After only a few years at ICNAM, the professor who headed the center, Miguel Jose Yacaman, moved to UT San Antonio and brought the center with him. Wanting to remain in Austin, Bridgewater began looking at other opportunities at UT.
With her significant research administration experience, Bridgewater found a position at the Oden Institute (ICES at the time) as a Senior Administrative Associate for the Center for Predictive Engineering and Computational Sciences (PECOS) headed by Bob Moser.
“I was drawn to the environment because it was very international,” said Bridgewater. “We had researchers, postdocs, and students from several different countries. Because I was also from another country, it felt like a community, like I was really part of the team.”
In 2012, Bridgewater was invited to apply for the position of Executive Assistant and Office Manager (later reclassified to Research Administration Manager in 2015 to describe her role more accurately), in which she would be responsible for overseeing the research administration and HR for the entire institute.
“I had to learn how to manage people, since it was something I had never done before. I took a lot of training courses, and I made some mistakes early on that I have learned from.”
In 2019, Bridgewater’s position was again reclassified to Assistant Director of Research Administration and HR. While she had already been a part of the leadership team, this formalized her leadership role at the Institute. 2019 was also the year that Bridgewater became a Certified Research Administrator (CRA).
When COVID-19 hit in spring 2020, the University and the Institute had to adapt to the many changes and challenges the pandemic brought with it.
“Early in the pandemic was like a rollercoaster because there were so many unknowns. I had to manage my own emotions and my own fears and lead a team at the same time,” said Bridgewater.
The main things Bridgewater learned from the pandemic: how to be a more compassionate leader and the importance of having a strong team. “Everyone had different needs and different stresses. I had to step in, and other team members were willing to step in. We are a very good team,” she said.
Currently, Bridgewater manages the HR team and oversees 13 research administrators who provide support to 25 research centers and groups here at the Institute. It is her job to ensure that faculty and their groups have the administrative support they need.
Most recently, Bridgewater earned her Society for Human Resource Management Professional (SHRM-CP) Certification. From September to December, she took the Human Resource Management Certificate Program at the UT Center for Professional Education to help her prepare to take the exam. Once the course ended, she continued to study and prepare for several months.
“It was challenging to balance a full-time job, and my personal life while also making time to study for the exam,” she said. “This certification was important to my personal and professional development; it helped me expand the knowledge and skills that are needed to contribute in an efficient and effective way to the success of the Oden Institute.”