In May, Jill Aronson Pfaendtner began serving as the director of strategic research collaborations, a new role within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR).
(Megan Mendenhall / UNC Research)
Pfaendtner is responsible for advancing the strategic goals of the organization by promoting collaborative and team science. She also provides oversight and strategy implementation for the 13 pan-campus centers and institutes that are situated within OVCR and promotes innovation and entrepreneurship across UNC-Chapel Hill by connecting researchers with external public and private organizations.
Pfaendtner joins Carolina from the University of Washington in Seattle where she worked as a research administrator for a variety of interdisciplinary institutes and initiatives spanning AI, clean energy, and biotech. She has 20 years of experience establishing and growing non-profit operations for academic, research, and industry programs. She has an MEd in educational leadership & policy studies from the University of Washington and a BA in religion and Spanish from Kalamazoo College.
UNC Research spoke to Pfaendtner about her previous experience and her goals for this new position.
Tell us about your career in research administration.
My first university role was in an interdisciplinary biotechnology program, which gave me a peek into the labs of many different kinds of researchers. Each one is a little world unto itself! I enjoy learning what makes each of these microcosms tick and how they fit into the larger university cosmos.
Since then, I’ve been attracted to interdisciplinary initiatives and have held a variety of roles at the institute and college levels focused on growing impactful research programs, providing shared services and infrastructure, and identifying and reducing barriers to working across disciplines.
How have your previous roles prepared you for this position?
I’ve supported a dozen or more different research institutes, centers, and core facilities over the years. Even though I am working with disciplines and subject areas that are new to me, I feel like I understand this space well.
I have a a strong sense of empathy with teams like these. I also have a deep respect for collaborative research and its ability to advance an organization’s mission. Each role has helped me understand more about the ingredients needed to run a successful center, so I hope to effectively transmit what I’ve learned about this recipe when it is useful.
What has been your favorite part of this new position so far?
Getting to know the people around Carolina has been delightful. I think most universities think of themselves as collaborative, but it’s been fun to see how that is truly embodied in the culture here. Working with colleagues who are similarly mission-driven is the best part of working in higher ed.
What would you like to accomplish in the next year?
I would love to find meaningful ways to work with each of the institutes and centers that have their home in OVCR. Each unit has its own mission, strengths, and aspirations, so there’s certainly not a formula for how to support them. But they do have many of the same challenges, and I enjoy finding ways to translate good ideas into new contexts.
Anything else you’d like to add about your new role?
This is an interesting moment for researchers using artificial intelligence and machine learning in their work. In my initial conversations, it’s been clear almost everyone is thinking about their data — how to collect, standardize, store, share, and leverage it.
It’s exciting to think about the new types of cross-disciplinary collaborations that will be possible in this future. I’m interested in learning what structures support this type of work and anticipating the changes and opportunities that we’ll have as an organization.