Joseph A. DiMicco, PhD

Dr. Joseph DiMicco received his BS in Biology from Tufts University in 1969 and was immediately summoned for military service (i.e., he was drafted). After this experience, he earned his PhD at Georgetown University in Washington DC (awarded in 1978) and then served two years as a Staff Fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda MD. He joined the faculty at IU School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in 1980 and for the next 31 years pursued a highly satisfying research career in neuroscience while educating graduate and medical students, ultimately directing the course in Medical Pharmacology for second-year medical students at the Indianapolis campus. Dr. DiMicco retired as a Chancellor’s Professor in 2011. While the freedom of his Professor Emeritus status sustained him quite happily in retirement at first, he found that, increasingly, he missed his connection to his former colleagues and especially to the students. Consequently, when he was offered the opportunity to serve as the school’s first Ombudsperson, he eagerly pursued it and was ultimately selected. He hopes to cultivate a sense of safety, confidentiality and empathy as he and other key contributors shape the office in these first months and years.