Inside UVA

This week, President Ryan sits down with Lillian Rojas, the now-graduated Student Member of UVA's Board of Visitors. Lillian recently received her BA in Public Policy at the Batten School, served for 3 years on the Student Council, and mentored students in the Latino Peer Mentor Program.  In this episode, they discuss her path to UVA, balancing leadership and schoolwork, and the responsibility that come with representing students on the BOV. This episode of Inside UVA was originally recorded on the week of April 29th, 2024.

This week, President Ryan sits down with Kenyon Bonner, UVA's Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer. Bonner joined UVA this January after nearly two decades in Student Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, including most recently as the Vice Provost for Student Affairs. They discuss his path to Student Affairs, the lessons he's learned in working closely with students over the decades, and his mission to help students of all backgrounds find a sense of belonging at the University. Plus, his love for music production and whether he'll bring "Riding in Cars with Kenyon" over to UVA.

Dean Risa Goluboff, the first female Dean of UVA Law, discusses her journey and tenure. Topics include changes at the Law School, favorite aspects of being Dean, and future plans post stepping down.

This week, President Ryan sits down with Dr. Wendy Horton, the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Virginia Medical Center. Dr. Horton stewarded UVA's response to the coronavirus pandemic, helped craft the Health System's 10-year Strategic Plan, and has been named to Modern Healthcare's list of top 25 women leaders in health care. In this episode, they discuss the difficult work of coordinating the University's response to a worldwide pandemic, the day-to-day of running an entire medical center, and the challenges that lie ahead for health care broadly.

This week, President Ryan sits down with Alexandra Walsh, a UVA swimmer who has broken NCAA, American, and US Open records; she also won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 200m individual medley. They discuss Alex's upbringing, her daily routine on the UVA swimming team, and what's next in her career: from the NCAA Swimming Championship to professional athletics and beyond.

This week, President Ryan sits down with Carolyn Cullen, UVA HR's Director of Talent Management. She oversees workforce and succession planning, professional development, and career navigation--and she also leads the UVA Cornerstone Program, a leadership development program that brings together employees from UVA's many departments to build relationships, develop careers, and solve complex problems across the University system.

This week, President Ryan sits down with Professor William Wylie, an internationally-renowned photographer whose work can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and more. They discuss his early passion for rock climbing, his path through academia, and the unique nature of photography as an art form--especially Professor Wylie's philosophy of on "making" a photograph rather than taking it.

This week, President Ryan sits down with Danielle Citron, a legal scholar, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and expert in privacy law. Among other things, she's the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Schenck Distinguished Professor at the UVA's School of Law, director of UVA Law Tech Center, and vice president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. They discuss Professor Citron's work in the space of protecting our online privacy--which goes beyond targeted advertisement into data points that can alter the course of our careers, our insurance premiums, and the very basics of our privacy. Her latest book, The Fight for Privacy: Protecting Dignity, Identity and Love in the Digital Age, is a call for the protection of intimate privacy as a human and civil right that must be defined and defended in the law. They also talk about deep fake technology and the danger of the "Liar's Dividend" -- the dangerous downstream effects of false videos on society, business, and our personal lives.

This week, President Ryan sits down with Dr. John Lukens, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at UVA. Dr. Lukens is an expert in neuroimmunology--his lab explores the immune pathways responsible for inflammation in the brain. The more we understand how these pathways work, the more we can target them with drugs and treatment regimens, potentially combatting neurological disorders earlier and more effectively. Dr. Lukens also discusses his philosophy of mentorship: lessons learns from his own advisors, highlighting individual student strengths and shoring up weaknesses, and celebrating spirit days both for fun and for important milestones.

This week, President Ryan sits down with Andres Pedroso, UVA's Director of Tennis and Head Men's Tennis Coach. Coach Pedroso is a former pro tennis player, two-time National Tennis Coach of the Year and three time ACC Coach of the Year--and he led UVA's Tennis team to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023. They discuss his early dedication to the sport, the rigors of the professional athletics, and the importance of trust, humility, and community in coaching a team of players to success--both on and off the tennis court.