VCU news

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University has named Daniel C. Bullard, Ph.D., the new dean of the VCU Graduate School, effective Oct. 1.

Bullard currently serves as associate dean for recruitment, retention and diversity for the Graduate School at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a professor in the UAB School of Medicine’s Department of Genetics and has been the principal investigator on more than $5 million in research grants focusing on the genetics of inflammatory diseases. He has published 83 peer-reviewed articles and eight book chapters and is a frequent lecturer nationally and internationally. He has served on editorial boards of The American Journal of Pathology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases journal and has served UAB on numerous academic and administrative committees.

“Bullard has excelled in teaching, research and service during his 24 years at UAB,” said Gail Hackett, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at VCU. “He is a proven leader in graduate education and will be a great asset to the graduate students and faculty in VCU’s outstanding graduate programs.”

In his current role, Bullard leads UAB’s graduate student recruitment and retention efforts, oversees the Blazer Graduate Research Fellowship program, assists departments in new graduate program development, and directs the UAB PREP Scholars Program funded by the National Institutes of Health. 

In addition to his role in the UAB Graduate School, Bullard serves as assistant dean for undergraduate biomedical programs in the School of Medicine and as co-director of the Genetics and Genomic Sciences Undergraduate Program. Prior to UAB, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He received his undergraduate degree in zoology from Iowa State University and his Ph.D. in genetics from Case Western Reserve University.Melissa W. Tyler will continue to serve as interim dean of the Graduate School until Bullard’s arrival.