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Sharing a Fountain of Knowledge

I’ve shared a story many times that very early in my professional career a wise mentor said, “In the beginning of our careers, we’re sponges soaking up knowledge and experiences. At some point, however, we need to turn into fountains and share what we soaked up over the years.” 

I really took that to heart and have been through a few different sponge/fountain cycles during my career. Serving on the SRAI Board of Directors has been a combination of sponge and fountain time for me, but mostly as a fountain. Kim Carter originally appointed me to the Board as an Ad-Hoc Member representing Sections. That year on the board as a non-voting member really sparked an interest to continue to serve, and I ran for election as an At-Large Board Member in 2019. The members graciously elected me and I’m coming to the end of my term. During this time, I was also nominated to serve on the Executive Committee for a year and the Board elected me to that 1-year term position. Interestingly, in my first term on the Board, I noticed that it seemed like not many board members whose term was expiring, ran for re-election. I was a little worried that it might be a horrible experience and was also concerned about having consistency in leadership. It wasn’t a horrible experience. In fact, it was great! I truly felt like my input was both needed and appreciated. We tackled some tough issues and celebrated great successes. 

Being on the Board before and during COVID (and hopefully after) has been both fulfilling and scary. I recently shared with the Board that having ‘the absence of failure as a measure of success’ is a tough situation but accurately describes SRAI’s outstanding success during COVID. Being a part of the leadership of an organization that relies very heavily upon in-person educational opportunities at conferences was not a desirable situation in early 2020. The fact that we even stayed in business, but especially that we very successfully continued to fulfill our mission of educating our members, should not be taken for granted. SRAI has again proven to be the premier research administration organization in the world! Being on the Board during the past few years with our LevelUP program, Virtual Conferences and Intensive Trainings, Coffee Talks, Podcasts, and rollout of our new online Connect platform, and much more, has been very fulfilling. I’d love the opportunity to be a small part of seeing SRAI continue to grow and serve our members. 

As previously mentioned, I’ve served one term as an elected At-Large SRAI Board Member and a one-year term as appointed Ad-Hoc Board Member. I’ve been on the Executive Committee, Nominations Committee, served as President and Treasurer for the Midwest section, received the Midwest Section Newcomers Award in 2012, and received the Annual Meeting Best Concurrent Session Award in 2016. I Chair the Board’s Technology and Innovation Strategic Planning group, Co-Chair the Distinguished Faculty Committee, and Chair the Clinical & Translational Working group. 

In my current position as Business Director at Cincinnati Children’s, I oversee a variety of research grants and clinical trials from a diverse group of funding agencies at the nation’s second largest pediatric research institution. I think this hospital perspective is important at the Board level. I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Marketing, an MBA, and have served on the boards for five different 501(c)3 organizations in the past. 

I humbly request your support for a second term as an At-Large SRAI Board Member. 

Thank you.

Authored by Kevin Titus, Business Director
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital