Charles Bertolami
UCSF School of Dentistry Dean Charles Bertolami, DDS, DMedSc, has been named president-elect of the 16,000-member
American Dental Education Association (ADEA) at the organization's 84th Annual Session and Exhibition in New Orleans this month.
He remains President-elect until March 2008, at which time he will take office as president of the organization.
Nominated by a council of all US and Canadian dental deans, his name went forward as a candidate to be voted on by the organization's House of Delegates, consisting of seven councils, including councils of students, faculty, corporations, allied health professionals, academic sections and deans. This, according to Bertolami, is what has made his election so gratifying.
"I feel that my selection represents an expression of confidence by my peers," he said. "It points to support for many of the things we've implemented here at UCSF - such as genuine interdisciplinary collaborations between all the professional schools and the Graduate Division. It also speaks to the importance of bringing students, faculty, the corporate sector and the allied professions into a closer working relationship for the benefit of the public."
One innovation Bertolami strongly advanced in his candidacy was the inclusion of dentistry in MedEdPORTAL, a peer reviewed publishing venue for teaching resources created by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).
"I became aware of this wonderful opportunity by working with AAMC," Bertolami said. "MedEdPORTAL will provide a way to reward excellent teachers in the same way universities reward excellent researchers. It will, at last, provide improved opportunities - including promotion and tenure - for nonresearchers whose scholarship focuses on teaching."
"Dr. Bertolami is widely recognized within the dental education community as one of the most innovative and visionary deans in the world," said Richard Valachovic, DMD, MPH, ADEA's executive director. "All of us at ADEA are pleased that he is joining the leadership of the association representing all of predoctoral, advanced dental and allied dental education in North America."
Named to lead the UCSF School of Dentistry in 1995, Bertolami received his DDS degree (summa cum laude) from Ohio State University in 1974, and his DMedSc degree from Harvard University in 1979. His residency training in oral and maxillofacial surgery was at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he served as chief resident from 1979 to 1980. Teaching posts followed in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Connecticut (1980-1983) and Harvard (1983-1989), and he was appointed chair of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at UCLA in 1989. He also served a term as president of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) from 2002 to 2003.
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