July 12, 2005 issue
My family history with Eastern goes back three generations. My son received his degree from EMU; I received my bachelor's degree and MBA here; and my grandfather attended Michigan State Normal School in the 1890s. My wife also has an EMU degree.
Just 11 years ago, I saw an EMU advertisement for an associate director of research development, applied and got it. Two years later, I became director.
I mainly work with faculty across campus to help them obtain grants and contracts on a great variety of projects.
Grants come from many sources, both public and private. Federal grants are generally hardest to get since there is more competition. For example, on the federal level, we compete for National Science Foundation (NSF) grants with every university in the country. That includes Stanford, MIT and Harvard. It says a lot about our faculty when we get an NSF grant. I get pretty excited when these awards are announced and it gives me a real sense of pride in EMU.
Overall, there is increasing competition for grants as public funding for universities becomes more scarce. In FY2004, EMU received 378 grants totaling $15 million.
At EMU, I enjoy supporting our faculty who are very down to earth and appreciative of my help.
I know just about everyone on campus and enjoy the environment that's very friendly. That's always been our culture. That's different from the atmosphere I worked in for 13 years when I was at the University of Michigan. I went from the big city to the small town at EMU where I have a role that makes a difference.
The campus is very focused on students. Faculty get students involved with research projects that many times are funded by grants.
Grants support all of the good things the University does. That's why I plan to continue doing what I do.
