The Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs is pleased to announce the appointment of Associate Professor Aaron Deslatte to an O’Neill Professorship, alongside an extension of the O’Neill Chair held by Distinguished Professor Kosali Simon.
These prestigious honors recognize faculty excellence and a commitment to addressing the most pressing challenges in public policy and governance.
“I am delighted to congratulate both Aaron Deslatte and Kosali Simon on these well-deserved honors,” said Siân Mooney, dean of the O'Neill School. “Their work represents the very best of our school’s mission, particularly when it comes to leveraging data in innovative ways to solve complex societal problems. Aaron’s focus on the AI transition in local government and Kosali’s continued leadership in healthcare research will ensure the O’Neill School remains at the forefront of policy impact.”
Simon was first named a Paul O’Neill Chair in 2022 and has already pioneered significant research into pharmaceutical innovation, aging, and the integration of AI in healthcare. These efforts have been bolstered by the strategic licensing of healthcare data, which has opened new research streams for both the O’Neill School and Indiana University.
In the coming year, Simon will expand this momentum, leading new research teams to pursue new research questions and collecting additional health data that can answer pressing societal questions. She will also organize specialized workshops hosted by the O’Neill School focused on the burgeoning field of AI research in health policy.
Deslatte’s new appointment will focus on the evolving landscape of local government by building a network of local government scholars to address data-driven decision making and the AI transition, citizen-government engagement, and the sustainability of public infrastructure systems and services. He will use the resources of the professorship to host a series of local governance workshops designed to unite leading and emerging scholars to bridge the gap between academic research and practical application. The primary goal is to identify collaborative opportunities at the nexus of AI transparency, community resilience, and civic engagement.
The positions of O’Neill Chairs and O’Neill Professorships were established through a $30 million gift from IU alumnus Paul H. O’Neill in 2019.