Research administration training
Sponsored Projects Administration
(SPA) program
Biographic sketches of experts and speakers
John P. Donahue
… is the Associate Director of Sponsored Programs. He joined the MIT
staff in 1990. He has held positions in the MIT Audit Division where he
performed financial, operational, and compliance audits throughout the
Institute. He has also had a role in the Comptroller’s Office, where he
was responsible for regulatory filings such as annual 3ABC (Tax Exempt
Property) and IRS 990T (Unrelated Business Income Tax) reports.
During that time, John participated in the Institute’s Reengineering
efforts and SAP implementation. He served as a member of the original
Ecat/Procard design and implementation team.
John has been a member of the Cost Analysis team in the office of
Sponsored Programs (OSP) since 1996. In his current role as Associate
Director of Sponsored Programs, John manages the Office of Cost
Analysis ,which provides counsel and high-level decision support analysis
to the Institute and its senior management on matters related to Federal
regulation and Federal costing policy. The team acts as MIT’s primary
point of contact (POC) with Federal auditors and has responsibility for
calculation, audit support, and negotiation of MIT’s Facilities and
Administrative (F&A) rates, Employee Benefits (EB) rates, Vacation
Accrual (VA) rates, and Interdepartmental Laboratory (IDL) Allocation
rates. Additional responsibilities include monitoring DLC compliance
with the Institute’s service center policy, calculating MIT’s quarterly
lobbying cost disclosure to congress, maintenance of MIT’s Cost
Accounting Disclosure Statement (DS2), providing training and education
to the MIT community on costing matters, and ad hoc analysis.
Bernadette Vallely
…has been a Grant and Contract Administrator in the Office of Sponsored
Programs at MIT since 2008. She is responsible for the following
departments, labs, and centers: Health Science and Technology (HST),
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and the Department of
Architecture. She is a backup liaison for NIH.
SPA: Expert and speakers’ biographies
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Research administration training
Bernadette came to MIT from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she
was a department research administrator, and earlier worked in that
hospital’s office of sponsored programs.
Beth Ogar
…is the Recording Secretary and executive director of administration in
Resource Development. In her role as Recording Secretary, she accepts,
records, and acknowledges gifts to the Institute and works with Institute
leadership to develop flexible gift policies and procedures to meet donors’
wishes and support MIT’s mission. In her role as executive director of
administration, she oversees the new Shared Services for Administration
(SSA) supporting the financial, human resource, and operational aspects
of Resource Development and the Alumni Association. Prior to this
position, Beth served as director of finance and administration for
Resource Development overseeing financial administration, human
resource management, and space administration.
Beth joined the development office in 1988 as fiscal officer, then served as
manager of finance and administration before becoming director. She
originally joined MIT in the Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 1982, in
general administration and then moving into their fiscal office. In these
positions, she monitored financial activities of the research projects and
prepared proposals for major research contracts from the Department of
Energy, NASA and the Air Force. Before coming to MIT, Beth worked for
Parker Brothers in Beverly, Mass. Her experience there was in
recruitment and benefits administration in their human resource
department.
Beth holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from
Northeastern University. Beth is also a 2003 graduate of MIT's Leader to
Leader Program.
Colleen Leslie
Colleen Leslie is an Associate Director in the Office of Sponsored
Programs. In her current role, she leads the Training, Communications
and Coeus Development and Support teams. She serves as OSP’s
Foundation Liaison and just completed a four year term as a member of
the Committee on the Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects
(COUHES).
Colleen has a B.S. in English with a concentration in Biology and began
her professional career preparing and editing manuscripts and grant
proposals in the Department of Orthopedic Research at Children’s
Hospital, Boston. Colleen joined MIT in 1988 as an administrative
SPA: Expert and speakers’ biographies
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Research administration training
assistant supporting a faculty member and his research group in the
Center for Cancer Research. She continued in this role for twelve years,
as the faculty member she supported became Associate Head of the
Department of Biology, Head of the Biology Department and eventually
the Director of the Center for Cancer Research. Colleen’s responsibilities
in managing the lab increased in parallel with her faculty members
outside responsibilities. In 2000, Colleen became the Assistant Director
for Administration (AO-equivalent) in the Cancer Center. The Center for
Cancer Research (now the Koch Institute), was established in 1974 as one
of eight National Cancer Institute-designated basic cancer research
centers in the county. During her tenure as Assistant Director, Colleen
was responsible for all aspects of managing a relatively large research
center with ~$20M in research while also maintaining a close relationship
between the Center, the National Cancer Institute and the Center’s
Scientific Advisory Board. Under her leadership, the Center began
hosting an annual scientific symposium focusing on advances in cancer
research, featuring international speakers and drawing over 1100
attendees from the cancer research community. She successfully
managed the transition of a new Director and was instrumental in
establishing a Director’s Council, laying the groundwork for the Center’s
evolution to the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
Throughout her career at MIT, Colleen has been involved in many
Institute-wide committees, working groups and initiatives. She was a
member of the Administrative Advisory Council (AACII) and served as
chair from 2004-2006. She was a member of the Research Administration
Improvement Initiative (RAII), serving as a member of two sub-teams,
Roles and Organizational Structures and Faculty Resources, and assumed
the leadership role of co-Chair in 2006. She became of member of MIT’s
Training Alignment Team in 2006 and currently serves as co-lead. She is
currently a fellow of MIT’s Leader 2 Leader program and serves on the
Research Administration Coordinating Council (RACC). Colleen is a
member of the National Council for University Research Administrators
(NCURA) and was recently selected to serve on NCURA’s Peer Review
Committee, performing formal evaluations of sponsored program office
operations at peer institutions. In addition, she is an active member of
the Council on Government Relations (COGR), an association of research
universities whose primary function is to provide advice and information
to its membership and to ensure that federal funding agencies understand
SPA: Expert and speakers’ biographies
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Research administration training
academic operations and the impact of proposed regulations on colleges
and universities.
