2012 Awards Nominations

Congratulations to the 2012 SRA Award Winners!

SRA International congratulates the 2012 award recipients and thanks the Awards Committee for their time and dedication in helping SRA International acknowledge the hard work of research administration professionals from around the world.

The Herbert B. Chermside Award for Distinguished Contribution to Research Administration

SRA's most prestigioius award showcases distinguished contributions in the development of research administration as a profession.

Jean I. Feldman
 

As Head of the Policy Office, Division of Institution and Award Support, Office of Budget, Finance, and Award Management of the National Science Foundation, Jean Feldman’s contribution to the field of research administration has been wide and deep. Her participation in a variety of initiatives—such as development of the SF424, the Research Terms and Conditions used throughout the federal funding agencies, have resulted in positive outcomes for governmental organizations and research institutions worldwide. She has been instrumental in assisting research administrators with gaining knowledge that better prepares them and their organizations to submit proposals, administer awards, and most importantly, establish ground rules for being good stewards of public funds. Jean has helped to streamline our practices in truly profound and positive ways.

Excellence Award

Recognizes up to three SRA members who have excelled in meeting the Society's purpose of expanding the knowledge and tools of research administration.

Newcomer

Jayamini Illesinghe

Dr. Jayamini Illesinghe moved into research administration from an academic career in Chemistry in 2010. Despite her relative inexperience with research administration, as school research manager she has made an exceptional contribution to the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, converting an ineffective grants management process to the best within the university. Her initial work involved the development of information systems to allow accurate reporting of research grant income and publications, achieving nearly 100% reporting compliance and saving the school tens of thousands of dollars in previously unclaimed research support funds.

Mid-career

Andrea Deaton

Andrea Deaton joined SRA in 2003, and since then has acted as president of SRA’s Southern Section, and cochair of the sponsored program administration, and the management and operations tracks for the SRA Annual Meeting. Since 2006 she has been an administrative representative of the Federal Demonstration Partnership, where she served on the Communications, Membership, Subawards and Contracts committees. As Associate Vice President for Research and Executive Director, Office of Research Services, Andrea has been instrumental in expanding the University of Oklahoma’s research initiatives and contributed to the work involved in reaching a Carnegie Foundation Very High Research Ranking for the university.

Advanced

Katie Porter

Katie Porter has over 15 years’ experience working at several leading research institutions. As a clinical research agreements and contracts specialist, she is currently responsible for the coordination of contract support operations for over 500 researchers at Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation and serves on an ethics committee. In addition, Katie serves as a lecturer for the McMaster University Centre for Continuing Education’s Certified Clinical Research Associate program, where she teaches on many topics, including risk, liability, laws and  guidelines in clinical research. In 2011, she published Steer Your Career: A Research Administrator’s Manual to Mapping Success, which sold to research administrators from 125 different institutions within seven months.

Hartford-Nicholsen Award

Established to recognize SRA members whose services demonstrate leadership in the Society, and who have made a major, distinguishable contribution which has been of benefit to the entire Society. Until 1973, this award was entitled the Distinguished Service Award and is still rooted in the critical importance of SRA International as a group of volunteers.  Individuals who are nominated for this award have contributed their professional expertise to the Society in an important and fundamental way.

Merritt Helfferich 

Merritt Helfferich has been an active member of SRA since 1976. He played an integral role in starting the Alaska Chapter, and remained active in the chapter until his retirement from the University of Alaska. During his 35+ years of membership, Merritt has contributed as a speaker at SRA meetings in over 30 sessions to date, and his support and mentoring of individual members continues beyond retirement, leaving a legacy of others who have also demonstrated their loyalty to SRA. Whether consulting in an official capacity, or advising as a friend, Merritt has been a great benefit to the Society.

Shirley Hill

Shirley Hill has been an SRA member since 1974, serving the Society in numerous leadership positions and as a consummate volunteer. Shirley retired from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. As a retiree in 2007 she became a founding member of the newly formed Delaware Valley Chapter and continues to be an active member of SRA, attending SRA’s Northeast Section and Annual Meeting every year. She continues assisting in logistics and support in any capacity necessary. Throughout her professional career, Shirley personified SRA as a Society of volunteers—always welcoming and reaching out to others, and willing to do whatever is needed.

The Technology Innovation and Application Award

To showcase and recognize innovations and applications in using technology tools in promoting, processing or advancing research administration work.  Regardless of the media, innovations significantly move an office forward using the technologies that best reflect the goals proposed.  Nominee may be an individual or team.  Self nomination is encouraged.

UCLA RAPID PI Portal

Developed by the Research Administration Process Improvement and Deployment (RAPID) Team, for PIs at The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), the new web-based tool provides faculty with an easy to access, near real time view of the status of their research accounts. The PI Portal is designed to become a one-stop shop for PIs to become better informed and thus better administrators of their sponsored programs. PIs can view their own proposals, contract and reporting deadlines, budget-related details and balances, payments to personnel which include percentage of time and assignment activities and standard campus support pages for use in developing more proposals.