The director of an urban affairs research organization at Arizona State University has been named the new director of the Indiana University Public Policy Institute.
David Swindell, who in 1997 earned his doctorate in public policy from IU’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, was named to the position on Aug. 1. He will arrive in Indianapolis in October and will also teach with the O’Neill School as a professor.
“Dr. Swindell is an accomplished leader with significant experience and will bring significant further strength to the already robust programs at the PPI,” Siân Mooney, dean of the O’Neill School, said in a news release. “He is passionate about harnessing the intellectual resources of the university to help develop new solutions to the challenges confronting citizens. I expect that his vision and commitment to community will strengthen the O’Neill School and PPI as well as the lives of those.”
Swindell said he aims to expand the institute’s reach across the state and nation with a renewed commitment to supporting local governments as they examine their development plans and policy needs. He said integrating faculty and graduate students in institute work will be a high priority.
“There is an extraordinary level of talent among the faculty, and our students have a passion for service,” he said. “Those two factors mean PPI can be a reliable source for empirical and unbiased research aimed at tackling challenges facing the state and its communities.”
For the past 12 years Swindell served as the director for the Center for Urban Innovation in Arizona State University’s School of Public Affairs.
He replaces Tom Guevara as director of the Indiana University Public Policy Institute. Guevara retired this summer after serving as the institute’s director and an O’Neill lecturer since 2017.