Valerie Eickmeier is Dean of the Herron School of Art and Design at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis in 1982, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1979. She became dean of Herron in 1999 after a series of steady promotions through the academic ranks, including positions as Acting Dean, Associate Dean, Division Coordinator of 3D Fine Arts, and two terms as Faculty President.

Valerie’s accomplishments as Dean of the Herron School of Art and Design include overseeing the construction of two new buildings, the development of MFA degree programs and the establishment of a unique educational model and community collaboration; it is known as the Basile Center for Art, Design and Public Life.

Dean Eickmeier’s career encompasses more than 25 years of visiting artist lectures, private as well as corporate commissions, and more than 50 local, regional, national and international museum and gallery exhibitions. She has received many awards including two project grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Individual Artist Fellowship and a Creative Renewal Grant from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. In 2005 Dean Eickmeier was identified by Dialogue Magazine as one of the Midwest’ s “Top 25 Most Influential People in the Arts”.