I provide chief-of-staff-level capacity to university and research institution leaders — running cross-unit coordination, managing government and industry relationships, and turning strategy into execution. I've done this work from the inside: as chief of staff to the dean of one of the world's largest engineering colleges, after more than a decade running a research university's Washington office and a career spent moving science and technology priorities through Capitol Hill and Federal agencies.
Partnership & government relations experience with
I started on Capitol Hill for a U.S. House committee — coordinating more than 200 hearings a year and learning how institutions actually get things done in Washington. From there, a major research university asked me to build its Washington presence from scratch. I ran that office for over a decade: representing the university before Congress, Federal agencies, embassies, and industry and nonprofit partners, and setting the agenda for how the institution showed up in Washington.
That led to running my own government relations and advocacy shop — building coalitions, shaping policy positions, and representing science, technology, and manufacturing organizations before Congress and Federal funding agencies, including leading a national academic research-computing association's Washington office.
By the time one of the world's largest engineering colleges needed a chief of staff for its new dean, I already had the fluency the role demanded. I drove operations and external engagement for the dean's office: leading strategic workshops with industry partners, managing high-stakes relationships with donors and alumni, and running the connective work that turns a dean's priorities into results.
That's the work I do — as capacity you bring in, not a seat you have to fill.
Engagements are scoped to what your office actually needs — a defined project, a fixed number of days per month, or ongoing support through a transition period.
Leading initiatives from priority to follow-through, across departments that don't naturally talk to each other.
Representing your institution before Congress, Federal agencies, and industry partners.
Handling high-stakes relationships with the discretion major donors and corporate partners require.
The day-to-day machinery that lets a president's or dean's office actually execute on its priorities.
Some of it is measurable: faster decisions, clear ownership, less rework, stronger coordination across units that used to operate as silos. Some of it isn't — a leadership team that has room to think instead of just react, a sense of steady progress replacing constant urgency.
The through-line is momentum: when priorities are clear and execution is steady, institutions move instead of stall.
This role runs on trust and context, not formal authority — influence has to be earned quickly, through credibility rather than title. You end up holding a lot: tension, competing priorities, things people won't say out loud in a bigger meeting.
And when it's going well, it often looks like nothing is happening — no crisis, no escalation, just steady work. That's the job, not the absence of it.
Engagements are structured around your institution's specific need — a fixed number of days per month, a defined project, or ongoing support through a transition period. We'll scope it together in an initial conversation.