David Daleke. Photo by Indiana University. David Daleke has been named the dean of the Indiana University Graduate School Bloomington — a new campus role — and vice provost for graduate education, IU Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Rahul Shrivastav announced.

Daleke has served as vice provost for graduate education and vice provost for health sciences since 2013, as well as associate dean of the University Graduate School starting in 2005. In July 2022, he was named interim dean of the University Graduate School. Daleke is also a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the IU School of Medicine in Bloomington.

This dean selection follows the restructuring of the University Graduate School to create campus-based graduate schools in Bloomington and Indianapolis, to align graduate education with the distinctive nature of each campus.

Daleke will work closely with IU faculty and state leadership, as well as with peers and thought leaders in the U.S. and abroad, to strengthen graduate education, improve student success across disciplines and advocate for the importance of graduate education at IU Bloomington.

Shrivastav said he admires and appreciates Daleke’s thoughtful work on behalf of graduate students through working groups on the Task Force on Graduate Education, which rolled seamlessly into IUB 2030 strategic planning.

“David is a respected researcher and an influential administrator who cares deeply about our graduate student population,” Shrivastav said. “Given the opportunity to focus his attention and energy on the Bloomington campus, I’m confident he will build momentum, innovate in sync with campus aspirations and contribute to even more tangible advances for the benefit of students.”

Daleke’s most recent efforts have helped raise stipends, increase health benefits, develop a clear set of recommendations for fostering community, expand financial planning support, and increase mentoring and training opportunities for the campus’s more than 11,000 graduate students.

“I am very excited and humbled by this opportunity to lead the new IU Graduate School Bloomington,” Daleke said. “This is a tremendous opportunity to address the distinctive needs of graduate education on the Bloomington campus, and I look forward to our continued collaborations and to new directions for the Graduate School.”

Daleke has served in a variety of administrative roles at IU, including a term as president of the Bloomington and Indiana University faculty councils. In addition to leading the Task Force on Graduate Education, he has led several projects focused on improving Ph.D. education, including participation in national initiatives to understand career outcomes and promote the exploration of diverse career pathways. He was instrumental in the planning and design of the Health Sciences Building of the Regional Academic Health Center, now home to programs in medicine, nursing, social work, and speech, language and hearing sciences.

Daleke earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and biology and a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Stanford University. He conducted postdoctoral research as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California at San Francisco, before joining IU in 1988.

His research interests are in the structure and function of biological membranes, specifically of selective lipid transporters, or “flippases,” that maintain lipid organization in cell membranes. He has been recognized with a Career Development Award by the American Heart Association and has served on numerous editorial boards, including the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular Pharmaceutics and BMC Biochemistry. In the classroom, he enjoys teaching medical biochemistry to graduate and medical students.