OUR PEOPLE
OUR HISTORY
The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy established the Global Policy Center (GPC) in 2015 as a space to enhance and broaden the research, service, and educational missions of the Batten School and the University of Virginia. Our mission is to partner with scholars, practitioners, students and communities to work together
towards overcoming critical humanitarian and development challenges around the world. We believe that by helping to bridge the gap between scholars and practitioners, between research and application, between theory and practice, that we can make an impact. To do this we created the UVA Humanitarian Collaborative.
OUR PEOPLE – PAST AND PRESENT
Kirsten Gelsdorf
CO-DIRECTOR
PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE OF PUBLIC POLICY, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN POLICY, BATTEN SCHOOL
David LeBlang
AMBASSADOR HENRY TAYLOR PROFESSOR OF POLITICS; RANDOLPH P. COMPTON PROFESSOR AT THE MILLER CENTER; PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, BATTEN SCHOOL
OUR FACULTY, POSTDOCS, AND STAFF
Our core faculty and staff oversee the Humanitarian Collaborative and promote research and education within the humanitarian sector.
Alison Criss
Associate Professor of Microbiology, School of Medicine
Luke Shimek
Affiliate Scholar, Batten School
Amanda Nguyen
Research Associate Professor of Education, School of Education and Human Development
Barbara Brown Wilson
Associate Professor, Urban and Environmental Planning and Faculty Director, UVA Equity Center
Kathryn Laughon
Associate Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing
Bryan Lewis
Research Associate Professor, Biocomplexity Institute
Micheline Marcom
Professor of Creative Writing, Creative Writing Program
Paul Martin
Associate Professor of Public Policy, Batten School
Naseemah Mohamed
Postdoctoral Research Associate Humanitarian Collaborative
Sonal Pandya
Associate Professor, Politics
Michael Porter
Associate Professor of Systems Engineering, Engineering School and Darden School
Yanjun Qi
Associate Professor, Computer Science; Adjunct Faculty, Data Science; Adjunct Faculty, School of Medicine
Heman Shakeri
Assistant Professor, Data Science
Michele Claibourn
Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Batten School and Director of Equitable Analysis, The Equity Center
Kristin Clarens
Lecturer, UVA Law School
Galen Fountain
Lecturer, Batten School
Adrienne Ghaly
Assistant Professor of English, College of Arts and Sciences
OUR PRACTITIONER FELLOWS
Our affiliates are drawn from within and beyond the University and represent a broad range of disciples and expertise.
Carolina de Bourbon Parma
Practitioner Fellow
Kimberly Howe
Friedman School of Nutrition, Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
Jacob Kurtzer
Humanitarian Agenda, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Kerilyn Schewel
Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
Jeanne Ward
Practitioner Fellow
Oliver Lacey-Hall
Practitioner Fellow
Joan Lombardi
Founder, Early Opportunities
Ruth Mukwana
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Greg Puley
Climate Team, UNOCHA
Nora Montalvo-Liendo
School of Nursing, Texas A&M
Sweta Shah
Center for Universal Education, The Brookings Institution
Lissett Babaian
Practitioner Fellow
Sarah Bermeo
Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
Robert Bilheimer
President/Director, Worldwide Documentaries
OUR STUDENTS
Charles Bradley
PhD, Education Leadership, Foundations, and Policy
Jackson Arnberg
MS, Statistics
Ali Acker
BA, Global Security and Justice
Makana Brooks
BA, History and Youth and Social Innovation
Anna Grace Calhoun
BA, Public Policy and Leadership
Emily Carder
BA, Economics and Politics
Katie Cox
MPP, Batten School
Mayaris Cubides Mateus
PhD, Educational Psychology and Applied Developmental Science
Hanna Davis
BA, Public Policy and Global Middle Eastern Studies
Maya Ewart
MPP, Batten School
Megan Finney
MPP, Batten School
Ned Flanagan
BA, Leadership and Public Policy and Global Development Studies
Jenny Glazier
BA, Politics
Manvi Harde
BA, Political and Social Thought and Economics
Ben Helms
PhD, Politics
Nada Ismael
BA, History
Zach Kathol
MPP, Batten School
Connor Kelly
MPP, Batten School
Wolfgang Keppley
MPP, Batten School
Mary Margaret Lea
BA, Anthropology and Psychology
Adrian Mamaril
MS, Statistics
Katie Mulder
MPP, Batten School
Kaleigh Mullins
MPP, Batten School
Rebecca Meaney
BA, Global Studies
Livie Nute
BA, Public Health and Global Studies
Kelly Owczarski
BA, Public Policy and Leadership
Catalina Perez Parra
MPP, Batten School
Guada Pinto
MPP, Batten School
Thomas Roberts
MPP, Batten School
Sophie Roehse
BA, Foreign Affairs
Lucie Rutherford
MPH, UVA
Max Schneider
MPP, Batten School
Sanchit Sinha
PhD, Computer Science
Noah Strike
MPP, Batten School
Stearns Swetnam
MPP, Batten School
Meagan Thompson
MPP, Batten School
Dheer Toprani
BA, Computer Science
Lily Totuteva
BA, Public Policy and Leadership
Enrique Unruh
BA, Global Development Studies
Jule Voss
MPP, Batten School
Lacey Wortzel
BA, Public Policy and Leadership