David C. Schwebel, PhD, was appointed vice president for research at the University of Iowa in July 2025.

Prior to joining the UI, Schwebel served as associate vice president for research facilities and infrastructure and university professor of psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). 

Schwebel served in various leadership positions at UAB from 2006 to 2025. He earned a Master of Arts and a PhD in clinical psychology from Iowa in 1996 and 2000, respectively. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Yale University in 1994.

In addition to his role as vice president for research, Schwebel is also a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 

Schwebel has published more than 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts, most focusing on understanding and preventing unintentional injury in children, adolescents, and young adults. Specific risk factors of interest include temperament and personality, overestimation of physical ability and cognitive development, and adult supervision of children.

He directed UAB’s Youth Safety Lab, a federally funded lab that conducted studies designed to understand and prevent injuries in children, adolescents, and young adults in the U.S. and around the world. 

Schwebel has developed and implemented injury prevention techniques for a range of situations, including pedestrian safety training in virtual reality environments, remote car seat installation using interactive virtual presence, drowning prevention through lifeguard training at public swimming pools, dog bite prevention in rural China and in the United States, and kerosene safety in low-income South Africa neighborhoods.

He has received more than $12 million in external funding to support his research program.

Schwebel is a Woodrow Wilson Scholar, a Fulbright Award winner, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Transportation, and several other federal, nonprofit, and industry groups.