Northwestern University

Office for Research

Promoting, Facilitating, and Enhancing Research at Northwestern Univerisity

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Office for Research Planning, Finance and Communications

Meg McDonald, Executive Director

Meg McDonald is currently the Executive Director of the Office for Research Planning, Finance and Communications (ORPFC). She joined the staff of the Vice President for Research as Director of Finance and Administration in January of 1999, and was promoted to Director of the Office for Research Planning and Operations in September 2003. While working in the Office for Research, she has served as a member of two study sections for the National Institutes of Health.

Immediately prior to her joining the Office for Research, she was the Associate Director of Executive Education at the Kellogg School of Management, where she held a variety of positions over the course of 14 years. Her first position at Northwestern was at the Placement Center, which she joined in 1983 upon entering Northwestern's School of Music to pursue a Masters in Vocal Performance. Upon completion of her music degree (graduating Pi Kappa Lambda), Meg sang professionally for a number of years with companies such as Chicago Opera Theater and Evanston's Light Opera Works, concurrent with her employment at Northwestern. In January 1995, she entered Kellogg's Executive Master's Program, earning an MBA in December 1996. She also holds a BFA in Music Theater (Phi Kappa Phi) from Illinois Wesleyan University.

While at Northwestern, Meg has been involved in a number of University groups and committees. She chaired the Research Metrics Committee, was the Project Leader for Phase I the Research Administration Roles and Responsibilities project, and is currently a member of the Financial Management System Advisory Committee (FMSAC), the Advisory Committee for Human Resources Staffing and Consulting, several Project Café workgroups, the Chicago Campus Planning Committee, and the Child Care Committee. She is a former President and Treasurer of ANUW (Association of Northwestern University Women) and remains an active member. She served as Northwestern's representative on the Board of the McGaw YMCA in Evanston from 2003 through 2005, and is now the chair of their Human Resources committee. She was an early participant in Kellogg's program for executive women alumni and assisted in the development of this new initiative. Meg is active in the music program at St. David's Episcopal Church in Glenview, where she lives with her husband and son.