Gary Anderson named School of Dentistry dean

Gary C. Anderson

Gary C. Anderson, DDS, MS, a tenured faculty member in the Department of Developmental and Surgical Sciences, Division of Pediatric Dentistry, has been named dean of the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry for a fixed term beginning March 26, 2018, and continuing to December 31, 2019. He previously served as interim dean following the departure of Leon Assael, DMD, who retired from his position as dean in August 2016.

In announcing the appointment, Executive Vice President and Provost Karen Hanson acknowledged Anderson’s outstanding leadership as interim dean and expressed confidence in his continued leadership in planning to enhance academic and clinical excellence, operational efficiency, budgeting and investment, school climate, and private practice arrangements. She also announced her intention to launch a national search for the next permanent dean during spring semester 2019, for appointment in 2020.

Anderson joined the School of Dentistry faculty in 1984. Prior to his position as interim dean, Dr. Anderson served as director of the school's Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Anomalies Clinic. He also has directed the dental school's undergraduate curriculum in occlusion and served on the faculty in the Division of Prosthodontics and the Division of TMD & Orofacial Pain. Additionally, he has been a department chair on two separate occasions and was senior associate dean from 2001-2007. His research interests include investigations related to temporomandibular disorders, orofacial pain and occlusion; cleft and craniofacial anomalies; and evidence-based dentistry.

Dr. Anderson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, receiving his doctor of dental surgery degree in 1980, followed by a master of science in dentistry and completion of a residency in prosthodontics in 1983.

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