After conducting a national search, the Office of Research has named Dorothy Yates its new associate vice president for research administration. She begins her duties on May 1.

Yates joins UCF in the newly created position to oversee the integrated pre-and post-awards division within the Office of Research. She will be responsible for the administration of sponsored awards throughout their entire life cycle, which means she will have an impact on the work of faculty and staff involved in all sponsored awards.

The California native has more than 25 years of experience in research administration and related areas including compliance. She currently serves as associate vice president for research and economic development at the University of Wyoming. Before that she worked at the University of Colorado Denver and former UC Health Sciences Center, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Dorothy holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington in Seattle.  She has been very active as an officer and speaker for the Society of Research Administrators International and is a past-president of the society.  She is one of the few research administrators to receive the “Distinguished Faculty” designation from the society.

“Research administration isn’t glamorous, but it is critical to ensuring our faculty and students have the opportunity to conduct sponsored research,” said Elizabeth Klonoff, vice president for the Office of Research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies. “We have been making several changes to improve the university’s ability to compete for research funding and give our researchers more time to do their work. Dr. Yates will oversee all these efforts on a daily basis and look for ways to improve the experience, which will in turn help us achieve our strategic plan goals of becoming a premiere research institution.”

Yates said her priorities are supporting faculty in their research endeavors by providing comprehensive services that allow them to focus on their projects and mentoring individuals in research administration so they can grow professionally.

“I am very excited about the opportunity,” Yates said. “The institution is recognized nationally as a growing research entity and I look forward to supporting that effort. The potential is astounding and I can’t wait to get started.”