2025-26 ADEA Council of Deans Fellowship Program Frequently Asked Questions
This program is designed to provide the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to assist fellows with advancing into a dean or university role within the next two years. The program uses intense coaching, with one faculty member assigned to two fellows, in addition to a program director.
These faculty guide the fellow through the development of their capstone projects and career development plans. Highlights include the two four-to-five-day site visits to dental schools, where the fellow meets with the site visit dean and other faculty in higher leadership. There are three in-person modules in addition to the site visits, with over 100 hours of in-person learning and online activities.
$15,000, which includes three teaching and learning modules, and registration for the ADEA Deans’ Conference and the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition (for the orientation year).
The tuition does not cover travel, hotel and meals.
The program starts on the day prior to the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition and ends at the following ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition with a graduation ceremony.
The application opens mid-July and closes mid-September in the year preceding module I.
The dates vary by year; please refer to the website for the next application date.
Support from your dean is essential to being considered for this program. The supporting dean will write a strong letter of support and provide significant mentorship throughout your program.
Steven W. Friedrichsen, D.D.S., is Dean Emeritus of Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine (WU CDM). Dr. Friedrichsen received his B.S. in Biology from Seattle University and his D.D.S. from Northwestern University in Chicago. From there, he completed his hospital-based General Dentistry Residency program at the University of Chicago.
At WU CDM, Dr. Friedrichsen served as Interim Provost from 2015 to2016 and as University Appeals Officer for over five years. He has actively engaged with ADEA and provided valuable service through appointments by the Idaho State Dental Association, Idaho Board of Dentistry, California Dental Association, CODA and multiple other local, state and regional entities.
Dr. Friedrichsen stepped down from the dean’s role on July 1, 2022, and fully retired in October 2022. He was named Dean Emeritus on July 1, 2022, and continues to provide service to both ADEA and the WU CDM.
Ann Boyle, D.M.D., M.A.: After 46 years in dental and higher education, Dr. Boyle retired from her position as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at A.T. Still University of Health Sciences (ATSU), a position she held for almost eight years. Prior to ATSU, from 2011 to 2014 she served as Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, from 2002 to 2011 as Dean at Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine (SIU SDM) and from 1995 to 2002 as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at SIU SDM.
Dr. Boyle maintained a private general dental practice from 1976 to 1995 and has been active in organized dentistry throughout her career, serving on numerous American Dental Association (ADA) and ADEA committees, including the ADEA Women’s Affairs Advisory Committee, the ADA/ADEA/CODA Liaison Committee, the ADA Test Construction Committee for National Dental Boards and the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).
She was a CODA site visitor for 14 years and chaired the CODA Pre-doctoral Review Committee from 2004-2007.
John Williams D.M.D., M.B.A.: Dr. Williams is Professor and Dean Emeritus at Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD). He served as the President of Transylvania University, Lexington, KY, from 2019 to 2020 and as Dean of IUSD from 2010 to 2019.
Dr. Williams received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Transylvania University in 1974, a D.M.D. degree in 1980 (University of Louisville) and an MBA in 1987, also from the University of Louisville. Prior to his academic pursuits, he was in private dental practice in Louisville, KY. Dr. Williams maintains scholarly interests in dental practice management, oral health workforce, dental curriculum assessment and digital dentistry/instructional technologies.
He is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists, the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the International College of Dentists. He is currently a member of two private higher education boards of trustees. In his spare time, he is an avid boater and outdoors enthusiast. From 2021 to 2022, he and his wife departed from Rochester, NY, to pilot their trawler on a 6,047-mile circumnavigation of the United States inland waterways.
Ana López Fuentes, D.M.D., M.P.H., FACD, FICD: Dr. López Fuentes is a tenured Professor in the Community Dentistry Section of the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine (UPR SDM). She was the 2023-24 Chair of the ADEA Board of Directors. Dr. López Fuentes served as Dean of the UPR SDM from 2014 to 2018 and is currently President of the Infection Control and Quality Assurance Standing Committees.
Since 2006, she has been a member of the ADEA Collaborative on Dental Education Climate Assessment committee and UPR SDM’s ADEA Women Liaison Officer. She is an ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) site visitor and ex-officio member/consultant to the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) Board of Trustees.
Dr. López Fuentes is a faculty advisor to the HDA and the American Association of Women Dentists Student Chapters. She served as Co-chair of the ADEA Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee from 2014 to 2021, on ADEA’s Annual Session Program Committee from 2018 to 2021, as Immediate Past Chair of the ADEA Section on Women in Leadership, and Councilor to the ADEA Council of Sections as the Section on Women in Leadership representative.
From 2018 to 2019, Dr. López Fuentes represented the HDA in the American Dental Association Presidents’ Summit for Diversity and Inclusion. She served as faculty advisor to the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine fellowship from 2018 to 2022.
The two school site visits are essential to this program. The CDF program director carefully selects the site visit schools in consultation with ADEA staff. These visits are designed to expose the fellow to different types of dental schools and parent institutions so they can develop a broader understanding of academic institutions, health science centers and universities.
The opportunity to learn from experienced deans and other leaders through “shadowing” is unique to this program. Through this activity, fellows will develop networks and a new perspective on the skills and knowledge relevant to dental and higher education. Each site visit lasts one week.