Jonathan Wakeman

Research administrator

contact information

517-353-3813

wakeman5@msu.edu

Duties

Jon works with IQ faculty (and their lab personnel) and MSU’s Sponsored Programs Administration to coordinate research funding through all phases of the process: identifying and responding to funding opportunities, finalizing awards, and ensuring compliance with award provisions. This includes but is not limited to review of solicitations, budget development and revision, contact with collaborators, transaction review, and assistance with reporting requirements. As part of this process, he ensures that effort for faculty and their lab personnel is associated with relevant accounts. Additionally, he helps faculty monitor other research funding such as gifts and start-up accounts. Jon works closely with his counterpart Lisa Parker who provides similar support for IQ faculty, which allows them to provide backup support for each other when necessary.

About

I began working at MSU in July 2013 after some professional meandering, beginning my career as a government auditor, shifting to a period of teaching, and then returning to accounting and contracting at MSU. I graduated from MSU with an Accounting degree and then worked for eleven years as an auditor with the Defense Contract Audit Agency in the Boston and Washington, DC areas, where I provided audit support to agencies such as DoD, NASA, DOE, DOT, and USAID. After attaining an MA from the University of Massachusetts Boston and teaching credentials from George Mason University, I shifted to teaching English/Language Arts, which began at the American International School in Zagreb, Croatia with grades 5-8 for two years and then continued in Lansing Public Schools at the high school level for fourteen years. In 2013, I was hired as a Research Administrator at MSU in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, working primarily with USAID sponsored awards.

In December 2017, I was drawn to IQ with its intent to blend multi-disciplinary research and feel fortunate to work with faculty and staff that successfully demonstrate IQ’s premise and promise. I also feel fortunate to work under leadership that emphasizes a work/life balance so that I can enjoy travel with my wife of thirty years and share in the never-ending development of my children, both of whom are MSU graduates. I enjoy running, reading, jigsaw puzzles, and language.