Monitoring Money in a Friendly Office
Lora Griffiths considers colleagues in Office of Sponsored Programs extended family
Name: Lora Griffiths
Position: Research Administrator, Office of Sponsored Programs
Read MoreYears at Duke: 8
What I do at Duke: I create invoices and reports about the many grants and contracts Duke has with outside organizations. Mostly I'm dealing with grants from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Energy. We take the expense figures from each department we work with at Duke and produce invoices and reports for the grants and contract sponsors so they can see that the money they are giving to Duke is being spent properly.
What I love about Duke: The people in my office are like family. We know about each other's children and spouses and enjoy celebrating holidays by eating together.
When I'm not at work I like to: Do cross-stitching. My grandmother taught me to cross-stitch when I was young. I just finished a huge picture that shows church spires from across Russia. It took me eight years, on and off, to finish the picture. It reminds me of my first trip to Moscow 15 years ago. I was so afraid it would be dreary and there would be breadlines, but it was beautiful.
My first paid job: In high school, I was an afterschool teacher's aide with students from kindergarten through third grade. Both my parents are teachers, but the experience convinced me that teaching was not the job for me.
My dream job: I'd love to be a journalist in Hollywood, writing about celebrities. I have a head full of the most mundane facts about celebrities and movies.
To start a conversation with me, ask me about: Movies. My husband and I have a wicked Netflix queue. We watch a lot of weird, foreign movies like "Meet the Fokkens."
A recent book I've read. I'm working through the mystery series by Janet Evanovich about the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. She starts with "One for the Money," then "Two for the Dough." She's written 19, but I'm only up to "Smoking Seventeen."
Something unique in my office: I have 4-inch long model airplanes from when I worked in reservations for Midway Airlines.
A memorable moment at work: Winning the DukeToday Halloween contest for two years running with Connie Tubiolo has been exciting. On the day after Halloween each year we say "We need to start thinking about next year," but it is usually a last minute panic. I have no clue what we will be this year.
Something most people don't know about me: I motivate myself to exercise by trying to walk the distance to where I want to go in North Carolina on vacation. I walk about 3.5 miles a day and over 15 years, I've walked over 13,600 miles. In July, I finished walking the distance to my parents' home in Cullowhee. Now I'm working on walking the distance to the Outer Banks and back, about 260 miles.