Diane Domanovics

Number of Years in Research Administration: 35

Institutions: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland; University of South Florida, Tampa

Diane Domanovics currently serves as the Director of Post-Award in the Office of Sponsored Programs at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where she leads both financial and non-financial post-award activities in support of the Division of Research and Innovation. In this role, she oversees award setup and management, effort reporting, invoicing, financial reporting, cash management, and ensures compliance with sponsor and federal regulations. She also leads post-award strategy, compliance, and institution-wide process improvements, collaborating closely with deans, faculty, departments, and other university stakeholders to streamline research administration services, promote operational excellence, and enhance customer service for grant management across the institution.

Prior to her current role, Diane held senior leadership positions at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) for over a decade, including Assistant Vice President for Sponsored Projects. She oversaw both pre-award and post-award research administration functions across the university (excluding the School of Medicine), managing proposal development, contract negotiation, financial oversight, compliance, and audit coordination. Diane also contributed significantly to policy development and the training of faculty and staff in research administration best practices.

Diane began her leadership journey at CWRU in the Controller’s Office, rising through the ranks to become Manager of Grants Accounting. She then spent several years at the University of South Florida, where she served as Associate Director and later Assistant Controller, overseeing post-award financial operations for a large research portfolio. During her time there, she led system implementations, developed internal controls, and conducted campus-wide training programs in grants management and compliance. She later returned to CWRU to take on expanded leadership roles in post-award services before advancing to senior administration.

Diane has made notable contributions to research administration through training development, system implementation, and change management. At CWRU, she created and delivered training programs such as the Administrative Professional Series and Principal Investigator Bootcamp and led efforts to select and implement electronic research administration systems.

Her leadership has been recognized with the President’s Award for Distinguished Service, honoring her outstanding contributions to the university. Diane is known for building strong partnerships across institutions, improving research administration processes, and making services more accessible to faculty, staff, and the broader university community.

She has been a member of the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) since 1996 and is a Certified Research Administrator (CRA). Diane presents at NCURA conferences and serves as an NCURA peer reviewer, supporting institutions nationwide in strengthening their research administration infrastructure.