Staff
Mary Beth Curtin serves as assistant vice president of Strategic Research Initiatives
for the Division of Research at Binghamton University and oversees all activities
within the office. She previously served as founding associate director for the University’s
New York State Center of Excellence in Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging
and administrative director for the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center
in Energy-Smart Electronic Systems. She also served as the University’s director of
federal relations, where she managed research-based legislative initiatives to advance
the University’s mission and priorities with federal officials, their staff, and related
agencies. Curtin spent 15 years in the University’s Office of Sponsored Programs Development,
advancing to the level of senior grant and contract administrator. She has a certificate
in Government Acquisition and Contracting, a MAT degree in teaching, a MA in biological
sciences, and a BA in biological sciences, all from Binghamton University. A graduate
of the 2016 HERS Wellesley Institute, Curtin serves on the Board of Directors of the
Binghamton University Alumni Association and also served as chair of the Board of
Directors of the Binghamton Center for Emerging Technologies. She is active in the
National Organization of Research Development Professionals and the National Council
of University Research Administrators and Binghamton University Women.
Michael Jacobson serves as Research Development Specialist in the Office of Strategic
Research Initiatives, where he helps faculty and staff develop research and grant
proposals. He also helps conduct community outreach programs to apply the broader
impacts of research performed at Binghamton University. In his previous position as
a principal investigator and project director at Binghamton University’s Public Archaeology
Facility, he helped government agencies and industry clients with cultural resource
compliance and strategies for historic preservation. He also conducted original research
on the historic period of New York State. He investigated production and consumption
patterns at 19th century farmsteads across New York. He established a research program
supported by the National Park Service for studying and preserving New York’s Revolutionary
War battlefields. He also developed community collaborations with descendant communities
and other stakeholders to create preservation strategies and promote community sustainability
by recognizing the value of cultural resources. Jacobson has published articles on
his research on Colorado’s Ludlow Massacre as well as created digital media to present
the results of his research and aid community outreach. Jacobson holds a doctorate
and MA in anthropology from Binghamton University and a BA in anthropology from Fort
Lewis College in Colorado.
Robert Lawrence serves as a Research Development Specialist in the Office of Strategic
Research Initiatives (OSRI). In this capacity, he promotes interdisciplinary research
collaboration, and provides support and leadership in the development of campus initiatives
and proposals that include multiple faculty members. He is particularly focused on
working with researchers in the Health Sciences Transdisciplinary Area of Excellence.
Before joining Binghamton University, he studied chemistry as an undergraduate at
the University of Utah and biochemistry as a doctoral student at Arizona State University.
He trained as a research scientist at those institutions in the fields of proteomics,
X-ray crystallography and virology. As a post-doctoral researcher, he had the opportunity
to conduct research, develop outreach efforts and lead an undergraduate internship
program as a member of the BioXFEL National Science Foundation Science and Technology
Center. Lawrence also brings experience working in the fields of bioengineering, public
health and science writing. He is a member of the National Association of Science
Writers and the National Organization of Research Development Professionals.