Rebecca Duff
Director of Thought Leadership, Batten Institute
Education: B.S., Mary Washington College; M.S., Johns Hopkins University
Rebecca Duff is the Director of Thought Leadership for the Batten Institute, a Center of Excellence that supports Darden students and faculty through rigorous and relevant research on topics that impact business practice and policy in entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology. She has more than 20 years of experience conducting industry and technology research, with a particular focus on product development, emerging technologies, and policy and market interventions.
At the Batten Institute, she oversees several topic-focused initiatives that promote Darden faculty research and thought leadership, engage Darden alumni, and provide learning and growth opportunities for Darden students. In this role, she also coordinates cross-center initiatives on topics of mutual interest, such as sustainability and artificial intelligence. She also works to advance school-wide efforts that support Darden's mission and is the co-lead for the Sustainability Advisory Council.
She is the co-author of the book The Decarbonization Imperative: Transforming the Global Economy by 2050 and provided research support to Interim Dean Michael Lenox on his book titled Can Business Save the Earth: Innovating our Way to Sustainability.
Books
Lenox, Michael and Becky Duff. The Decarbonization Imperative: Transforming the Global Economy by 2050, Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, October 2021.
Articles
Lenox, Michael and Rebecca Duff. Decarbonization by 2050: Are we on Track?, 10 November 2025.
Duff, Rebecca, Michael Lenox, and Kate Bowers. Words vs. Actions: Why Innovation must be Central to COP28 Discussions, 29 November 2023.
Lenox, Michael and Rebecca Duff. The hunt for technologies to disrupt carbon, July 5, 2023.
Lenox, Michael and Rebecca Duff. Five Difficult but Feasible Ways to Reverse the Climate Crisis, June 15, 2023.
Lenox, Michael and Rebecca Duff. Climate Change: The Window is Closing to Take Action, March 18, 2022.
Lenox, Michael and Rebecca Duff. Climate Change is Having its Moment: Too Little Too Late?, December 31, 2021.
Duff, Rebecca and Michael Lenox. Post-COVID: An Opportunity for a Greener Future, July 1, 2020.
Duff, Rebecca. Reimagining Agriculture: A Q&A with Beanstalk Farm, September 19, 2019.
Duff, Rebecca. Innovation Key to Any Green Policy, April 22, 2019.
Duff, Rebecca and Rajkumar Venkatesan. Artificial Intelligence: Marketing's New Moment of Truth, April 9, 2019.
Duff, Rebecca and Michael Lenox. In the Wake of Policy Rollbacks, Electric Vehicles Roll On, November 1, 2019.
Reports
Duff, Rebecca and Michael Lenox. Accelerating Innovation in the Commonwealth, Playbook and Recommendations for Action, Fall 2025.
Duff, Rebecca, Michael Lenox and Maggie Morse. Decarbonizing the Global Economy, Playbook for Policymakers and Business Leaders, Spring 2023.
Duff, Rebecca and Michael Lenox. Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Agriculture Industry, Batten Report, August 2019.
Duff, Rebecca and Michael Lenox. Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Industrial Sector, Batten Report, December 2018.
Duff, Rebecca and Michael Lenox. Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Electricity Utility Industry, Batten Report, May 2018.
Duff, Rebecca and Michael Lenox. Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Automobile Industry, Batten Report, November 2017.
Podcasts
The Good Disruption, UVA Darden, Producer.
Ideas to Action, The Decarbonization Imperative: How the Entire Economy can Meet the Climate Moment.
Research and Relevance, Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Agriculture Industry.
Research and Relevance, Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Industrial Sector.
Research and Relevance, Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Electric Utility Industry.
Research and Relevance, Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Automobile Industry.
Research Initiatives
Business Innovation and Climate Change Initiative, 2017 - 2021
AI Initiative, Batten Institute and Institute for Business in Society, 2019 - 2024
Sustainability Initiative, 2023 - present
Disruptive Innovation Initiative, 2026 - present