When Susan Henry was a young professor of genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine she found herself acting as a liaison between graduate students and faculty; she says she just had a “knack” for that kind of work. Henry’s first administrative position was the director of PhD students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Acting in this position Henry says she accomplished things that she never could have as a PI “just sitting on committees.”
Henry says that research and administration “are two separate activities with different skill sets.” But the skill sets are often complementary. In fact, her investment in developing administrative skills has paid dividends to her scientific career. When looking for her next research position, Henry was able to expand her search beyond the universities offering tenured positions to those who were looking for administrator-scientists. By taking an administrative job at Carnegie Mellon, she was able ...
