Hagan Retires from NIGMS

After more than three decades of service to NIH, Dr. Ann Hagan retired on Mar. 31 as NIGMS’s associate director for extramural activities. At NIGMS, Hagan earned the moniker “problem solver in chief” for her remarkable ability to balance rules with common sense. 

Along with serving as executive secretary to NIGMS’s advisory council, Hagan provided valuable guidance to staff and grantees. She recommended many improvements in day-to-day processes, such as shortening review times, recognizing new and early-career investigators and establishing guidelines for continuing operations in crisis situations.

Hagan is also noted for her tireless support of coworkers. Dr. Susan Gregurick, director of NIGMS’s Division of Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences, said, “I consider her a mentor and a friend. She met with me every month and provided invaluable guidance and assistance in understanding how NIGMS advisory council, grant processes and NIGMS policies and processes work. 

“Her door was always open, and she was the first one to step up and help with a difficult problem,” Gregurick added.

Dr. Laura Moen, former NIGMS scientific review officer and now director of the Division of Extramural Research Activities at NHLBI, noted that Hagan was “patient with those of us who were still learning—anything to make NIGMS, and NIH, a better place.”

Hagan earned a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Illinois and came to NIH in 1979 as a staff fellow at NIMH. She returned to the academic community in 1981 and rejoined NIH in 1987 as an executive secretary/physiologist in NCI’s extramural grants review branch. In 1989, she became a scientific review administrator at NIDDK and moved up the ranks until she was chief of her branch. In 2000, she came to NIGMS as deputy director for extramural activities. 

Hagan says she’s looking forward to pursuing other passions now that she has the time. By retiring in the spring, she’ll finally be able to put in the garden she always wanted, yielding lots of produce that may embellish new recipes. She notes, too, that Duke, her canine family member, will be especially delighted to have her around the house more in the coming weeks.