Written by: Roshni Singh, Career Stories team
From a Non-traditional Public University Graduate to Director of Research Development at Northern Illinois University.
Director of Research Development, Northern Illinois University
For the November 2025 Career Stories, we interviewed Kellie Dyslin, a name that has been in research development and administration for over 2 decades. Kellie Dyslin’s path into the RD field was not linear; as an undergrad, she found research administration through a role with the Howard Brown Health Center, coordinating multi-site national studies. After earning her Master of Social Work from the University of Illinois at Chicago, she found the RD/RA field matched her skills more than the social work roles she was aiming to get into. Beginning at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in 2006, Kellie navigated successively responsible positions, eventually arguing to open a dedicated RD office to coordinate existing RD functions. Thanks to her hard work and support from the research division and university leadership, the office opened in 2023. Leadership succession brought changes and exciting challenges. A new VPR provided resources and encouragement to fundamentally shift RD programming to address faculty needs and the evolving funding landscape. With the challenges came growth opportunities, and leveraging all her skills, Kellie was able to build a team of 4.5 FTEs, building capacity for external funding success. Under her leadership, the team now provides one-on-one proposal development support, runs the semester-long University Grants Academy, collaborates with research and advancement colleagues to expand NIU’s funding portfolio, and facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration through Huskie Frontiers—a partnership linking research development, entrepreneurship, and corporate relations to form teams aligned with institutional strengths.
Despite the challenges, struggles, and constant evolution, Kellie finds the RD field exciting as she says, “My whole job is a giant stretch goal.” The constant creation, invention, and reinvention of proposals, looking for people to engage in a space that is unfamiliar or uncomfortable, and getting continual feedback keeps her engaged. She thinks every job can be learned and “you can do it.” Hence, Kellie thinks that as a profession, we should continue to discuss challenges about the roles and responsibilities, collaboration within advancement, and the need to think differently about funding, since things have changed at the federal level. An ever-changing environment can be challenging, but it can be seen as an opportunity to think outside the box.
Kellie is a long-standing member of NORDP. She values the NORDP tight-knit community, which is always there when needed, and she can always connect to someone. As a board member for 2 years, Kellie has held many leadership roles in chaotic times, which has only made her stronger and grow and understand that things are not always as critical as they feel in the moment.
Kellie strives to innovate and improve the fields of research administration and development, having held an NSF GRANTED program conference award and served as the Chair of the Research and Administration and Development subcommittee of the Illinois Innovation Network.
Kellie’s lifelong commitment to her field and NORDP is a perfect example of inspiring and empowering the next generation of RD professionals.
Kellie is happy to answer any questions you have for her, so please feel free to contact her at kdyslin@niu.edu
To listen to her full interview, please click on this link (you must log in as a NORDP member to access): https://nordp.org/store/viewproduct.aspx?id=24459276; Chapter 53: Kellie Dyslin
NORDP News 