Norma Allewell. Photo by Kris Snibbe.

Harvard has a new associate vice president for sponsored programs and technology transfer, Norma Allewell, who will help the University stay abreast of changes in the nature of sponsored research.

Allewell, who started Jan. 4, is taking on a job recently given a new title and charged with new responsibilities. She will deal with issues such as determining intellectual property rights when industry and academia collaborate on projects, handling increased federal demands for accountability, and keeping up with rapidly evolving fields such as computer science and life sciences.

"It's very exciting and I think it's a tremendous opportunity," Allewell said. "The research frontier has been moving forward at an exponential rate and the range of possibilities is enormous."

Allewell is well-equipped to work amid such changes. Before coming to Harvard, she was the vice provost for research and graduate/professional education at the University of Minnesota. Before that, she was vice provost for arts, sciences, and engineering. She moved to Minnesota as head of biochemistry for their College of Biological Sciences.

Harvard's Vice President for Finance, Elizabeth Huidekoper, said Allewell was hired because the University needs someone in the position who has a number of special qualifications: a research background, the perspective of a principal investigator, strong connections with federal agencies, and excellent management skills.

"Norma has it all," Huidekoper said. "She has an exceptional academic background. She is respected in the research world. She is well-known as an effective committee worker in Washington. She is a terrific manager. She is totally optimistic and hands-on and someone who gets things done. She has been successful in many different roles at the University of Minnesota and at Wesleyan University."

Huidekoper said Allewell will provide leadership to improve systems and procedures, help guide the newly created Research Policy Committee, and work with the Schools to support faculty.

Allewell said she enjoys working in university administration. She said the breadth of issues, the talented and successful people one deals with, and the chance to have a long-lasting impact on an institution are attractive to her.

"Universities are changing rapidly now, so it's very challenging," Allewell said.

The East is not unknown turf for Allewell. She received her doctorate degree in molecular biophysics and biophysical chemistry from Yale University and started a new Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry while on the faculty at Wesleyan University before she headed to Minnesota.

Allewell is a native of Canada and grew up in southern Ontario, gaining her bachelor's degree in biochemistry from McMaster University. She is the past president of the Biophysical Society and has served on many review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.