Mark Featherston is Chief of Staff at the Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors (OVPR), and the Interim Director for the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) at the University of Texas at Austin.
Mark Featherston began his journey on the Forty Acres 12 years ago. He spent 11 years working at the OSP before becoming the Chief of Staff at OVPR. In late 2022, the previous director of OSP left and, based on Featherston’s experience as a proven leader in the office, he was asked to step in as the Interim Director of the OSP until the office found someone permanent.
The Office of Sponsored Projects is the central office for managing all the research grants and contracts at UT Austin. As Interim Director, Featherston is responsible for leading a large and diverse unit of pre and post award sponsored project administrators who support the growing UT research enterprise. It involves direct management of personnel and the processes around grant and contract management.
In contrast, Featherston’s role as Chief of Staff involves providing counsel and support to the Vice President for Research, Daniel Jaffe, and the Deputy Vice President for Research, Jennifer Lyon Gardner, assisting with the strategic, operational and policy needs of the portfolio. These needs vary day to day and involve special projects, policy development, research compliance and anything related to research administration.
However, for the last several months, Featherston has dedicated much of his time to the OSP Interim Director role as it is quite a significant operation.
"The Chief of Staff role involves getting new initiatives, new projects off the ground, things that I may not be directly managing day to day in the long term, while the Interim Director role involves day to day leadership of ongoing operations of a very important, impactful and visible unit," he said.
Regardless, Featherston loves working in each role as both have aspects that he really enjoys.
"I do love managing and leading people," he said. "So that aspect of the Interim Director job has been fun. The Chief of Staff role is also really interesting because of the diversity in the projects that I'm involved in."
Professional Journey
Apart from his undergraduate years in Tucson, studying at the University of Arizona, Featherston has spent most of his life living in Texas. He studied public administration in graduate school at Texas State to pursue a career in public service.
Featherston has worked for different public agencies, including state agencies and a municipality. His introduction to grant writing and development happened during graduate school when he was interning for a local nonprofit organization.
He was interested in similar work after graduating and found a job in UT’s Office of Sponsored Projects, reviewing and negotiating research grants and contracts which opened the door to the world of research administration.
As a native Texan, UT Austin has always held a special place in Featherston’s heart, as - the flagship university of the Lone Star State. What piqued his interest in working for the University though was the ability to support its mission - achieving excellence in teaching, research and public service - and the multitude of ways the work at UT directly impacts both the local community and the world at large.
"Having the opportunity to contribute to [UT Austin’s] mission has just been really special and helped me find my niche in public service work. I really love the open and innovative culture and environment of the university setting."
"It’s Still the Place I Fell in Love with 15 Years Ago."
Featherston is a father of two young children and, therefore, spends most of his time off work with his family. He loves helping his kids with their extracurricular activities. His daughter is into gymnastics and his son likes baseball as well as other sports.
"With a busy work and family life, I don’t currently have much time for personal hobbies, but I'm really enjoying being a tee-ball coach at the moment!"
He is an avid sports fan and enjoys being outdoors. He used to play a lot of sports, especially basketball. Now he enjoys watching games, particularly collegiate athletics.
Featherston has lived in Austin for the past 15 years and has seen the city grow. But he thinks the city has not changed much in spirit.
"What's unique about Austin and what drew me here and continues to keep me here is he intersection of Texas traditions and the friendly people, combined with an open-minded, progressive culture. I also love BBQ and tacos, so that helps too!"