February 1, 2022

Dear Colleagues,  

I am writing to you with great news. Beginning today, February 1, Tonya Jenkins joins the ORA team to serve as the new Associate Vice President for Research Administration Services (RAS).  

Ms. Jenkins joins us from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she served as the Director of Finance and Research Administration and led the Research Administration Service Center within the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and focused on sponsored research activities. She brings over 16 years of experience in research administration, and in her last role, she served as the lead financial officer and provided leadership and direction in the areas of accounting, budgeting, research administration, strategic planning, and analysis. Tonya received her bachelor's degree in psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and a masters' degree in Research Administration from Johns Hopkins University.  

In her role as AVP for RAS, she will lead the nine RAS unit directors and two central RAS directors in supporting Emory's research goals. She will partner with administration, faculty, and research administrative staff to strengthen the RAS infrastructure further and allow our RAS staff to deliver best-in-class service to our research community. We have built strong relationships with our campus stakeholders over the past few years, and I have the utmost trust that Tonya's vast experience in research administration will help drive our shared services to greater excellence.  

As we welcome Tonya to our team, I would also like to say a special thank you to Becky Rogers, Francine Davis, and Beatriz Ibanez-Alvarez, who stepped up to serve as leaders during this time of transition and ensured continuity of our RAS services. We have much breadth and knowledge across our team, and I am confident that we will make great strides in our RAS support in the coming years.

Please join me in welcoming Tonya to the team!  

Thank you,  

Robert Nobles  

Vice President for Research Administration