Leadership
Camelia Kantor
Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives; Associate Research Professor
Diane Rudy
Associate Director of Pre-Award Research Administration, Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office (SIRO)
Penn State Research Administration Subject Matter Experts supporting STAIR
Team Member | Expertise and Contribution |
---|---|
Camelia Kantor | Research leadership, development and administration, outreach and collaborative grant management, training and workforce development |
Zoubeida Ounaies | Research leadership, development and administration, STEM training infrastructure, early career faculty mentorship, collaborations and outreach |
Emily Martell | Research administration: accounting, finance (pre/post award), tech transfer |
Diane Rudy | Research development pre-award, ACES training |
Jenifer Hoffman | Research leadership, development and administration, body of knowledge instructor, CRA and CPRA certified, nursing |
Nikki Lynn Page | Research leadership, development and administration, new account setup oversight, tech transfer and industry agreements, Health and Human Development |
Justin Whitmer | Research leadership, development and administration, research security, research policy, federal funding, Applied Research Laboratory (an UARC) |
Kathering Bode-Lang | Research protections, responsible conduct of research, ACES management, research integrity and compliance education |
Crystal Hubler-Butterbaugh | Lifecycle project management, large interdisciplinary grant proposal oversight, Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office |
Debra Sokalczuk | Research development and administration (pre/post award) for Harrisburg campus (PUI), SRAi education |
Michelle Smith | Research Administration (pre-award) team lead, Office of Research Engineering |
Jaimie Garrison | Research Administration (post-award) team lead, Office of Research Engineering |
Mary McMonagle | Research development (pre-award) and management (post-award), Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office and Agricultural Sciences |
Melissa Genismore | Research Development (pre-award) and management (post-award), Eberly College of Science |
External Evaluation Team
The STAIR initiative is guided by an experienced evaluation team, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement.

Fadi Castronovo
Evaluation and Assessment Consultant, Castronovo Educational Assessments and Evaluations
Fadi Castronovo is an Evaluation and Assessment Consultant at Castronovo Educational Assessments and Evaluations LLC. He is a member of the American Evaluation Association. With a decade of experience in evaluation and assessment, Castronovo provides external evaluation and consultation services to higher education institutions submitting and running grants to federal and state institutions. As the external evaluator, He will lead all formative and summative evaluations. He will be involved in the statistical analyses of data required for formative and summative evaluations, and the preparation of evaluation reports and recommendations.

Kimberly Eck
Founder and Senior Director, Emory University NORDP Consultant Program
Kimberly Eck is a former President of the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP). She is the Senior Associate Vice President for Research at Emory University, leading the Office of Research Development and the Training Grant Support Office. She launched the NORDP Consultant Program at Emory in 2021 and continues to serve as its Senior Director.

Japera Hemming
Project Director, Emory University NORDP Consultant Program
Japera Hemming is the Project Director for the Expanding NORDP Consultants Program to Sixteen Minority Servicing Institutions funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF OIA – 2331578). She's worked to expand participation in STEMM for under-recognized and minoritized students and faculty at the University of Georgia, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Georgia State University.

Ganesh Bora
Chief Research Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Innovation, Fayetteville State University
Ganesh Bora is responsible for building and growing an effective, responsive, and productive infrastructure for research at Fayetteville State as well as implementing a comprehensive research agenda for increasing externally funded and internally funded research productivity.
Advisory Board:

Angela Peters
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vorhees University
Office of the Provost, Vorhees University

Debra Thurley
Associate Vice President for Research
Director, Office for Research Protections
Office of the Senior Vice President for Research

John Hanold
Associate Vice President for Research
Director of Research Administration Services
Office of the Senior Vice President for Research

Douglas Wolfe
Associate Vice President for Research
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering Science and Mechanics, Nuclear Engineering, and Additive Manufacturing and Design
Department of Materials Science and Engineering

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Award No. # 2419948. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the STAIR members and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.