Longtime Research employee Arocho remembered for hard work, warm spirit

Colleagues remember Thea Arocho as the woman who could fix everything, bring contract and grant talks to completion despite strong wills on opposing sides, and for her relentless good cheer in the Research Division’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) for the past few decades.

Arocho, who retired just a few weeks ago as associate director of research operations, died unexpectedly on Aug. 15, her family said.

"Thea was the heart and soul of ORSP. I worked with Thea for only a short time and very quickly saw the impact she had on so many people at OU,” Susan Robb, assistant vice president for research and sponsored programs, said. “She helped anyone and everyone who needed it, with a smile. She will be remembered as a wonderful colleague and friend."

Since coming to Ohio University in 1989, Arocho was involved in contract negotiations and grant compliance, working with researchers, external sponsors and more. That often meant reining in people who wanted to do things differently than what the grant documents would allow or working to get opposing sides of a contract negotiation to come together on an agreement. Yet she managed to do so with grace and respect, her colleagues said.

“Thea was always looking for positive outcomes so that it was a win-win, and she was creative,” said Joseph Shields, Ph.D., who served as vice president of research and creative activity until earlier this year. “She was skillful when there were competing interests and sometimes some pretty strong, hard-driving personalities on both sides. She was good at coming up with solutions.”

That applied to just about everything she did, said both Jenny Whan and Bethany Spurrier, sponsored program managers who reported to Arocho until her retirement.

“There was never a ‘no’ answer. If there was a problem, she fixed it, no matter what it was or who it was for,” Whan said. “She just had that personality. She knew how to deal with the craziness at OU, the different personalities and how industry worked. I learned a lot from her in the past 23 years and I will miss her so much.”

She was well known for her personality beyond her work acumen, too.

“She was larger than life. She was just so absolutely generous with everything. She was generous with her time, she was generous with her knowledge,” Spurrier said. “She poured into people; she was a big believer in mentorship, and I benefitted from that greatly.”

She would often play Christmas music throughout the year, particularly when stressed. “Christmas this year is going to be extremely hard for all of us,” Whan said.

She was also known for her dedication to the University.

“She loved her job, and she liked the people that she worked with and for. She was a good manager,” said Bob Silva, director of the Tech Transfer Office who often worked with Arocho on contract negotiations. “She was a very, very nice persona consummate team player. She was really devoted to the university and always strove to bring her best efforts to the team.”

Silva noted that he and Arocho were often caught in between sides on negotiations, with faculty members wanting one thing and outside sponsors wanting another. But Arocho always managed to work it out in the best interests of both, he said.

Srdjan Nesic, Ph.D., Russ Professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of the Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology since 2002, echoed that.

“Thea was helping us from her position at ORSP, essentially making all the contracts happen. Thea was unbeatable. She was my most trusted and most helpful person I could possibly imagine in that position,” Nesic said. She would often let Nesic listen in on difficult contract negotiations so he would be aware of the issues. “If there was one person in the whole of OU administration that I would hold up and say, ‘This was a person who helped us a lot,’ that person was Thea Arocho.”

Shields said Arocho stepped in to lead the Research and Sponsored Programs office on an interim basis more than once during her career and played an important role in maintaining continuity in that office throughout her tenure.

“She had quite a remarkable depth of knowledge about contracts and grants, and that was important for bringing in funding to advance the university’s mission,” he said. Other people in and outside of the office looked to her as a resource, and she was generous in sharing her expertise. “Thea wanted the University, and our faculty, students and staff, to see success. She was very committed to the University.”

Services for Arocho are being held Friday, Aug. 26, at 11 a.m. at Bigony-Jordan Funeral Home in Albany. Visitation hours are scheduled there from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25. A full obituary is on the funeral home’s website.