Joining the award-winning faculty of the UVA Batten School this fall, five new faculty members bring diverse research portfolios and substantial policy experience to enrich Batten’s growing community.
“We are thrilled to welcome professors Jenna Anders, Melanie Anne Egorin, SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor, Ben Goehring, and Andrew Wilson, to the UVA community,” said Dean Ian H. Solomon. “We know they will be extraordinary teachers, dedicated mentors, and inspiring colleagues whose scholarship and engagement with policymakers will shape the field of public policy. Their addition marks an important step forward in advancing our mission.”
Jenna Anders received her doctorate in economics from Harvard University in 2024. Before joining Batten, she was an S.V. Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellow in Natural Resources and Political Economy at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests lie in the consequences of public policy design choices. Her most recent research has centered on environmental regulation, with a particular focus on the implications of centralized versus decentralized policy implementation.
Complementing Batten’s existing expertise in health policy, Melanie Anne Egorin will draw on her recent role as assistant secretary for legislation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in which she worked closely with Congress to pass health care and human services legislation. Over the course of her 20 years in federal service, Egorin trained and mentored nearly 100 health policy fellows, and she continues her commitment to work with current policy makers and those who are interested in government service. She earned her doctorate in medical sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.
SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor, who worked in Congress prior to receiving her doctorate from the University of Maryland, joins Batten from the College of the Holy Cross where she was an assistant professor of political science. Her research focuses on Congressional leadership, institutional reform, and partisan communication. She is currently expanding a novel text-based measurement of ideology, and has recently published work on the adoption of leader-led messaging in Congress, state redistricting efforts, and congressional collaboration.
Ben Goehring received his doctorate in 2025 in political science and public policy from the University of Michigan. He won the American Political Science Association award for the best graduate student paper in the Presidents and Executive Politics section. Goehring’s research examines American political institutions with a particular focus on bureaucratic politics, the presidency, state government, and the politics of public policymaking. Among other topics, his work examines how the public responds to unilateral presidential actions like executive orders and the effects of state civil service reforms that make it easier to fire government employees.
Andrew Wilson, who received his doctorate from Columbia in sustainable development, specializes in environmental economics and health, land use, and climate change. He received an Master of Public Policy from the Goldman School at the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in political economy, also from UC Berkeley. During 2022-2023, while still in graduate school, he served as a staff economist on the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House. His current research projects focus on the human and ecosystem health impacts of heat waves, how to better manage transboundary air pollution flows, and whether and how society is adapting to climate risks; he also brings a great deal of teaching experience to Batten.
“Professors Wilson, Goehring, Gaynor, Egorin, and Anders bring wide-ranging expertise and a shared dedication to confronting complex policy challenges,” said Eileen Chou, professor of public policy and the school’s associate dean for academic affairs. “Their scholarship and teaching will advance new ideas and prepare the leaders of tomorrow.”
The incoming faculty members join an impressive Batten faculty in conducting research, engaging with policymakers, and teaching graduate and undergraduate courses to advance the mission of the school. The Batten School is distinctive among public policy schools for its founding commitment to integrating leadership and policy education. In addition to providing students with an exceptional educational experience, Batten research and engagement – grounded in economics, political science, social psychology, and the practice of public policy – bridges theory and practice to provide insights that transcend traditional disciplines.
