Mike Marcinkowski
Research Development Associate, Research Development Office
Mike Marcinkowski began editing grant proposals as an exit strategy from a rapidly declining print journalism industry. Meeting newspapers’ daily demand for collaborative storytelling turned out to be valuable training, and he is now in his 15th year in grant/research development. Starting at a private consulting firm, he has also worked at Saint Louis University, and for the past year in the Research Development Office at WashU. Overall, he has been involved with around 700 proposals and helped secure funds for a wide range of projects, from daycare owners seeking new playground equipment to astrophysicists adding instruments to the International Space Station. He does not have advanced science training but aims to make proposers’ ideas accessible and perhaps even intriguing to other non-experts.