Nir Menachemi has been appointed the interim dean of the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana University Indianapolis Interim Chancellor Carole Anne Murdoch-Kinch has announced.
“Dr. Menachemi brings a great deal of valuable experience to his role as interim dean of the Fairbanks School of Public Health,” said Murdoch-Kinch. “A national leader in health services research with deep ties to the Indianapolis community, he will provide vision, commitment, and expertise at this time of transition for the school and for our campus as a whole.”
The Fairbanks School was established by a $20 million endowment from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation on September 27, 2012. Since its founding, the school has been committed to advancing the health of Indiana by creating strategies to prevent illness, disability, and injury and improving how healthcare services are delivered.
Paul Halverson, who served as the founding dean of the Fairbanks School since 2013, has been appointed dean and professor at the School of Public Health at the Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University. Halverson will begin his new role February 1, 2024.
“Dr. Menachemi’s leadership will ensure the school has a smooth transition through the upcoming dean’s search,” said Halverson. “He is a seasoned researcher and educator with almost 300 peer-reviewed publications and numerous teaching awards. Since his appointment as executive associate dean, he has streamlined processes, led enrollment efforts in the school and transitioned multiple academic programs to online programs of scale in partnership with IU Online. I have no doubt that the school will continue to thrive under his capable leadership.”
Prior to his role as executive associate dean, Menachemi served for seven years as the chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Fairbanks School. During the pandemic, he led the Indiana Prevalence Study, a multiphase scientific study that measured the spread of COVID-19 through the state of Indiana. This was the first and most comprehensive random sample study of its kind in the world. The results informed the statewide policy framework that governed the use of masks, social distancing, business capacity and predicted COVID-19 surges. It also identified the proportion of people infected that exhibit no symptoms. Menachemi’s work was awarded the prestigious HSR Impact Award from AcademyHealth.
Before he joined the Fairbanks School, Menachemi was a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an associate professor at Florida State University. He received his PhD from UAB and his Master of Public Health and Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York at Albany.
Menachemi will begin serving as interim dean on January 1, 2024. Indiana University will launch the search for a new dean in December 2023.