Istvan Fekete
Principal“Attain Partners is laser focused on bringing value to our clients. Solving clients’ problems is not enough, we must Execute with Discipline, providing efficient, scalable, long-lasting, and cost-effective solutions. Our clients are striving for great things—it is my hope that by overdelivering, we can help them Invent the Future and improve the world around us.”
Istvan Fekete serves as a Principal in the Attain Research practice of Attain Partners. In his role, he stewards the Research Managed Services program as well as leads business development for the areas of contracting and clinical research. Istvan brings nearly 15 years of expertise to Attain Partners having previously served higher education institutions, academic medical centers, hospital systems, and other nonprofits.
He began his career running the research contracts team at the University of Chicago where he gained expertise in research contract negotiations, assessing institutional risk, developing business processes, training, and creating campus wide data security infrastructure. Through this work, he saw a consistent need in higher education for optimized workflows, technology, and staffing related to research administration.
Prior to joining Attain Partners, Istvan worked at Huron Consulting developing a virtual solution for managed services in the research administration space. Such services included regulatory, grants (pre-post), clinical invoicing/charge segregation, budget negotiations, clinical trial management system builds, Medicare coverage analysis, and contract negotiations.
Istvan has had the pleasure of working with over 50 organizations, including assisting for profit entities in learning how to collaborate with universities. Istvan’s work has included training clients’ staff, developing training programs for clients, redesigning business processes, and piloting artificial intelligence solutions in addition to managed services. He is passionate about his field, and you will find him publishing in NCURA Magazine or speaking at NCURA and MAGI conferences.
Community Involvement
- HFS Chicago Scholars, Mentor for high school students
- The Night Ministry, Supporter
- The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Volunteer
Industry Involvement
- National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), Member
- Model Agreements & Guidelines International (MAGI), Member
