AUSTIN, Texas—Susan Wyatt Sedwick has been named associate vice president for research and director of the office of sponsored projects at The University of Texas at Austin.
Sedwick starts May 4, after finishing the academic year at the University of Oklahoma, where she is associate vice president for research and executive director of research services.
The role she’ll take at Texas has been elevated to the associate vice president level to reflect the increasing importance of the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) and research administration in the university’s research mission.
OSP is the coordinating office for externally funded research projects submitted by The University of Texas at Austin. It assists faculty and research staff in securing external funding by helping to prepare proposals, handling administrative details and negotiating terms among other duties.
The university received $417 million in research awards in the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, 2005. OSP processed 4,617 contract or grant documents during the year, a 2 percent increase from the previous year.
Sedwick, a native Texan, replaces Bobby McQuiston, who retired as director of the Office of Sponsored Projects in 2005.
Before taking her current post at Oklahoma, she had been executive director of the Office of Research Services and director of research administration at Oklahoma. Before that she was director of the Office of Sponsored Research at the Texas AandM University, Kingsville.
“I am delighted that we have been able to attract Dr. Sedwick to UT Austin,” said Dr. Juan Sanchez, vice president for research. “In my view, she is one of the best qualified research administrators in the nation, bringing with her an outstanding national reputation, superb managerial skills, experience and a solid track record of success in sponsored research administration. Under her leadership, I expect she will fulfill our vision of making our Office of Sponsored Projects a model for others in higher education to follow.”
While Sedwick won’t officially be on the job until May, she plans to spend time on campus in March and April to become more familiar with the office and the school.
“I see a shared vision among the constituents of the office,” Sedwick said. “I think it’s a good fit between the needs of the institution and the office and my strengths and experience.”
Sedwick received her Ph.D. in higher education administration from Texas AandM University and is a certified research administrator. She was a graduate of the Leadership Texas program in 1995.
At Oklahoma, she has been an adjunct professor for the Adult and Higher Education Program in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.
She has been a member of the National Council of Research Administrators (NCURA) since 1994. She is chair of the export controls task force for the Council on Governmental Relations, a faculty member for the NCURA seminars on export controls and vice chair of the Professional Development Committee of the NCURA.
For more information contact: Tim Green, 512-475-6596.
