I am pleased to submit my nomination for an At-Large Board Member position for SRAI. I have been part of SRAI for the past 15 years, actively engaged for the last decade. I have found this Society to be revelatory, in that it welcomes all individuals with open arms and encourages them to grow themselves and the field of research administration. SRAI excels in professional development, networking, education, and research. The Society is aspirational and encouraging. Simply put, it is an exemplary resource for current and future research administrators and has become the standard by which we judge ourselves and our field.
I have over three decades of experience in research administration, serving in pre- and post-award capacities at the departmental level. At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), I have served as manager of general internal medicine, director of business affairs for the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and, currently, Chief Administrative Officer for the Department of Neurobiology and the Department of Computational Medicine. For SRAI, I have volunteered in various roles, previously serving as President of the Southern California Chapter, and currently as Immediate Past President of the Western Section. I am honored to serve as a Distinguished Faculty. I co-chaired the recent pre-award meeting in Atlanta. I also serve as co-editor for the Operations & Workforce Management section of the Catalyst newsletter. I have served as a mentor in the Odyssey program for the past fie years and as an Ambassador for UCLA. Over the past year, I co-developed the “The PI–RA Partnership: Critical Skills for Successful Projects” LevelUP module and the “Beyond the Basics: Critical Thinking in Research Administration” Intensive (which I taught in Arlington, VA this year). I have delivered multiple talks and workshops at SRAI annual and section meetings, as well as a RAD series talk. Our session at the 2024 Chicago meeting, “Inviting an Elephant up the Stairs: Improving Communication through Improv,” was recognized as the Annual Meeting Best Concurrent Session. Finally, I am most proud of having served on the committee that developed the SRAI Professional Development Framework. I believe my background illustrates my passion for research administration and for facilitating the growth and development of research administrators and our field.
Where I see SRAI contributing over the next several years is in guiding members through a challenging and historic period of change. While we may be able to advocate for positive change in our field, I believe we need a vision of what research administration could look like in 2030 or 2035, along with the leadership to pursue it. The most pressing challenges include funding reductions, increased compliance requirements, the frequently changing policies of the Federal government, the evolution of AI, and the need to keep research administrators engaged in the field. We need to address these collectively as a Society.
I think contributing to SRAI and giving back to the community is in my DNA. Research administration has been my life’s work. As an At-Large Board Member, I would continue this volunteerism. I would give a voice to department research administrators and highlight their work and contributions. I would advance professional development and educational opportunities. I would advocate for more communication among our members. And I would hope that my contributions can help move our field and colleagues forward in these challenging times.
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