Indian-American dean of UCR School of Public Policy steps down after nearly 10 years

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Anil Deolalikar, the founding dean of the School of Public Policy since February 2013 and a professor of economics at UC Riverside since 2003, stepped down from his post this past December 2022.

Deolalikar, who also served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the University of California Global Health Institute (UCGHI).

The University carried the news on its website December 22, where it said Deolalikar had followed a “groundbreaking career marked by repeatedly choosing a more challenging path.” His leadership was also described as very inclusive.

Prior to his appointment as dean, Deolalikar held a number of different leadership positions at UCR, including Interim Dean of the Anderson Graduate School of Management (2006–07), Associate Dean of the Social Sciences (2008–12), Director of the Center for Sustainable Suburban Development (2009–12), and Director of the One Health Center (UC Global Health Institute) (2009–13). He served on the University of California (Gould) Commission on the Future of the University of California in 2009–10, the UCR biography says.

Before joining UCR, Deolalikar taught at the University of Washington (1989–2002), the University of Pennsylvania (1983-89), and Harvard University (1987–88).

A development economist who has published four books and 75 articles on the economics of child nutrition, health, education, poverty, and social protection in developing countries, Deolalikar’s research articles have appeared in leading professional journals, including the Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economics and Statistics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Health Affairs, Health Economics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Journal of Human Resources, and Social Science and Medicine, among others.

Deolalikar served as co-editor of The Journal of Asian and African Studies and The Journal of Developing Societies. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and serves as an advisory board member to the Gates Foundation on the use of cost-benefit analysis in health and development.

Early in his career, he was a recipient of the Robert McNamara Fellowship for International Development awarded by the World Bank.

In addition to his research, Deolalikar has extensive public policy experience. He has served as adviser to a number of developing country-governments and international organizations, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNDP and USAID, on various development projects and programs. During 2002–03, he served as Lead Human Development Economist for the World Bank in their New Delhi office.

He earned his BA summa cum laude in economics from Harvard University in 1977, and went on to get a Diploma in Economics from Cambridge University in 1978, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1981. He also served as a postdoctoral fellow in economic demography at Yale University during 1981–83.