Antoinette (Toni) Lawson is the Associate Director of Administration in the Office of Research Administration and Advancement, University of Maryland, College Park. Toni provides direction and oversight of pre-award and non-financial post-award research administration functions. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Certificate in Finance from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. In 1983, she began her career in research administration as a junior contract administrator at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She joined the Office of Research Administration and Advancement at College Park in 1987 as a Contract Administrator. Since that time, her career and professional growth in research administration spans more than twenty years.

As an active member of NCURA, Toni has served on several NCURA program committees including Financial Research Administration VIII annual program committee and NCURA's AM 50 celebration. She currently is a faculty member on NCURA's Fundamentals of Sponsored Project Administration workshops. In addition, she has been a workshop faculty and panelist on numerous concurrent sessions at national and regional meetings. She teaches several courses in the nationally recognized University of Maryland's Research Administration Certification Program. In addition, she has taught Contract and Grant Regulatory Compliance workshops at several campuses within the University System of Maryland and other non-profit organizations. She enjoys sharing her research administration knowledge and experiences with colleagues and newcomers to research administration.