Thomas W Egan
… has been the Assistant Director of Sponsored Programs since June
2000.
As the OSP Assistant Director of the Research Subawards Team, Tom is
the contact point for all the Institute subaward requirements with
Laboratory and Department personnel of all levels, members of the Office
of Sponsored Programs and the Comptroller’s Accounting Office, State
and Government Agencies and outside sources of supply and
subcontractors.
Designated as OSP’s Small Business Liaison Officer, Tom is also
responsible for maintaining and adhering to MIT’s Master Subcontracting
Plan, which includes of periodic reports to the agencies on MIT’s
accomplishments under the subcontracting plans.
As the OSP’s Small Business Liaison Officer, Tom must also review the
FAR regulations and statutes for changes to ensure that the Institute
Master Subcontracting Program is in compliance and current.
He joined the MIT staff in 1987 with the MIT Procurement Department
as Manager of the MIT Purchasing Field Office. He has held several
positions in the MIT Procurement Department where he directed all of
MIT’s complex contracts, consulting agreements, and major equipment
procurements and administration activities of personnel (staff of ten) of
the Central Subcontracting Office.
Tom is also an active member of the National Council of University
Research Administrators (NCURA). He has served NCURA as regional
Chair-Elect, Chair, Past Chair (2007 – 2009) and elected Board of
Directors (National Level, 2010).
SPA: Expert and speakers’ biographies
Fall 2011  4
Research administration training
Robin Elices
… joined the Office of the Vice President for Finance (VPF) in March
2008, and is responsible for sponsored accounting, property and travel
operations, as well as VPF communications and community training.
Robin brings over 30 years of experience in university administration to
the role. After eight years at the University of Michigan Hospital and
Medical School, she joined MIT in 1988. She has since worked as
administrative officer in a variety of interdisciplinary research
laboratories and centers and in academic departments in both the Schools
of Science and Engineering. She has served on a number of Institute-wide
committees and is a fellow of MIT’s Leader-to-Leader program. Robin
accepted the role of Co-Chair for the Research Administration
Coordinating Committee (RACC) in September 2010 after serving as a
member of RACC. She also served as a member of the Research
Administration Improvement Initiative (RAII) Steering Committee.
Danielle Khoury-Galou
… came to work at MIT in 2008 as a manger of external financial
reporting. She and her team produce the Institute’s financial statements
(the Treasurer’s Report), the financial statements for MIT’s pension and
postretirement benefit plans, the A-133 report on annual expenditures
under federal awards, and the Brown Book (MIT’s internal report of
sponsored research activity). They also prepare quarterly financial
packages to aid senior management in their decision making and
strategic initiatives.
Prior to working at MIT, Danielle worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in
their audit and assurance practice in both their London and Boston offices
and in my last few years with them began to specialize in not-for-profit
accounting, with a focus on higher education institutions.
Timothy Vacha
--- is Supervisor of the Government team in Sponsored Accounting. He
started working at MIT in 1981 and worked part-time for 15 years in
numerous departments including Physical Plant (now Facilities),
Property/OFMS, Housing, Stock room, & CAO (now VPF). He started full
time in Sponsored Accounting in 1995.
Currently, he still does most of the NIH work, including monthly NIH
salary cap adjustments, cost-sharing funding entries, checking of Notice
of Grant Awards, audits, closeouts, & Quarterlies. As the Government
team’s supervisor, he verifies & signs off on all reports to the Government
SPA: Expert and speakers’ biographies
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Research administration training
including quarterlies, interims, semi-annuals, annuals, & finals. He
tracks closeouts & quarterly reports monthly & assists in clearing all
money that comes in to MIT’s cash account for payments.
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