News

Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine (SDM) Dean Bruce Rotter, DMD, has named Dr. Duane Douglas as associate dean for faculty. The SIU Board of Trustees approved the appointment at its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday, Feb. 11.

The associate dean for faculty serves as the administrative officer responsible for overall management and leadership of the school’s faculty. Reporting directly to the dean, the associate dean acts as a liaison between the dean and the faculty at large. This individual also functions as the School’s director of research.

“We felt that there was a need to have an administrator that would be specifically dedicated to the needs of our faculty,” Rotter said. “An opportunity presented itself to reorganize the administration, and this position was created. Dr. Douglas rose to fill the position on an interim basis and, ultimately, on a permanent basis. Dr. Douglas’ dedication to the school and to our faculty make him the right choice for this position.”

Douglas has served as the interim associate dean for faculty since July 2019. Previously, Douglas served as the chair for the Department of Restorative Dentistry and the section head for fixed prosthodontics. He joined the SDM faculty in 1999.

Douglas said the position serves as a line of two-way commination between the SDM administration and its faculty. “Philosophically, my goal is facilitating the flow of communication between our administration and the faculty giving them a seat at the table,” he said. “From a practical perspective, my goal is to work with each faculty to facilitate their development in teaching and scholarly activity.

“I want every member of the SDM to reach their full potential whether that be acclimating junior faculty and helping them navigating the tenure process or guiding department chairs in developing procedures and standardizing their policies toward unification among our many departments.”

The selection resulted from an internal search as the search committee believed an intimate knowledge of the School’s faculty would be essential in establishing effectiveness in the role.

During his time in the interim role, Douglas made progress by meeting with each faculty member individually. “Although I was a department chair prior to assuming the new position and felt I knew my faculty well, I learned so much more about the support they desired from the administration,” he said. “I developed an online ‘one-stop’ faculty handbook for the faculty-at-large, an interactive guide to development of a tenure dossier for our junior faculty and an online research handbook.”

Douglas has also focused on faculty calibration during his interim period. “The field of dentistry is highly dynamic, and we invest significant energy to keep our faculty members abreast of the latest technologies, as well as calibrating our faculty, whether full-time or part-time, towards standardizing treatment, procedures and grading,” he said.

A Winnipeg, Canada native, Douglas earned a DMD in 1989 from the University of Manitoba, a certificate in pediatric dentistry in 1992 from the University of Connecticut, a certificate in prosthodontics in 1994 from the University of Buffalo (N.Y.), a master’s of science in 1995 from UB and was board certified in prosthodontics in 2002.

Photo: Dr. Duane Douglas, associate dean for faculty at the SIU School of Dental Medicine.