to thrive in diverse spaces. Read full bio
Sarah Turner University Professor of Economics, Education and Public Policy sturner@virginia.edu 434-982-2383 Sarah Turner is a University Professor of economics, education and public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Souder Family Endowed Professor. Much of her research focuses on post-secondary education, where she explores the intersection of education and economics policies. Read full bio
Kim Turner Assistant Director of Financial Planning and Analysis Kim joined the Batten School in 2025 after a decade serving as the Finance and Administration Manager for UVA Music in the College of Arts & Sciences. In her current role, Kim focuses on the annual budget, financial reporting, and various other financial functions. An alumna of the University of Virginia, Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Committed to continuous growth, she went on to earn both an MBA and an MS in Public Relations from the University of Maryland University College. Read full bio