2008 Research Staff Recognition Awards

Distinguished Research Administrator Award

Kate Blakeman, a University employee for 32 years. She has been involved in research administration since 1984 and was one of the first staff members to join the Life Sciences Institute in 2003. As the Institute’s Business Manager, Blakeman has successfully built administrative systems and recruited the personnel for financial and research administration in this complex, high-profile organization. Blakeman manages the highly successful team of grants staff in the LSI. In FY07, this team supported the submission of over 90 grants to external agencies and LSI faculty members unanimously rate their support as the best they have ever received.

Distinguished Research Administrator Award

Denise DuPrie, the Research Process Manager/Research Lab Administrator at the Advanced Computer Architecture Laboratory (ACAL) in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). During her 24-year career at the University, DuPrie has actively participated in new initiatives both within EECS and across campus, including the Research Administrators Instructional Network (RAIN), MPathways University-wide panels, the College of Engineering Sponsored Budget Template Team, and the Sponsored Projects Advisory Team. Her proactive and tireless efforts in research administration have enabled ACAL faculty and research assistants to focus on their research and not administrative details.

OVPR Exceptional Service Award

Eve Gochis, the Business Administrator Associate at the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Laboratory. Gochis is responsible for the overall financial oversight of fMRI, including pre- and post-award grant management, facilities, seminar/symposium planning, personnel, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) compliance. She has taken initiative in several areas and recently created researcher policies for TMS (a complementary imaging modality) in the fMRI, enabling groups interested in this new technology to schedule imaging sessions, thereby creating a solution where she saw a need.

OVPR Exceptional Service Award

Patricia Smith, a staff member of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG) since 1996. Smith currently serves as the Business Administrator with oversight responsibilities for all administrative facets of IRWG. Her efforts to improve team development and office climate through guidance and mentoring have been remarkable. Smith’s oversight of IRWG grants management has produced a supportive, efficient and responsive administrative structure. She is highly regarded, both within IRWG and across the University, and is frequently consulted about policies and procedures by staff in other units and is often sought out to serve on UMOR, ORSP, and University-wide committees.