Associate Vice Chancellor Sherrie Settle to Retire

Sherrie Settle, associate vice chancellor for sponsored programs and regulatory compliance, will retire on April 1, 2025, after serving the university for nearly a decade. 

“Sherrie is one of the sharpest and most dedicated people I’ve had the pleasure to work with. Throughout her time at the helm of sponsored programs, she’s helped our research community navigate several turbulent situations with astounding skill,” said Alyson Wilson, interim vice chancellor of research and innovation. “Her talents will be missed, but I’m equally excited to see her embark on a new chapter.”

Settle joined NC State in 2016 as the director of sponsored programs. She was named the interim executive director for sponsored programs and regulatory compliance services in 2020, then promoted to her current role in 2021. 

“I knew this university was where I wanted to finish my career,” Settle said. 

An alumna of the University of Virginia, Settle had to cast allegiances aside early in her career — when circumstances brought her to Blacksburg, Virginia, which led to her first job in research administration, working for UVA’s bitter sports rival Virginia Tech. 

Flash forward about a couple of decades, and Settle would again find herself hopping from one rival university to another, this time in the Research Triangle. She worked for UNC-Chapel Hill from 1997 to 2013, followed by a short stint with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, before deciding she was ready for a homecoming of sorts.

Although she’s a Virginia native, Settle said by that point in her life, she considered herself a citizen of North Carolina. 

“I’d been here for a while, working for a university and for state government. And NC State was so much closer to the kind of institution I’d started at, Virginia Tech — the land-grant institution for that state, with a very rich agricultural program,” Settle explained. “So it was a lot like coming home without having to move back to my home state.”

She said staying in North Carolina and moving back to a major research university also made sense because she already had many connections from her time working in the field and for DHHS, including some at NC State.

“I had relationships with people who worked in different parts of the university and had a pretty good idea that I’d be coming into a collaborative culture, which would be a good fit for me,” Settle said. 

During her nine-plus years here, Settle said she’s most proud of how her team and their partners on campus responded to critical events, like COVID-19. 

“It’s the things you don’t necessarily plan for. I did not have a pandemic on my career bingo card,” Settle said. “And while it was obviously something I’d never want our world to experience again, it also turned out to be an example of how our research administration community could really work together to meet a challenge.”

One of many changes COVID caused to society is how a lot of knowledge workers report to work. When Settle first started her career, remote work was practically unimaginable, let alone a reality. 

Reflecting back on those early days, as several inches of snow still blanketed much of the local area, she couldn’t help but recall her very first day at Virginia Tech. It was a snow day. 

“And because remote work was not a thing, the university was closed,” Settle said. “So I didn’t actually go to work on what was technically my first day on the job.”

Off the hook from work, she spent the day sledding by the campus duck pond. It wasn’t exactly all downhill from there, though. Suffice to say, she’s never had an easier day at work since then.

Now, more than three decades later, Settle knows better than most just how hectic a day in the life of a research administrator can get. So, as fellow members of her field should understand, it’ll likely take a little while for her to get used to the pace of retired life.

“I’ve been in this field for 33 years, serving as a representative of some institution or another for that entire time,” Settle said. “Not being that anymore is going to be a bit of an adjustment.”

In the near term, Settle plans to spend more time with extended family. Then, starting this fall, she’ll head overseas for what she hopes will be the first of many adventures. 

“I hope to do some travel without being so very tethered to the electronic leash,” Settle quipped.

But no matter how far she gets from NC State, the university and its ever-advancing research enterprise won’t be too far out of her mind. 

“I’ll always be a fan of Wolfpack research,” Settle said. “So I’ll be watching from the sidelines to see how this university continues to impress and improve.”

The Office of Research Innovation is actively seeking applicants to fill the vacancy of Settle’s position. Candidates interested in applying for the position of associate vice chancellor for sponsored programs and regulatory compliance should submit an application at: https://jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/214854.