Faculty & Staff Directory

Edgar Olsen

Edgar
O.
Olsen

Professor Emeritus of Economics
Monroe Hall 250

Ed Olsen is a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Virginia, where he has served as chairman of the economics department and was heavily involved in the creation and development of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Olsen's teaching and research has focused on public policy issues, especially concerning the welfare system. Within this broad area, his research specialty is low-income housing policy.

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Claire Oto

Claire
Oto

NSPC Senior Policy Analyst

Claire Oto is a policy researcher and writer at the NSPC. She also coordinates the Center’s internship program. Prior to joining Batten, she was a communications specialist at the U.S. Department of Energy.  Claire earned an M.P.P in Space and National Security from George Washington University and holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California San Diego.

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Mark Outten

Mark
Outten

Director of Information Technology and School Systems
Garrett Hall L015

Mark was most recently the Director of Technology for the Orange County Public Schools in Orange, VA, has over 20 years of education-related technology leadership and management experience, worked in private industry for a Hewitt Associates, and is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He brings a wealth of strategic and practical education technology experience to Batten.

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Jay Pence

Jay
T.
Pence

Assistant Director of Facilities and Operations

Jay Pence is the Assistant Director of Facilities and Operations at the Batten School, where he manages the execution and planning of the school's event portfolio, facility and space planning, and day-to-day operations. Prior to his current role Jay has worked in various roles related to student services, campus recreation and law enforcement.

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Andy Pennock

Andrew
S.
Pennock

Associate Professor of Public Policy

Andy Pennock is an associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He serves UVA as the faculty director of Batten’s MPP orientation program, on Batten’s curriculum committee, and as an elected member of the Executive Council of the Faculty Senate. Pennock’s academic research examines public policy in the global economy as well as the scholarship of teaching and learning

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John Pepper

John
Pepper

Professor of Economics and Public Policy

John V. Pepper is a professor of economics and public policy at the Batten School and a professor of economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Virginia. His work examines identification problems that arise when evaluating a wide range of public policy questions including such subjects as health and disability programs, welfare policies (e.g., SNAP), and drug and crime policies.

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Daniel Player

Daniel
W.
Player

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Garrett Hall L046

Dan Player is an associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. His research focuses on issues in education policy. His work has examined questions such as how teacher ability is recognized and rewarded in schools, whether teacher performance predicts turnover, and how teachers respond to working conditions.

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Philip Potter

Philip
Potter

Professor of Politics and Public Policy; Founding Director of the National Security Policy Center
S183 Gibson Hall and NSPC, 134 10th St NW

Philip Potter is a professor of politics and Founding Director of the National Security Policy Center at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. He is also a University Expert with the National Ground Intelligence Center, US Army INSCOM. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Politics and the Journal of Global Security Studies and is an Associate Principal Investigator for Time-Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences (TESS). 

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