Office of Sponsored Programs Executive Director Rebecca Caravati to Retire

Rebecca Caravati, a longtime Georgia public servant who is currently executive director for Georgia Tech’s Office of Sponsored Programs and interim vice president for research administration, has announced her retirement effective Dec. 31.

For more than 25 years, Caravati served in finance and research administration for the University System of Georgia. In addition to leading sponsored programs and research administration, she currently serves as general manager of the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC) and the Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation (GTARC).

“Rebecca has served with integrity and careful expertise, infusing our research organization with innovative approaches to research administration,” said Chaouki Abdallah, executive vice president for Research at Georgia Tech. “While helping grow a research enterprise capable of supporting over $1.2 billion in annual new support, Rebecca reimagined and implemented contracting and fiscal operations responsive to the complexities and magnitude of external support for our faculty and their research. She will be missed, and we wish her all the best in her retirement.” 

During her expansive career, Caravati was the deputy director of finance and research administration for the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), capping 23 years of service to GTRI before serving the University of Georgia Foundation as chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Her expertise in Federal Acquisition Regulations cost accounting and complex financial management helped lead Georgia Tech through several decades of significant research portfolio expansion. Caravati’s advice and guidance are often sought by universities and institutions around the country seeking to build or fine-tune fiscal operations under complex and continuously evolving regulatory principles.

“Georgia Tech’s greatest asset is truly its people. It has been a great honor to work alongside the most talented research administration and research performance teams in the nation,” Caravati said. “Behind every research project, there is a talented and steadfast team supporting the financial and administrative infrastructure — empowering our scientists and scholars to solve the world’s great challenges.”

Effective Jan. 1, 2022, Cynthia “Cindy” Hope will lead sponsored programs operations as interim vice president for research administration. Hope was the assistant vice president for research and director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at the University of Alabama before joining Georgia Tech in 2019. At Georgia Tech, she serves as the Office of Sponsored Programs’ director of government and not-for-profit contracts and grants. Hope previously served on the board of the Council on Governmental Relations and chaired its costing policies committee. She is a former chair and remains on the executive committee of the Federal Demonstration Partnership, and she served six years on the National Science Foundation’s business and operations advisory committee.

Also effective Jan. 1, Robert Foy will serve as interim general manager of GTRC and GTARC. Since 2015, Foy has served as senior director of Georgia Tech’s Institute Finance Support Office and collaborates with campus partners on financial and budget matters related to academic and sponsored programs, administration, internal controls, and compliance. Previously he served as director of academic and research finance and was a member of Georgia Tech’s executive budget team. Prior to Georgia Tech, Foy served as associate dean for financial affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As general manager, Foy will lead financial and day-to-day operations of GTRC and GTARC and facilitate the governance of two boards of trustees comprising industry and community leaders, and appointees of President Ángel Cabrera.