Awards

Chancellor and Provost Medallion - 2023

IUPUI Chancellor's Medallion

Bicentennial Medal - 2020

About Matthew Palakal

Matthew Palakal is the senior executive associate dean and professor of informatics at IUPUI. He served for more than three decades with IUPUI and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. Palakal came to the campus in 1988 as a faculty member in the School of Science pursuing his research interests in pattern analysis and machine intelligence. He later served as professor and chair of the department of computer and information science in the School of Science.

Under Palakal’s leadership, the school received numerous awards recognizing outstanding faculty, staff, students, and top-rate programs, including Google Research Awards and NSF CAREER Awards, and students received local and national recognition, including from the American Medical Informatics Association. One highly successful program developed during Palakal’s tenure is the Informatics Diversity-Enhanced Workforce (iDEW) initiative. Designed to open doors for disadvantaged high school students in Indiana to informatics and computing careers, iDEW is a partnership with high schools from the area that builds the STEM pipeline and creates hands-on educational opportunities. In 2023 the program received a $2.6 million grant from the Indiana Department of Education to expand the computing curriculum and co-curricular activities.

In 2023 Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb honored Palakal with a Sagamore of the Wabash, one of the highest awards the governor can bestow to recognize distinguished service to the state or to the governor. Palakal’s research continues to advance the informatics industry and inspire more students to become leaders like him. Also in recognition of his unwavering dedication to students, his research contributions in informatics, and the advancement of Indiana University’s academic programs through his innovative leadership, Palakal was presented an IUPUI Chancellor and Provost Medallion by Interim Chancellor Andrew R. Klein in 2023.