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Our People

Leadership and Staff
Melody Barnes headshot

Melody Barnes

Executive Director, Karsh Institute of Democracy W.L. Lyons Brown Family Director for Policy and Public Engagement J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance, Miller Center

Stefanie Georgakis Abbott

Stefanie Georgakis Abbott

Director of Programming

 Roberto Armengol

Roberto Armengol

Multimedia Producer

Mary Beth Aungier

Mary Beth Aungier

Events and Venue Planner

Frances Capaccio

Frances Capaccio

Executive Assistant

Laurent Dubois

Laurent Dubois

Director for Academic Affairs, Karsh Institute of Democracy John L. Nau III Bicentennial Professor in the History & Principles of Democracy, UVA

Vivian Feggans

Event Planner

Jessica Kimpell Johnson

Jessica Kimpell Johnson

Director of Research Manager, Nau Lab on the History and Principles of Democracy

Jane Kulow

Jane Kulow

Lab Coordinator

Samyuktha Mahadevan

Samyuktha Mahadevan

Project Manager, One Small Step

Claire Payton

Claire Payton

Manager, Memory Project

Randy Richards

Senior Finance Generalist

Natalie Russell

Associate Director of Content and Marketing

Danni Schreffler

Danni Schreffler

Assistant Director of Finance & Operations

Will Thompson

Program Manager

Erin Tor

Erin Tör

Director of Communications

Nicole Woods

Nicole Woods

Managing Director

Advisory Board
Christa Acampora

Christa D. Acampora

Dean, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, UVA Buckner W. Clay Professor of Philosophy, UVA

William Antholis

William J. Antholis

Director and CEO, UVA Miller Center (CLAS ‘86)

Deborah Archer

Deborah Archer

President, ACLU Professor of Clinical Law, NYU Law School Co-faculty director, Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law

Melody Barnes headshot

Melody Barnes

Executive Director, Karsh Institute of Democracy W.L. Lyons Brown Family Director for Policy and Public Engagement J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance, Miller Center

Ian Baucom

Ian Baucom

Executive Vice President and Provost, UVA

Megan Beyer

Director, Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State

John Bridgeland

John Bridgeland

Founder and CEO, Civic Executive Chairman, Office of American Possibilities (Law ‘87)

Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar

Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar

President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Jim Donovan

Vice Chairman, Global Client Coverage, Goldman Sachs Adjunct Professor, UVA School of Law

Laurent Dubois

Laurent Dubois

Director for Academic Affairs, Karsh Institute of Democracy John L. Nau III Bicentennial Professor in the History & Principles of Democracy, UVA

Heather Evans

Heather K. Evans

John Morton Beaty Endowed Chair in Political Science, UVA College at Wise

Risa Goluboff

Risa Goluboff (Chair)

Dean, UVA School of Law Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law, UVA School of Law Professor of History, UVA

Desiree Ho

Student Representative, UVA (Batten ’25)

Lawrence D. Howell

Co-founder, EFG International (CLAS ’75, Law ’79)

John C. Jeffries, Jr.

John C. Jeffries, Jr.

David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, UVA School of Law Counselor to President James Ryan, UVA (Law ’73)

Martha Karsh

Martha L. Karsh

Co-founder, Karsh Family Foundation (CLAS ’78, Law ‘81)

Anthony Kennedy

The Honorable Anthony Kennedy

Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court (retired)

Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin

Senior Fellow, Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy, American Enterprise Institute Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, American Enterprise Institute Editor-in-Chief, National Affairs

Sandra Wicks Lewis

Sandra Wicks Lewis

Former Relationship Manager, Professional and Executive Banking Division, Bank of America Co-Founder, Lewis Family Fund (CLAS ’72)

James B. Murray, Jr.

Managing General Partner, Court Square Ventures Founder, Presidential Precinct Member, UVA Board of Visitors (CLAS ‘68)

Meghan Murray

Meghan Murray

Interim Executive Director, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service

John L. Nau III

John L. Nau III

President and CEO, Silver Eagle Distributors, LP Founder and President, The Nau Foundation (CLAS ’68)

Alexis Ohanian

Alexis K. Ohanian

Founder, Seven Seven Six Co-founder and Former Executive Chair, Reddit (Com ‘05)

John Owen

John M. Owen IV

Ambassador Henry J. and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Professor of Politics, UVA Department of Politics Faculty Senior Fellow, UVA Miller Center Faculty Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, UVA

Larry Sabato

Larry J. Sabato

Founder and Director, UVA Center for Politics University Professor of Politics, UVA Department of Politics (CLAS ’74)

Gabriel Salguero

Reverend Gabriel A. Salguero

Pastor, The Gathering Place President and Founder, National Latino Evangelical Coalition

Ian Solomon

Ian H. Solomon

Dean, UVA Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy

Suzanne Spaulding

Suzanne Spaulding

Director, Defending Democratic Institutions Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CLAS ‘78, Law ‘81)

Margaret Spellings

Margaret Spellings

President and CEO, Bipartisan Policy Center U.S. Secretary of Education, Bush Administration (2005-2009)

Jayme Swain

Jayme Swain

President and CEO, Virginia Public Media and the Virginia Foundation for Public Media (CLAS ‘97)

Craig Volden

Craig Volden

Professor of Public Policy and Politics, UVA Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy Co-director, UVA Center for Effective Lawmaking