Conference Cameo: R. Krish

#NORDP2019 starts Monday, April 29, in Providence, RI. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for conference updates. Register at https://www.nordp.org/conferences.

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Who: R. Krish, Director of Research Services & Center Initiatives
Where: Prairie View A&M University
Number of years in research development: 3
Length of NORDP membership: 2 years
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 1
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A professor

I actually transitioned into research administration from the “dark side”—I always wanted to become a college professor. When I was a high school or college student, I loved watching movies that portrayed teachers or universities as the central theme. After getting a Master’s degree in chemistry, I worked for a couple of years in the Emulsion Department of a photo-film manufacturing company in India. I was so captivated by the Eastman Kodak research publications that I wanted to pursue doctoral studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). However, a chemistry doctorate was not offered at RIT in 1978, so I earned my PhD from the University of California-Davis in 1983.

Following post-doctoral work at Purdue and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I had a fulfilling career as a faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics at Kansas State University, Manhattan from 1986 to 2015.

I left K-State to join my wife and son, as my wife, whom I first met at UC-Davis as a fellow graduate student with a bright smile, was hired by Texas A&M University at College Station. I joined Prairie View A&M University, a member of the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), as Director of Research Services. I metamorphosed into Director of Research and Sponsored Programs the following year, and for a year and a half, I have been the Director of Research Services and Center Initiatives, overseeing, among other tasks, the performance of 14 research centers on the campus. Sponsored Research Services (SRS) at TAMUS prepared me well to take on a role I had no idea about before. I have attended annual conferences of SRAI and NCURA to augment my research administration knowledge.

I first attended the NORDP Annual Conference last year. I received information about the conference by email, and after going through the NORDP website, I very much wanted to attend the conference. And I am glad that I did! Networking with colleagues from other universities was fun. The topics discussed were more relevant to me; a research development person has the unenviable task of motivating and assisting faculty members in the development and submission of grant proposals solely by cajoling.

I particularly enjoyed the workshop on Large Proposals. It covered RFA requirements, elements of a good proposal, stages of proposal development, execution, and submission of the proposal with the enthusiastic participation of the attendees. The discussion on how to assemble a team of investigators and get that team to stick to a schedule and make progress was especially interesting and useful to me. I also have been using the practical tips I got from the other attendees to develop and submit multi-disciplinary proposals.

No matter how many NORDP Annual Conferences you have attended, you will always get useful information and tips from your colleagues!

Visit the NORDP Store online now through March 15! 

We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held April 29 – May 1, 2019, at the Omni Providence Hotel in Providence, RI. For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2019 updates.

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