Batten Professor To Teach in Slovenia as a Fulbright Scholar

University News

Batten Professor To Teach in Slovenia as a Fulbright Scholar

June 1, 2023 • By Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu

As a new Fulbright Scholar, Andrew Pennock is returning to Eastern Europe, where he taught English after college. (Photo by Dan Addison, University Communications.)

Andrew Pennock, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, will teach leadership at the IEDC-Bled School of Management in Bled, Slovenia, as a Fulbright Scholar.

Pennock, whose research examines public policy in the global economy, is among more than 800 U.S. citizens who will teach and/or conduct research abroad for the 2023-24 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Fulbright Scholars expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions.

“After college I taught English in Sarajevo, and in the years following, returned to the Balkans twice to travel and visit family,” Pennock said. “When I came to the Fulbright selection process, I looked at universities throughout the Balkans and found IEDC. I was struck by the overlapping mission with the Batten School, and conversations with people at IEDC helped me see the value I could both give and receive there.”

Pennock will be teaching in the school’s several multi-week executive programs, which include an executive master’s degree in business administration, a general management program and a young managers program, all of which draw students from Slovenia and Central and Eastern Europe.

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Pennock’s plan is to bring back to UVA lessons from the school, located in the Julian Alps about 20 minutes from the Austrian border and one hour from Italy.

“Business schools have a long tradition of using experiential learning to develop leaders, and I am eager to observe, participate in and learn from their work,” Pennock said. “To choose one example, the work done in IEDC’s Center for Arts and Leadership Development and Research is unique in its use of the arts to generate experiential leadership learning. I’m excited to learn from the IEDC faculty and improve my ability to develop leaders in my own classrooms.”

Pennock is also eager to form new partnerships within UVA.

“As a university, �鶹�ƽ�� core mission is ‘to develop responsible citizen-leaders and professionals,’” Pennock said. “My hope is that I can learn techniques that will help me to build collaborative relationships with teachers across the University that enable us to better achieve our mission.”

Pennock said he applied for the Fulbright because of the change it could bring to his life.

“In addition to being a prestigious fellowship, Fulbright is a unique opportunity to work in and learn from a different institution,” Pennock said. “It’s also a chance to engage with a different culture, both at work and at home. I have four elementary-aged boys, and we are excited for them to experience a new culture at such a formative age.”