Through the efforts of Marshall’s faculty and staff and the execution of its Strategic Plan, the University’s grant awards are growing. To facilitate and sustain this growth, the Marshall University Research Corporation (MURC) would like to announce the following organizational changes to provide additional resources to the grant acquisition activities of the University.
MURC is integrating its grant development and pre-award activities to provide seamless service to grant applicants, and Ms. Niki Rowe-Fortner will lead the combined unit. As Associate Vice President of Grant Development, Rowe-Fortner oversees a team of grant writers, project managers, and pre-award specialists to increase grant capacity and success throughout Marshall University.
Rowe-Fortner formerly held the position of Director of Grants Development at MURC where she managed the development, writing, and submission of funding applications. Under her leadership, since February 2023, the Grants Development Office has assisted Marshall faculty and staff with 55 funding proposals, with nearly $10 million being awarded to-date. Prior to her time with MURC, Rowe-Fortner served as Director of Federal, Private, & Corporate Relations at the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center and Associate Director at Coalfield Development Corporation, where combined she authored nearly $20 million in successful grant proposals.
Mr. Joe Ciccarello will assume the new role of Associate Executive Director/Senior Awards and Systems Officer. In this role. Ciccarello will be implementing and overseeing needed changes in pre-award systems and processes, with a particular emphasis on submission, archiving, and approval systems and effective utilization of the associated data across the University. In this role, he will work closely with Rowe-Fortner and Mr. Brian Morgan, Vice President for Institutional Research and Planning / Chief Data Officer.
Rowe-Fortner and Ciccarello will report directly to Dr. John M. Maher, Vice President for Research and Executive Director of the Marshall University Research Corporation.