Heather Duda began her professional path as an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College, an open-enrollment, private liberal arts/public CC institution in Southern Ohio. She transitioned into academic administration while at Rio Grande, a transition that led her to the role of Founding Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities at the University of Mount Union in Northeastern Ohio. Since February 2024, Heather has been serving as the Director of Grants, working across campus to identify funding opportunities and provide support to project leaders from the project initiation phase through the application submission and on to the funded project’s implementation work.