David Bodenhamer is director of The Polis Center. He supervises a staff of more than 50 full-time research, technical, and support positions in the Center's three divisions: Advanced Information Technology, Community Analysis, and Religion. He is responsible for establishing the Center's mission and goals and for securing the necessary human and financial resources to accomplish these. He represents the Center to its constituents and clients within and outside the university.

Before joining IUPUI in 1989 as the founding director of The Polis Center, Bodenhamer was an administrator at the University of Southern Mississippi and represented the university before numerous state, regional, and national groups. An active researcher, he is the author or editor of six books and more than two dozen book chapters and journal articles. In addition, he has made more than 75 presentations at conferences around the world, and has served as project director for more than 150 research, training, and implementation grants and contracts. He earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1977.