Welcoming Six New Board Members

Dear NORDP members,

I am writing with some great news: we are welcoming 6 new NORDP Board members this year!

We want to welcome Nathan Meier, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research at University of Nebraska – Lincoln, and Antje Harnisch, Assistant Vice Provost for Research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who were elected to 4-year terms. Nathan returns to the Board for his first elected term after filling a vacated Board seat for the past three years. He has been active in many committees, especially the Nominating Committee and in the establishment of the LEAD program. Antje has contributed to the success of the NORDP Northeast Region and brings a wealth of institutional leadership experience. 

It’s critical that we have a robust and diverse Board to meet the needs of our members. The Board must listen to and represent many perspectives to serve research development professionals. To this end, we have appointed four additional new Board members. With focused intention, we deliberately identified diverse candidates from diverse institutions for these positions because we want all members to be able to see themselves on the Board and in other leadership roles throughout NORDP.

There were two vacancies from Board members who ended their board service early. To fill those vacated seat, we are welcoming Jennifer Glass, Research Development Officer at Eastern Michigan University and Melinda Boehm, Director of the Office of Research Development at University of California-Merced, who will each serve on the Board for three years. Jennifer will fill the Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) seat and Melinda will fill the at-large seat. Both have been active NORDP members since 2015. Jennifer is currently co-chair of NORDP’s PUI Affinity Group and has also been involved in the Mentoring Committee. Melinda has been serving as Co-Chair of the Professional Development Committee. 

We are delighted to announce that Carolynn Julien, Associate Director of the Office of Research Administration at Hunter College – CUNY, and Lisa Lopez, Senior Research Development Officer in the College of Health and Human Development at California State University – Fullerton, will also join the board. Carolynn, a NORDP member since 2013, is a proud alumna of NORDP’s Mentoring program (serving as a mentor). Lisa joined NORDP in 2015 and serves on the Nominating Committee. 

We very much look forward to working with our new Board colleagues. 

Sincerely,

Kimberly Eck, MPH, PhD
Associate Vice President for Research
Emory University

President 2020-2021
National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP)
http://www.nordp.org

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.