Presenter Dr. Alison Alden:
“The pre-award grants administrator for the Media Lab has a deadline-driven job filled with complicated, ever-changing rules. The manual for how to submit a grant application to the National Institutes of Health, for example, is over 260 pages long. Yet this awardee meets the challenges of his job with skill, efficiency, dedication, and grace. Whether working with MIT’s principal investigators, coordinating efforts with colleagues at other institutions, or shepherding last-minute proposals through the Office of Sponsored Programs, he has a positive outlook that is ‘contagious’ and has ‘a way of bringing others along with him to get things done,’ according to one nominator. A master of the grant submission process, he quickly steps in when help is needed—notably assisting the Media Lab’s finance group during a sudden staffing shortage. Thanks to his 100 percent success rate in completing grants, he has enabled researchers to spend more time focusing on science and less on procedure. He has also helped MIT earn roughly $50 million in grants over the years.
“Thank you for Serving the Client so well, Peter Rombult.”