Hello Western Section!
We were not able to meet in Savannah this year, but we are looking forward to Phoenix in May 2021!
Don Campbell, Western Section Immediate Past President, along with Jennifer Easley, Southern Section, Immediate Past President, put together an amazing program for Savannah, only to have to cancel. In planning for the Western/Midwest Section meeting for 2021, we hope to follow their lead!
Let’s learn a little bit about our section representatives.
Don Campbell, Western Section Immediate Past President – He is the Director, Office of Contracts and Grants, where he oversees the pre- and post-award activities for grants at the University of San Francisco. Don recently joined USF in January 2017. Previously he started as the Senior Grants and Contracts Manager and was promoted to the Vice President, Extramural Funding at Gladstone Institutes and worked there from 2004 – 2017. Prior to Gladstone, he worked at Stanford University and the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology in Palo Alto, California. He has 20 years of experience in various research administration roles and is a past president for the Northern California Chapter of the International Society of Research Administrators (SRA) assisting in the preparation and adoption of Chapter bylaws and elections of officers. Don received a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in finance, from the University of Arizona in Tucson. He earned a Certified Research Administrator (CRA) designation in 2005.
With the ultimate goal of mentoring research administrators and faculty in obtaining and managing extramural-funded grants, holding office in the Western Section of the SRAI allowed him to mentor at a greater level and give back to an excellent organization that has contributed to his successes in the field of research administration.
Cindy Shirley, Western Section President – Cindy is the Director of the Office of Sponsored Research at the University of Washington Bothell Campus. She is a native of Kentucky and has been in the Pacific Northwest for almost 12 years. Cindy suggests that everyone switch institutions at least once, though moving across the country is totally up to you as it was an eye-opening experience! She loves her job at UW Bothell where she has a hybrid position containing both pre- and post-award work. Cindy works with principal investigators to prepare budgets and supporting documentation for their proposals, proposal submission, and the best part, negotiating and acceptance of the awards. She also collaborates with the post-award team that reconciles the sponsored program budgets. Cindy is celebrating 27 years in the field of research administration and being a Certified Research Administrator for 16 years.
You will find her on a plane or a boat – some method of transportation - when she is away from the office! Her family in Kentucky, are avid boaters. She is also a crew member on an unlimited hydroplane (fast race boat) where they race all over the country, except for this year when the drivers participated in virtual races. This made her crew work much more manageable as President of the Western Section! Her two passions, research administration, and boat racing came together in San Diego many years ago when former SRAI President, Sandra Nordahl, was the gate security person for her team.
Stuart Tenney, Western Section President-Elect - Stuart Tenney resides in Seattle, Washington. He is fortunate to call the Pacific Northwest home and work for a great employer, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He recently began a new role as a Senior Operations Manager in the Shared Resources Department. Shared Resources is a uniquely centralized program of specialized core facilities and scientific services that drives advances by integrating dedicated experts and cutting-edge technologies across the entire research pipeline, from basic science to clinical trials. Previously, Stuart was a Program Operations Director in the Clinical Research Division for ten years with dynamic and diverse management experience that oversaw several different areas of science. He is honored to serve SRAI, which has been vital to his independent growth along with networking.
When not working or volunteering, He travels, although COVID has limited destinations only to his house! He has traveled to five continents and hopes to make the final two in the next five years. Any guesses, which two? Well, alright, It's – Asia and Antarctica. Does anyone want to join in the adventure?
Debbie Hoelscher, Western Section Treasurer - Debbie is the Contract and Grants Manager for the Elson S Floyd College of Medicine (ESFCOM), Washington State University, a Certified Research Administrator, and earned her BA in History from San Diego State University. Debbie brings nearly 20 years of experience in research administration - 17 of those years while employed in various departments at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). Newly relocated to the inland Northwest and the Spokane campus of Washington State University (WSU), she now serves ESFCOM functioning primarily as a post-award manager and compliance officer. She hit the ground running at her new institution and is currently representing ESFCOM on a variety of committees as a subject matter expert in contracts and grants management at both the college and campus levels. She was also just recently accepted into the Master of Science in Research Administration and Compliance program and will begin her studies in Fall 2020. The field of Research Administration brings with it fast, on-the-fly, puzzle-solving challenges which is what appeals most to Debbie’s inclination towards critical thinking and problem-solving. She enjoys the challenge of making the numbers work to achieve the goal, as well as working within an organization to find more efficient and effective ways to do things.
Debbie’s life outside of work has included being a professional soccer referee, enjoying a front-row seat in “the Beautiful Game” at both women’s and men’s professional leagues, as well as NCAA-Division 1 and 2 Men’s and Women’s games. She’s also worked with northern dog breed rescue (huskies, malamutes, and their mixes) in Northern California and Northern Idaho. Currently, her two favorite activities are “going for a putt” on her 2019 Low Rider Softail Harley Davidson – she is looking forward to riding to Sturgis, SD next year for the famous “Sturgis Motorcyle Rally,” and finding a primitive campsite off National Forest Service Roads in her Northern Idaho home while exploring the area
Authored by Cindy Shirley, Director, Office of Research
University of Washington, Bothell
SRAI Western Section President
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