President Charles M. Vest announced a realignment of the Office of Sponsored Programs. OSP Director Julie Norris will report to Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Glenn P. Strehle and will also have a "very strong working linkage" to Vice President for Research and Dean for Graduate Education J. David Litster.
"MIT is fortunate indeed to have Julie Norris, who is widely acknowledged as one of the nation's leading research administrators and policy spokespersons," Dr. Vest said. "Her organization faces the challenge of providing the best possible support to faculty and research staff in an increasingly complex federal regulatory environment.
"More challenging still is to set new paradigms for research and educational programs in partnership with private industry. The structure we are adopting recognizes both the primacy of providing service to our faculty and other researchers, and the importance of smooth linkages to financial operations."
Dr. Litster commented, "The policy and regulatory questions facing university research in the next few years will be critical ones for MIT. The national perspective that Ms. Norris's experience brings to these matters will be very valuable."
"With the advent of SAP, the new accounting system, I look forward to working even more directly with this office, which oversees the administration of three-fifths of MIT's revenues," Mr. Strehle said.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 2, 1996.
