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After 16 years of dedicated service to the Department, Rhonda is leaving for a promotion with OSR.

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Rhonda Webster

Rhonda Clark Webster was born and raised in Pittsboro, NC. She has 1 sister, Janice Clark Warfford who works for UNC in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology. Rhonda recently got married to James Addison Webster, III on June 12 and is the proud mom of four kids (Jordan, Katherine, Noah and Addison) and two step kids (Addison and Allie). Rhonda has worked for UNC-Chapel Hill for almost nineteen years and spent the past sixteen of them in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

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Rhonda started as an administrative assistant to the 3rd floor Mary Ellen Jones faculty (1998-1991) where she assisted professors in various secretarial duties, processed grants and travel, and compiled inventory. She was then promoted to the chair’s assistant (1999-2005) where she maintained the chair’s calendar, assisted with faculty recruitments and promotions, coordinated the department seminar program, organized department picnics, holiday parties, and receptions. She also served as a primary contact for faculty grant preparations and oversaw more of the overall pre-award process for the department.

Since 2005, Rhonda shifted to working on pre-awards as her main responsibility. She has been accountable for preparing grant applications and for reviewing the financial needs of faculty and planning budgets on all new grant submissions, continuations, competitive renewals, training grants, fellowships, sub-contracts, university grants, and any grant that is being relocated from other institutions to the department and vice versa. She’s also been in the past two years responsible for organizing the departmental seminars.

Rhonda is a member of the National Council of University Administrators, has completed the Tar Heel Certification Program in Research Administration and has 16 years of experience working with the preparation of grants. She will be starting her new position as a Contracts and Grants Specialist with the Office of Sponsored Research on July 14th. She is excited about her new position, but will miss her Biochemistry “family” very much.

On Thursday, July 3rd, the department had a going away event for Rhonda that was well-attended by many in the department who wished her well and will miss her and her unwavering support. Good luck Rhonda!!