Meet the researchers finding fulfilment in leadership and administration

When Brenton DeBoef took on the role of the graduate programme director for his department many years ago, he realised he enjoyed overseeing graduate student recruitment and other managerial aspects.

That’s when a three-part blueprint for his academic career started to emerge in his mind. ‘It was kind of an unofficial plan,’ says DeBoef, then an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Rhode Island. He decided that the first fifteen years or so would be dedicated to pursuing research, teaching and scholarship. ‘And then I thought there’d be another phase, maybe 10 or 15 years, when I did this leadership thing, where I would try to help others be successful,’ says DeBoef.