The national business publication Forbes rated UVA Health the No. 1 employer for women among Virginia health systems and No. 4 among all Virginia employers.
Nationally, UVA Health ranks No. 20 among health systems and No. 120 overall on Forbes’ 2026 list of America’s Best Employers for Women.
Working with market research firm Statista, Forbes surveyed more than 146,000 women, with responses from prior years factored into the ratings. Survey participants were asked whether they would recommend their current and former employers, as well as any other employers they know well. Survey participants rated their current employers on several policies, including pay equity, career development, eldercare and childcare benefits, work-life balance and parental leave. Statista also reviewed the percentage of women in leadership positions at companies on the list.
“I am proud to work alongside so many accomplished women who make this a great place for our patients and our fellow team members,” Tammy Snyder, chief executive officer of UVA Health University Medical Center, said. “We want UVA Health to be a welcoming place for talented women to develop their skills as they serve our patients and our community.”
Joining UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy’s inaugural group of Faculty Fellows are, top from left, Andrew Block, Justene Hill Edwards and Justin H. Kirkland. In the center row, from left, are Laurent Dubois, Peter Maillet and Bertrall Ross. Bottom row, from left, are Richard Schragger, Lana Swartz and Rachel Wahl. (Contributed photos)
9 scholars join Karsh Institute as inaugural Faculty Fellows
UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy recently announced its inaugural group of Faculty Fellows, drawn from every corner of Grounds and beyond, to explore democracy’s greatest challenges and work collaboratively to translate that research into public impact.
“By bringing together scholars with expertise in a range of disciplines, this fellowship creates a space for new ideas and approaches to understanding how democratic institutions can thrive in a changing world,” Jessica Kimpell Johnson, the institute’s director of research, said. “This group includes faculty who are not only experts in their fields but also are interested in translating their expertise to address public issues and to engage with partners beyond the University.”
Fellows serve two-year terms, working closely with institute leadership and one another to develop new research priorities, identify emerging questions and connect scholarship with public life. They build on the Karsh Institute’s existing research and programs, contributing expertise while helping to develop new interdisciplinary collaborations and initiatives. They also help build bridges between research and practice, including with the new group of Karsh Institute Distinguished Practitioner Fellows.
The Karsh Institute’s inaugural faculty fellows are:
- Andrew Block, professor of law; director, State and Local Government Policy Clinic
- Laurent Dubois, John L. Nau III Bicentennial Professor in the History & Principles of Democracy
- Justene Hill Edwards, professor and associate chair, Department of History
- Justin H. Kirkland, professor, Department of Politics
- Peter Maillet, professor of practice, McIntire School of Commerce
- Bertrall Ross, professor of law, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
- Richard Schragger, William L. Matheson and Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law
- Lana Swartz, associate professor, Department of Media Studies
- Rachel Wahl, professor, School of Education and Human Development
Michael Higgins, professor and director of the athletic training program at the School of Education and Human Development, holds two of the highest honors the National Athletic Trainers’ Association awards. (Contributed photo)
Education School professor is a Hall of Famer
The National Athletic Trainers’ Association recognized Michael Higgins, professor and director of the athletic training program at the School of Education and Human Development, with two of its highest honors.
Higgins was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame, the highest professional distinction in athletic training. He also received the Sayers “Bud” Miller Distinguished Educator Award from the association’s Executive Council on Education. He was recognized for both honors at the association’s annual conference in July.
The NATA Hall of Fame honors athletic trainers who demonstrate exceptional leadership and professional accomplishment at the district, national and international levels. Inductees have made sustained and extraordinary contributions that have advanced and strengthened the profession.
The Sayers “Bud” Miller Distinguished Educator Award recognizes individuals who exemplify excellence in athletic training education through teaching, service and scholarship.
Together, the honors celebrate a career spanning more than three decades in both clinical and collegiate settings. Read more about Higgins’ career.
Mattos, Mahanes named Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing
The American Academy of Nursing selected two members of the UVA nursing community for its 2026 Class of Fellows, one of the profession’s highest honors.
Meghan K. Mattos, left, and Sandra “Dea” Mahanes, both members of the UVA Nursing community, are fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. (Contributed photos)
Meghan K. Mattos, associate professor at the School of Nursing, and Sandra “Dea” Mahanes, a School of Nursing alumna and clinical nurse specialist at UVA Health, were among the nurse leaders selected.
Announced in June, the class includes nurse leaders from across the United States and around the world who have made significant contributions to improving healthcare through leadership, research, education, practice and policy. The fellows will be formally inducted in October during the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference in Washington.
For Mattos, the honor affirms a career dedicated to advancing care for older adults.
“Being named a fellow feels like the work I’ve built my career on matters at a national level,” she said. “So much of my research and advocacy has been about elevating a nursing-led perspective on aging, behavioral health, and digital innovation, and it’s an honor to see this valued by the American Academy of Nursing.”
Mahanes’ path to fellowship has been grounded in more than three decades of caring for patients and helping clinicians improve practice.
A School of Nursing alumna who earned a bachelor’s in nursing in 1994 and a master’s in nursing in 2003, Mahanes is a clinical nurse specialist and ethicist at UVA Health. She said the recognition reflects years of work translating evidence into practical guidance that clinicians can use to improve patient care.
“Being named a fellow is gratifying because it acknowledges that those efforts have had an impact beyond my own institution,” Mahanes said.
