Samantha J. Westcott has been in the field of research administration since 1992. Sam began her work at Northwestern University preparing proposals and then negotiating agreements for an applied research laboratory and then moved to the sponsored research office as a research administrator and was responsible for many pre-award and post-award activities for the schools of medicine, dentistry and law. Desiring a change in climate, she left Northwestern for UCLA in 1996, and there served in many capacities at both the departmental and central levels. After starting a family, Sam moved to the California Institute of Technology to be closer to her home near Pasadena. At Caltech, Sam was senior and lead Grant Manager for the Division of Biology responsible for research administration, including pre-award and post-award functions and training. Sam was then recruited back to the University of California to work as Assistant Director at the Irvine campus. Currently, Sam is the Manager of the Sponsored Research Team for Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles where she provides leadership and qualitative management of research administration staff at The Saban Research Institute.
Sam is a long-standing member of NCURA, beginning in 1992 to attend her first regional meeting. She became an active member and eventually began presenting at the local, regional, and national levels in 1995. She has led workshops on wide-ranging aspects of research administration, and for many years conducted a workshop on professional presentations and public speaking. Sam has also served NCURA as presenter, discussion leader, speaker, and TV panelist since 1995.
Sam has served as a Regional Officer as Secretary-Elect for 2007 and Secretary of Region VI in 2008. In serving the organization for business and program meetings, Sam has been a member of the program committee for regional meetings, the 2000 ERA meeting, and the 41st and 51st Annual Meetings (2009). She has served on and chaired both the Region VI Outstanding Achievement Award committee, and the Region VI Travel Award Committee. She has also served as an NCURA ERA Cookbook Editor in the past. Sam is thrilled with the opportunity to serve her many NCURA Departmental Administration colleagues as a member of the DRA Workshop faculty. In 2010, Sam was elected to the NCURA Board.
