Deans
ADEA Council of Deans
About the Council
The ADEA Council of Deans (ADEA COD) represents its constituency within the Association and at the member institutions; recommends to the Board of Directors how the interests of the Council’s constituency might be represented through the federal legislative and regulatory processes; exchanges information among its members, with other ADEA component groups, and among member institutions; works with other ADEA component groups to encourage coordinated approaches to dental, advanced dental, and allied dental education and health care delivery; identifies and provides consultation on projects, studies, and reports that will benefit the membership; and introduces resolutions to the Board of Directors and House of Delegates.
The ADEA COD Administrative Board represents all council members. The ADEA COD is also represented on the ADEA Board of Directors by the Board Director for Deans. Council members have a voice in the governance of the Association through representation in the ADEA House of Delegates, the Association’s policymaking body.
Refer to the ADEA Bylaws for specific information regarding the ADEA COD:
- Chapter I: The House of Delegates—The ADEA Governing Body
- Chapter VII: Councils
Membership
The ADEA COD consists of the dean (or an alternate) of each active and provisional ADEA member institution, the chief dental administrator (or an alternate) of each affiliate member institution conducting non-hospital-based advanced dental education programs, the chief dental officer or administrator (or an alternate) of each affiliate-member federal dental service, and the President (or an alternate) of the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry. In addition, the Council includes any members of its Administrative Board who are no longer in the above categories. For more information on membership requirements, see the ADEA Bylaws, Chapter VII.
Meetings
- Winter: ADEA Joint Council Administrative Boards Meeting (Administrative Board only)
- Spring: ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition
- Fall: ADEA Deans’ Conference
- Virtual: As scheduled throughout the year
2024-25 Administrative Board
Chair
Cherae Farmer-Dixon, D.D.S., M.B.A., M.S.P.H.
Dean
Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry
Chair-elect
Richard C. Black, D.D.S., M.S.
Dean
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine
Secretary
Dwight E. McLeod, D.D.S., M.S.
Dean
A.T. Still University Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health
Member-at-Large
Linda C. Niessen, D.M.D., M.P.H
Dean
Kansas City University College of Dental Medicine
Board Director
Mert Aksu, D.D.S., J.D.
Dean
University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry
Staff Liaison
Marsha A. Pyle, D.D.S., M.Ed.
ADEA Senior Scholar in Residence
PyleM@adea.org