Home > People: Who We Are

Who We Are

Alexandra K. Brown, Ph.D., coordinates grant seeking for faculty in the arts and humanities. She comes to the University of Minnesota with a background in grant writing, teaching, and academic research. Alexandra has written successful proposals securing funding from lending agencies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Fulbright, the Tinker Foundation, Harvard, and the University of Texas at Austin. Experience as an NEH panelist, reviewing applications and selecting recipients, enables her to assist faculty in tailoring their proposals to better meet the criteria of grantmakers. In addition to an M.A. in Latin American Studies, Alexandra holds a Ph.D. in Latin American history, with a minor field in slavery, immigration, and labor in the United States. She has conducted archival research in Brazil and published on topics relating to slavery, violence, and the nineteenth-century Brazilian state. Alexandra also maintains an active interest in the arts. She looks forward to assisting arts and humanities faculty in obtaining financial support for the valuable research and creative activity in which they engage.

Services offered include:

• Assistance with funding searches
• Proposal work plan development
• Collaborative proposal development
• Proposal assistance and review
• Substantive editing of proposals
• Proposal package preparation
• Budget development
• Submitting internal and external proposals
• Working with SPA
• Applying for IRB approval

Anna Brailovsky, ABD, coordinates grant seeking in the social sciences. She comes to the University of Minnesota with a wide and diverse background in academic research, writing, editing, and translation from the Russian and German, including a rendition of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Idiot for the Modern Library imprint. She has conducted research and published on topics relating to modern European art, history, and culture from the Romantic era to the present and received several grants from the German government. In her work as an independent consultant, she has worked with faculty in a variety of disciplines from the humanities and social sciences, as well as with major cultural and academic institutions in the US and Germany. Anna holds an MA (and is ABD) in art history from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Economics from Columbia University. She looks forward to working with faculty in the social sciences to craft the strongest possible grant applications in support of their valuable work.

Services offered include:

• Assistance with funding searches
• Proposal work plan development
• Collaborative proposal development
• Proposal assistance and review
• Substantive editing of proposals
• Proposal package preparation
• Budget development
• Submitting internal and external proposals
• Working with SPA
• Applying for IRB approval

Gayle Anderson, Grants Management Coordinator housed in CLA Fiscal Administration, brings eighteen years experience in financial management to her work. Gayle has an extensive background in grants management and coordination, and her experience and established relationships in the University research community enable her to provide valuable assistance to Principal Investigators and Department Administrators as they navigate University/Agency grant submission processes and post-award management. She works closely with the Associate Dean for Research and serves as the CLA proposal approver just prior to her signature.

She is available to assist PIs, department administrators and accountants with the following –

• Budget Development
• Interpreting Agency requirements/guidelines
• Serve as resource for policy questions (pre- and post-award)
• Proposal (Budget) Review
• Serve as liaison between PIs, CLA administrators and University central research systems /offices. i.e. SPA, SFR, OAR, OVPR, EGMS, ECRT and others.

Jennifer R. Thissen, Grants & Administrative Support Specialist, is housed in CLA Fiscal Administration. Jen's position was created in recognition of a greater need for administrative assistance for researchers as they navigate through complex application processes. An experienced and knowledgable grant writer for various environmental and performing arts organizations, Jen is available to assist with the sometimes daunting details of grant submission forms and policies in both pre and post award stages. Additionally, she maintains the CLA Grants Website and other on-line services for the continued web-based growth and development of the Grants Management Team.

Jen is available to assist PIs, department administrators and accountants with the following –

• Funding searches
• Proposal package preparation
• Budget development
• Preparing the Proposal Routing Form (PRF) and other proposal components using the Electronic Grants Management System (EGEMS)
• Interpreting Agency requirements and guidelines
• Serve as resource for policy questions (pre- and post-award)
• Serve as liaison between PIs, CLA administrators and University central research systems /offices. i.e. SPA, SFR, OAR, OVPR, EGMS, ECRT and others.

Read an explanation of research related University acronyms.