Rhonda Harmon

What is your title?

Administrative Assistant

What month and year did you start at Northwestern?

April 2025

Tell us a bit about your Northwestern journey.

My journey with Northwestern is very short. It started with me looking for a massive career change and finding a place in the Center for Comparative Medicine. Although I knew nothing about the fields of research, I was given the opportunity to be part of the administrative team assisting researchers succeed.

What do you find to be the most rewarding and fulfilling aspect of your work? 

Since I work in the Quality Assurance and Training office, I enjoy helping students and researchers work through the onboarding process and helping them achieve their technical training goals. It’s a joy to help them sort out the process, get on the right track, register for the needed training, and then move on to valuable research. For the staff I work with, it’s a joy to feed them candy all day – there’s a large candy dish at the front desk.

What’s your favorite spot on campus? 

I work on the Chicago campus and I’m an architectural fan, so I enjoy walking along the bridges, through the buildings, looking out at the amazing structures that make up Chicago and Northwestern. The historic architecture of these buildings and the way they are connected to one another is amazing. I love that I can walk four blocks, all inside, to get lunch or just for a stroll. It’s great on the cold and snowy days.

What’s something you couldn’t function without? 

What I cannot function very well without is caffeine and dual monitors. These are my must haves. I usually have a trenta Starbucks on my desk that I drink throughout the week. When I need to work on my laptop, that tiny screen is a nightmare.

What’s on your bucket list? 

I would love to visit the Dolomite Mountains in Europe. They’ve been on my bucket list for several years – ever since I saw them on a screensaver.

What’s an interesting fact about you? 

I am a certified scuba diver and have dived in the icy waters of Alaska and the warm waters of the Barrier Reef.