Dr. Dolph Dawson was named chair of the Department of Oral Health Sciences at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. Dawson has been with the UK College of Dentistry, since 1998.

Speaking on his role as chair, Dawson shares, “My goals are to strengthen the department by assisting faculty in their development, providing a voice for improvement of education and teaching, improving communication, and advocating for efforts to retain good faculty. I bring experience from years of teaching, research, and service to this role that I will utilize to help drive the mission and vision of the college.”

Dawson received his Doctorate of Dental Medicine and his certificate of Advanced General Dentistry from the University of Louisville. He received his Masters of Science in Oral Biology, Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology, and certificate of Periodontology from the University of Kentucky. In 2020, Dawson achieved recertification of Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and was awarded the American Academy of Periodontology Excellence in Teaching Award.

“We are excited to have Dr. Dawson as our new chair,” said UKCD Dean Dr. Jeffrey Okeson. “He has served in many leadership positions in the college, including the Director of the CODA approved Periodontics Graduate Program since 2013. I feel certain that Dr. Dawson will do an excellent job in this position and represent all the members of the Department of Oral Health Practice extremely well. I very much look forward to having him assume this leadership position and assist us in developing the strongest college possible.”

Dawson has served as a committee member and Vice-Chair of the University of Kentucky Medical Institutional Review Board since 2006, the Director of the Delta Dental of Kentucky Clinical Research Center in 2017, and the Director of the Clinical Core, Center for the Biologic Basis of Oral/Systemic Diseases from 2017-2019. Dawson will also to continue to serve as the Director of Graduate Periodontology at the UK College of Dentistry.