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Sam Westcott

Institutional Programs Meet the Reviewers-Advisors Sam Westcott

Sam Westcott

 Number of Years in Research Administration: 32

Institutions: Northwestern University, University of California (UCLA and UC Irvine), Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, and California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

 

Sam Westcott works in a leadership role in the Office of Sponsored Programs at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM). She joined the team in the summer of 2022, supporting leadership across all aspects of research administration. In summer 2025, Sam became the Post Award Research Financial Director, where she leads the central Post Award team of Grant Accountants.

Prior to joining UWM, Sam served as Sponsored Research Manager for the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy at Caltech, where she led a team of Grant Managers supporting millions of dollars in research funding and guided researchers throughout the full lifecycle of sponsored awards. She was also responsible for research compliance and policy development and implementation for the Division. Her career at Caltech included 10 years as a Grant Manager in the Division of Biology.

Sam has also provided leadership in research administration, including Clinical Trial Administration and Research Compliance teams, at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and held research administration leadership roles at the University of California, Irvine and University of California, Los Angeles. She began her career at Northwestern University, working at both the departmental and central levels in research administration. Across institutions, she has worked extensively with faculty, department Chairs, senior leadership, and administrative staff, fostering strong collaborative relationships.

Sam is consistently sought out as a trainer and educator for research administration content development and delivery. In 2016, she received NCURA’s National Award for Distinguished Service in Research Administration as well as the Region VI Distinguished Service Award. In 2019, Sam was recognized by NCURA as a Distinguished Educator. Sam has participated in national accreditation evaluation efforts for research administration programs and has taught national workshops on a wide range of topics in research administration. She is a published author of multiple articles in NCURA Magazine and has led and contributed to numerous webinar sessions, NCURA TV programming, and YouTube Tuesday educational videos.