Two Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy faculty members, Ben Goehring, left, and Craig Volden, are winners of awards from the American Political Science Association’s State Politics and Policy section. (Contributed photos)
Batten faculty recognized for innovative state policy research
Two members of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy faculty, Ben Goehring and Craig Volden, recently earned national recognition for their research on how state governing bodies and institutions function and why studying them matters.
At the American Political Science Association’s annual meeting, held earlier this month in Boston, Goehring – who joined the Batten School faculty in August 2025 – received the State Politics and Policy section’s Christopher Z. Mooney Dissertation Prize for his dissertation, “The States of American Bureaucracy.”
Using troves of state data, Goehring’s dissertation studied turnover among state civil service workers and the conditions that affect it, from civil service reforms in Mississippi and Florida to the extreme heat in Texas that may lead to excessive turnover among workers in unairconditioned state prisons.
Volden and his co-authors won the Best Journal Article Award from the State Politics and Policy section for their paper, “Legislative Effectiveness in the American States.”
Volden, a professor of public policy and politics, co-directs the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a partnership between the Batten School and Vanderbilt University. The center studies and promotes effective lawmaking in U.S. legislative institutions. Since 2017, it has assigned an effectiveness score to every member of Congress based on 15 indicators that measure a legislator’s ability to advance their agenda items through the legislative process and into law.
“A few years ago, we got interested in applying similar scoring methodologies to state legislators,” Volden said. “We wanted to understand more about how policies are made through state legislatures and where the powers of influence lie.”
The award-winning paper was their first release of legislator scores across all 99 state legislative chambers in the U.S.
Read more about their research.
School of Architecture associate professor Brian Davis is co-director of the Natural Infrastructure Lab and co-founder of Proof Projects. He co-led two design research projects that earned honors from the American Society of Landscape Architecture National Awards program. (Contributed photo)
Associate architecture professor takes 2 national awards
School of Architecture associate professor Brian Davis, co-director of the Natural Infrastructure Lab and co-founder of Proof Projects, co-led two design research projects that earned honors from the American Society of Landscape Architecture National Awards program.
Davis and his collaborators received a Global Impact Award in the Analysis and Planning category for “The Four Coasts Project,” plus an Honor Award for “Sediment Strategies: Considerations and Case Studies for Beneficial Use” in the Communications category. Both projects were recognized for excellence and innovation in landscape architecture and design research, with a focus on strategies for natural infrastructure in coastal management.
Darden Executive Education earns 7 Brandon Hall Group Awards, extending streak
Executive Education & Lifelong Learning at the Darden School of Business and its client partners earned seven honors at the 2026 Brandon Hall Group Human Capital Management Excellence Awards. The awards recognized learning programs the Darden School created with AARP, Huron, Money Management Institute, Monex, PBS and The ESOP Association.
The wins bring the program’s total to 33 Brandon Hall Group awards since 2021, more than any other university-based executive education organization during that timeframe.
Darden and its client partners received recognition across leadership, executive development, professional development and hybrid learning categories. Programs earning awards included:
The Darden School of Business Executive Education & Lifelong Learning and client partners are winners of seven honors from Brandon Hall Group Human Capital Management. (University Communications photo)
- Money Management Institute: Best Unique or Innovative Leadership Program (Gold), Best Leadership Development Program (Silver)
- The ESOP Association: Best Association Professional Development Program (Gold)
- AARP: Best Executive Development Program (Gold)
- PBS: Best Hybrid Learning Program (Gold)
- Monex: Best Leadership Development Program (Silver)
- Huron: Best Executive Development Program (Silver)
UVA computer scientists among first members of Software Engineering Academy
Three computer science professors from the School of Engineering and Applied Science are among the 80 inaugural members inducted into the Software Engineering Academy, a new honor society the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Software Engineering established.
They are Matthew Dwyer, Robert Thomson Distinguished Professor of Computer Science; Sebastian Elbaum, Lawrence Quarles Professor of Computer Science; and Mary Lou Soffa, Owens R. Cheatham Professor of Sciences Emerita. In addition to being elected as fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery, each has been recognized for lasting contributions to the field.
UVA computer scientists Matthew Dwyer, Sebastian Elbaum and Mary Lou Soffa, from left, are among 80 inaugural members inducted into the Software Engineering Academy. (Contributed photos)
The new academy recognizes software engineers whose work has had a profound and enduring impact on the field through research, practice and education.
Soffa chaired UVA’s Department of Computer Science from 2004 to 2012. Her numerous honors include the ACM-IEEE CS Ken Kennedy Award, the Anita Borg Technical Leadership Award and the ACM SIGSOFT Influential Educator Award.
Elbaum received an International Conference on the Foundations of Software Engineering “Test of Time” Award, which recognizes the field’s most impactful research over the preceding decade, and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. He is also an adjunct senior fellow for emerging computing technologies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dwyer’s published works have been recognized with “Test of Time” awards five different times, and he is the recipient of the IEEE Computer Society Harlan D. Mills Award.
UVA School of Medicine faculty and staff include several recent honorees of national and state associations. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
Medical societies laud UVA faculty members
Several national and state associations have recently honored School of Medicine faculty members.
• The American Academy of Microbiology recognized several School of Medicine faculty for achievements in research, education and leadership. The academy is an honorific leadership group and scientific think tank within the American Society for Microbiology.
Alison Criss, Harrison Distinguished Professor and vice chair in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, and Dr. James Nataro, former chair of the Department of Pediatrics and physician-in-chief for UVA Health Children’s, were elected fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology.
