Madison Gray, JD, director of Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA), died July 12.
One colleague called Gray a tremendous mentor to the entire SPA team.
"She came into UNMC with a true vision for the direction of our sponsored programs office and worked tirelessly to move us forward," said Kris Morrissey, JD, contracts specialist.
"Madison was a brilliant and visionary leader who achieved so much in such little time," said Linda Combs, manager of SPA accounting.
Jennifer Larsen, MD, vice chancellor for research, said Gray oversaw a period of one of the largest increases in sponsored project submissions and awards in UNMC’s history. More impressive, Dr. Larsen said, was that this productivity overlapped with the COVID pandemic, which required new strategies for maintaining an effective team and staff moved to a mostly remote work model.
"Madison, even over a short three years, re-envisioned our sponsored programs administration program, from organizational structure, hand-offs, training and process," Dr. Larsen said. "She was very gifted in quickly assessing the most complicated contracts and cared deeply about developing ‘her people’ as well as meeting all sponsor and other regulations and requirements."
In a 2017 interview, Dr. Gray joked that no one ever dreams of growing up to be a research administrator, a profession she did not know existed when she went to law school. But she found her passion in helping principal investigators follow their dreams through securing grants and other awards.
"She many times spoke to me about being inspired by the opportunity to work on an academic health sciences campus," said Sarah Gloden Carlson, JD, chief compliance officer and interim assistant vice chancellor and director for UNMC Human Resources. "She loved having the privilege to work with and learn from amazing colleagues and leaders and work directly with researchers focused on developing lifesaving therapies and cures.
"She saw it as a huge honor to play a part in supporting this work and was energized by the hopefulness that comes from such important scientific advances that arise with support from sponsored research awards."
Gray once described her job as an intriguing blend of law, science and an occasional healthy dose of crisis management.
"A good sense of humor is an essential skill," she often said.
Morrissey agreed that it was Gray’s personal humanity, along with her personal integrity, that made her a special leader.
"I will hear her voice in my head when I have hard decisions to make," Morrissey said.
Gray came to UNMC in 2019 from Emory University, where she was exposed to UNMC through her work on the National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC) grant. She spent time early in her career as research assistant in a lab and earned her law degree from Vanderbilt University. She loved animals and loved her network of friends across the country, whom she would visit and who visited her.
A memorial event will be held on UNMC’s Omaha campus at a later date. Please watch UNMC Today for further details.
Madison was passionate about her work and she cared deeply about her staff and co-workers. She was proud of the role SPA played in helping all our researchers. I was privileged to be able to call her both colleague and friend. She will be missed.
Madison was a great leader. She cared deeply about her work, UNMC, and everyone she came into contact with. I'll miss her ability to laugh even in hard times.
On behalf of the staff at the Child Health Research Institute, we express our deepest sympathies to the entire VCR/SPA team. Clearly, Madison meant so much to so many and worked with CHRI to navigate uncharted waters and help move our institute forward. We will always be grateful for her guidance and support.
So sad to hear this news. My condolences to her family.
I enjoyed working with Madison her positivity radiated and you naturally felt at ease. She would often tell me "You are in a safe space", which I interpreted free of bias and criticism or emotional harm. She was an great asset to the UNMC team.
Madison was a great colleague and I will miss working with her. Condolences to her family.
Madison was a fantastic colleague. On behalf of the McGoogan Library, she will be greatly missed. Our condolences to her friends, family, and close colleagues.
So sad to hear this news. Condolences to her family and friends.