NORDP 2018 Plenary: Inclusive Excellence and the Research Enterprise: the Role of Research Development Professionals

Inclusive Excellence and the Research Enterprise: the Role of Research Development Professionals

• Kyle Lewis, Chair and Professor, Technology Management Program, University of California Santa Barbara
• Beth Mitchneck, Vice Provost for Faculty Success, University of Massachusetts Lowell
• Roland Owens, Director of Research Workforce Development, Office of Intramural Research, National Institutes of Health
• Moderator: Barbara Endemaño Walker, Director of Research Development and Special Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Diversity Initiatives, University of California Santa Barbara

This plenary panel discussion focuses on the advantages of diversity, inclusion, and equity on research teams and outcomes, and how RD professionals can play a proactive role in fostering inclusive excellence. Broadening participation in STEM research is critical to the future of scientific innovation and a robust and competitive STEM workforce in the US. Panelists bring expertise in the science of teams, broadening participation, and faculty professional development. Through a facilitated discussion, this session will provide insights to RD professionals on the ways that they can leverage best practices for fostering and supporting diversity through their work advising senior leadership, developing and coaching research teams, and providing training and services to faculty researchers. Time will be allotted for questions from, and discussion with, the audience.

Presenter bios:

Dr. Kyle Lewis is the Chair and Professor of Technology Management at UC Santa Barbara. Prior to joining UC Santa Barbara, Lewis was an Associate Professor of Management and Faculty Director of the Master of Science in Technology Commercialization (MSTC) in the McCombs School of Business, at the University of Texas at Austin. Lewis received her early training at Duke University, where she earned degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics. Later she attended Carnegie-Mellon University, where she completed her M.S. in Industrial Administration, followed by her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management from the University of Maryland. Her research examines how organizations leverage individual and collective knowledge. She examines the performance of teams, especially those teams engaged in knowledge work such as professional services, new product development, and project-based tasks. Recently, Lewis served as a Division Chair in the Academy of Management and Senior Editor for Organization Science.

Dr. Beth Mitchneck is the Vice Provost for Faculty Success at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She oversees the development of faculty success in scholarship and instructional activities. Prior to serving as vice provost, Mitchneck held numerous administrative positions at the University of Arizona including associate dean for academic affairs of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and interim vice provost for academic affairs. She was the lead program officer for the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program to promote gender equity in academic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Mitchneck has a dual research focus on migration and displaced populations with an emphasis on countries of the former Soviet Union including Georgia and Ukraine, and on gender equity in STEM. She has served on national boards for the Social Science Research Council and the Kennan Institute, and editorial boards for the Annals of the Association of American Geographers and Soviet Geography. She has received substantial funding from the National Science Foundation and other federally funded agencies. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Columbia University and an A.B. in Russian Studies from Bryn Mawr College.

Dr. Roland Owens is the Director of Research Workforce Development in the Office of Intramural Research at the National Institutes of Health. His primary duty is to facilitate and enhance principal investigator recruitments within the Intramural Research Program, and he is the principal OIR senior staff member responsible for promoting diversity and inclusion in the biomedical research workforce, as well as promoting mentorship at the NIH. He also coordinates an annual course for new tenure-track PIs, titled “How to Succeed as a PI at the NIH – Leadership & Management Skills.” Owens received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and his Ph.D. in biology from The Johns Hopkins University. He began his career at NIH as a National Research Service Award Fellow in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and in 1988 received an Intramural Research Training Award in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). He became a principal investigator in NIDDK in 1992, and he was tenured in 1998. Roland’s research focused on adeno-associated virus type-2 (AAV2). In 2002 he was selected as Mentor of the Year by the UMBC Meyerhoff Scholarship Program. In 2010, Dr. Owens won an NIH Director’s Award for co-leading the trans-NIH Earl Stadtman tenure-track investigator search. In 2011, he won an NIH Merit Award “in recognition of the exemplary support to NIH Leadership’s establishing diversity programs.”

Dr. Barbara Endemaño Walker is Director of Research Development, Social Sciences, and Special Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Diversity Initiatives at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is responsible for catalyzing research innovation and excellence through institutional strategic planning and professional development activities with social science faculty members. She also develops and leads campus diversity and inclusion initiatives. She is Lead PI on an NSF ADVANCE award “Center for Research, Excellence, and Diversity in Team Science (CREDITS).” She is the co-author of the book, Funding Your Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences: A Practical Guide to Grant and Fellowship Proposals. Endemaño Walker first joined UCSB as a post-doctoral scholar at the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Education, the Social Science Research Council, the Elsevier Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation, among others. She has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Geography from UC Berkeley and a B.A. in Anthropology and African Studies from UCLA. She was the founding treasurer of NORDP.

This will be the morning plenary panel discussion on Tuesday, May 8th at the 10^th Annual NORDP Research Development Conference. We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.

NORDP fosters a culture of inclusive excellence by actively promoting and supporting diversity, inclusion and equity in all its forms to expand our worldview, enrich our work, and elevate our profession.