Suresh Viswanathan, dean of the Indiana University School of Optometry, has been appointed interim dean of the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, effective July 1. Viswanathan will succeed David B. Allison, distinguished professor and provost professor, who will step down as dean to assume a new leadership position at the Baylor College of Medicine this summer.

David B. Allison. Indiana UniversitySince joining IU in 2017, Allison led the School of Public Health-Bloomington (SPH-B) through a period of significant growth and transformation. Under his leadership, the school more than doubled its extramural grant income, established new Ph.D. programs in biostatistics and nutrition and achieved record-high student enrollments.

Allison will serve as professor and director of the USDA Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and as the endowed chair in nutrition research through Texas Children’s Hospital. The USDA center is one of only four human nutrition research centers in the nation housed at academic institutions and is recognized for its significant contributions to nutrition science, policy and practice.

Allison also oversaw the construction of several state-of-the-art research laboratories; forged new partnerships with health industry leaders including Lilly, Pfizer and Takeda; and played a key role in securing philanthropic gifts that established numerous endowed positions and centers. These include the:

• Hevolution Chair in Biostatistical or Quantitative Methods for Geroscience.
• James A. Caplin, M.D. Chair in Evidence-Based Public Health.
• Beinner Family Professor in Sports Marketing and Management.
• Anthony D. Pantaleoni Eminent Scholar.
• Otto Meisenheimer Center for the Prevention of Gun Violence.

During his tenure, the school moved from a financial deficit to a position of sustainable growth, saw improvements in national rankings and significantly expanded its faculty.

“David has brought visionary leadership and unwavering dedication to the School of Public Health-Bloomington,” said Rahul Shrivastav, IU Bloomington provost and executive vice chancellor. “His contributions to public health research and education have had a lasting impact on our university community. We thank him for his outstanding service and leadership and wish him continued success at Baylor College of Medicine.”

Suresh Viswanathan. Indiana UniversityViswanathan returned to IU as dean of the School of Optometry in June 2024, having previously served as an associate professor in the school, earning tenure in 2006. As dean, Viswanathan oversees the school’s professional, research and graduate programs, as well as the Atwater Eye Care Center in Bloomington and the Indianapolis Eye Care Center on the IU Indianapolis campus. Viswanathan will retain his current responsibilities in the School of Optometry along with the interim appointment in SPH-B.

Prior to his position as dean, Viswanathan served for more than a decade as chair of the SUNY College of Optometry Department of Biological and Vision Science.

Viswanathan began his professional career in 1990 as a staff optometrist in Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital in Chennai, India. Between 1991 and 2000, he served as a research assistant at Pacific University College of Optometry, obtaining a master’s degree in clinical optometry, and then as a research and teaching assistant at the University of Houston College of Optometry, where he earned his Ph.D. in physiological optics and vision science.

Apart from his administrative role and teaching, Viswanathan actively leads a research lab with two ongoing projects on the visual impact of mild traumatic brain injury, which have received funding support from the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Eye Institute.

Viswanathan is a gold fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and has been elected to the Optometric Glaucoma Society. In 2022, he was inducted as part of the inaugural class into the American Academy of Optometry Hall of Fame.

A national search for the next SPH-B dean will launch later this summer, with more details to be announced in the coming weeks.