Dan Krane named interim dean of Lake Campus

Dan Krane will serve as interim dean of Lake Campus.

Dan Krane, professor of biological sciences, has been named interim dean of Wright State University–Lake Campus, effective Aug. 1. A search for a permanent Lake Campus dean will begin in the fall.

“I’m very happy to have the opportunity to support the faculty and staff of Lake Campus,” Krane said. “I look forward to doing all that I can to help them continue to deliver on their mission to be the focal point for the educational and cultural advancement of the residents of West Central Ohio.”

Krane joined the Wright State Department of Biological Sciences in 1993. He has been elected president of the Wright State Faculty four times and has represented the College of Science and Mathematics on the Faculty Senate. He has also served as co-chair of the university’s Program Effectiveness Review Committee and chair of the Wright State Task Force on Affordability and Efficiency, which spearheaded an effort to reduce the cost of textbooks.

Throughout his multiple terms as Faculty president, Krane has worked closely with faculty leaders at Lake Campus and helped preside over the campus’ commencement ceremonies.

Krane is widely recognized across Ohio as a strong advocate for faculty and higher education. He has held several important positions at the state level, including chair of the Ohio Faculty Council, which represents faculty interests at the public four-year institutions in the state, and as a member of the Undergraduate Mission Study Committee. As the special assistant for completion initiatives with the Ohio Department of Higher Education, he helped develop and implement co-remediation strategies to help at-risk students at two- and four-year colleges in the state.

During the 2014-15 academic year, Krane was an ACE Fellow with the prestigious American Council on Education Leadership Development Program, serving in the president’s office of the University of Notre Dame and assisting the efforts of the vice president for research to explore the possibility of establishing the Notre Dame Research Institute.

Krane received his bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from John Carroll University and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Penn State. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Washington University School of Medicine and Harvard University.

He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers in the areas of population genetics and molecular evolution and is the lead author of the bestselling undergraduate textbook in the field of bioinformatics, “Fundamental Concepts in Bioinformatics.” His research group has developed techniques that allow quick and precise measurement of the amount of genetic diversity that populations harbor at the molecular level.

Krane is one of the world’s foremost DNA experts and has testified as an expert witness in more than 100 criminal trials in which DNA evidence was presented. He is the president of Forensic Bioinformatics, which has reviewed testing from hundreds of cases around the world every year since 2002.