Ferguson to Lead Virginia Chapter of the Society of Research Administrators

Kaethe P. Ferguson, director of research development in Old Dominion University's Office of Research, became president-elect of the Virginia chapter of the Society of Research Administrators (SRA) International this spring and in May 2009 will begin a one-year term as president.

Ferguson, who joined ODU in 2005, works with faculty to stimulate and support research initiatives that are multi-investigator, multidisciplinary, intercollege and multi-institutional.

During the past two years she has recruited four grant writers who promote the university's research initiatives. The writers and the colleges they work with are: Luna Magpili, Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology; Jacqueline Stein, Darden College of Education, College of Business and Public Administration and College of Arts and Letters; Laura Paganucci, College of Health Sciences; and Prakash Viswanathan, College of Sciences. The four grant writers made the presentation, "Lessons Learned from the Grant Writer's Perspective," at the May meeting of the Virginia SRA.

SRA International has 18 chapters in the United States and Puerto Rico, and the international membership totals around 4,000 employees of hospitals, universities, nonprofit organizations and government agencies.

Ferguson will present, together with Jo Ann Levesque, director of sponsored programs at McGill University in Montreal, the session, "Multi-Component Strategies to Enhance Faculty Success in Grant Submissions" at the SRA International annual meeting in October in National Harbor, Md.