View from the Top | Reflections of an Outgoing President
By the time this article comes out we will be days away from the 2022 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. I am very excited thinking about seeing so many friends and colleagues from around the world in attendance.
I’m also feeling a bit melancholy, as I realize that this will be my last “View from the Top” article as President. My term ends as of the Business Meeting on November 3, and then Gloria Greene becomes President and I then serve as Immediate Past President through 2024.
I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Kim Carter for her dedicated service as an officer and Board member over the last 8 years! Kim served as an At-Large Board Member and then was elected as President Elect. October 31 will be her last Board Meeting as Immediate Past President. She has led SRAI through some chaotic times when SRAI had to make many hard decisions to keep pace in a world turned upside down. I salute her grace and professionalism that helped us not only get through but succeed in service to our membership.
Additionally, I want to acknowledge and thank our outgoing Board Secretary, Bruce Steinert. In addition to being the Midwest Section President from 2007-08, Bruce served for an unprecedented six consecutive two-year terms as Secretary starting in 2010 and served under several SRAI Presidents. He steadfastly kept us in order and recorded all our thoughts and collective wisdom always with good humor and corny jokes. He even managed to keep up with my quick-talking, New York City style. I don’t know any other person who could make Robert’s Rules of Order seem easy. I know I am not alone, when I say that he will be missed at our Board meetings in the coming year.
I want to thank my fellow Board members, Gloria Greene, Dominic Esposito, Dara Little, Andrea Deaton, Kevin Titus, Domenica Pappas, Pam Montgomery, Jennifer Woodward, Mark Hochman, Stuart Tenney, Gina Hedberg, Renee Vaughn, and Floris van der Leest for their service over the last year of my Presidency. Together we have supported and grown our society and once again proved that SRAI is the premier Research Administration organization.
As we bid farewell and say thank you to outgoing Board members, Andrea Deaton and Kevin Titus, I want to welcome our newly elected Board members: Marcos Garza as Secretary and Marchon Jackson and Debbie Pettitt as At-Large Board Members. We had a stellar slate of candidates and a record number of members casting votes. This is further evidence of a thriving and healthy organization!
I also want to thank our outgoing Ad Hoc Board Members Mark Hochman, Stuart Tenney, Gina Hedberg, Renee Vaughn, and Floris van der Leest. I am confident that even though you will not have an official seat at the table next year, that you will each continue to be engaged and dedicated SRAI volunteers.
There is also an army of Section/Chapter officers, speakers, and standing committee and ad hoc task force chairs and members who work all year to develop and deliver programming and innovative member services. They are too numerous to mention by name, but I hope they realize how important each of their contributions are to our collective success.
Needless to say, our HQ staff makes our jobs as Board members easy. They do all the heavy lifting and make it all seem routine, but that is not the case. It takes dedicated professionals to manage 4,000 plus bosses and be able to deliver service and implement education programs to a worldwide audience. Kudos to Evan Roberts, Ellen Quinn, Jenny Atkison, Debbie Appler, Gina Cuevas, Jim Mitchell, Virginia Cunigan, and Olivia Pringle – we could not exist without all your efforts!
Another Sad Farewell
It is with a very heavy heart that I write to tell you of the passing of another dear colleague – Tim Linker, who passed away after a prolonged battle with cancer on August 30, 2022.
I first met Tim at the NC Chapter Meeting in Pinehurst in 2014. He was kind, thoughtful, and welcoming to this New York City gal. Through the years we worked on other committees and projects together. Tim served SRAI in several capacities, including:
- Editor of the Journal, 2015 – 2018
- Recipient of the Journal’s Most Valuable Editor Award, 2018
- Distinguished Faculty since 2016
- Hartford-Nicholsen Award winner, 2018
- President of the North Carolina Chapter 2017 – 2018
- LevelUP Micro-Credentialing Council Member 2019 - 2022
Tim leaves behind his wife Johanna and two children. You can read more about him here.
None of us can be guaranteed enough time, so it’s important to live your life well and tell the ones you love how you feel every day!
Proof of concept: SRAI creates life-long friends!
On September 18, 2022, I got to celebrate the marriage of long-time SRAI member Kate McCormick to her beloved Greg Manchester. By my side through a four-day celebration in Cape Cod, MA were other SRAI besties – Rene Hearns (Ohio), Tonya Edvalson (Utah), and Larry Waxler (Maine), who served as the officiant! I met Rene in 2003 in Pittsburgh (my first annual meeting), Kate and Larry in 2009 in Baltimore (my first NE section meeting), and Tonya in 2010 at the Chicago planning meeting. Since then, we have become close friends even though we have never lived in the same city! When COVID sent us all home in March 2020, we began a routine of texting every day to give support and share our lives – the ups and downs…and to finally be able to celebrate Kate and Greg’s nuptials in person on the beach in Cape Cod was truly a milestone and a high point of our collective friendships. I am grateful to SRAI for many things, professional and personal. The lifetime friendships are an extra added bonus!
Upcoming Events
We learn from every encounter and interaction – and certainly there is no better place to have those moments than at an SRAI event. There is always something to look forward to, so don’t miss these great educational and membership opportunities:
- Fall Board Meeting – Live in Las Vegas, Monday, October 31st and Friday, November 4th. Attend as an observer onsite in Las Vegas.
- The ever-growing library of LevelUP modules and mGuides is open year-round! Whether you need to learn something new or brush up on something pressing – we have you covered.
- SRAI’s Podcast series, “Shop Talk” 2022 – check the web page for details. https://www.srainternational.org/resources/shop-talk-podcast Have a hot topic idea or speaker suggestion for an upcoming podcast? Drop us a line at: communications@srainternational.org.
- Departmental Administration Intensive – Online: November 15 - December 20, 2022
- Pre-Award Fundamentals Intensive – Online: November 16- December 21, 2022
- Research Leadership Intensive – Online: Nine 2-hour sessions during January-February 2023
- 2023 INORMS Congress: Got the urge to travel afar – join the INORMS Congress hosted by SARIMA, in Durban, South Africa from May 31-June 3, 2023. Click here for details.
- Joint Section Meeting – all four US Sections together! In Louisville, KY June 11-14, 2023. Click here for details.
There’s so much happening each month – don’t miss an opportunity to share, learn, engage, and grow.
Always looking to continue the conversation…
Best,
Debbie
Authored by Debra Schaller-Demers, Vice President of Research Outreach and Compliance
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
SRAI Board of Directors President
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