Heather Offhaus currently serves as Director, Grant Review & Analysis, Office of Research, University of Michigan Medical School. Heather has been in research administration since 1994. She joined the Medical School’s Dean’s Office in the pre-award review office as a temp after she had graduated from her masters program and needed to pay rent. Since that time, she has moved through various roles in the review office and become the Director with responsibilities that include overseeing proposal compliance, providing training in grant administration, serving on project lead teams for improvements in the research administration processes, crafting school policy, serving on governance of the university electronic system, and leading the initiative to develop research metrics within the school.
Although at the school level, she serves as the main liaison with the departments for research administration situations that go beyond the ordinary and require "creative solutions." Her favorite answer is always "It depends."
Heather joined NCURA in 1995 and since has been active in both region and national activities. She has been a regular workshop and session presenter at many NCURA conferences. Her presentations are primarily on pre-award topics, but also include post-award, research metrics, staff hiring/training issues, and telecommuting.
In addition to serving on program committees for the region, Pre-Award, and National meetings, she is currently serving on the National Board of Directors. She was Chair of the Mid-America Region in 2005 and has been a member of the Regional Board of Directors since 2004. Heather is proud to have received Region IV’s Distinguished Service Award in 2008 and the Kevin Reed Outstanding New Professional Award in 1998. She enjoys volunteering her time, participating in NCURA, and is happy to have the present challenge of serving on the DRA faculty.
