College of Dentistry Dean Stanford position announcement
Dear UIC Community,
After more than seven years of distinguished service as Dean of the UIC College of Dentistry, Dr. Clark Stanford, has been announced as the Dean of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, starting on April 1, 2022. Dean Stanford has been an outstanding leader and advocate for the vision and mission of the College of Dentistry, and I am certain he will continue to positively impact the field and profession as he has done throughout his tenure at UIC.
Clark Stanford, DDS, PhD, MHA, has been an influential leader for the college since 2014, serving as the 17th dean of the UIC College of Dentistry. Since joining UIC, Dean Stanford has worked with many dedicated college leaders to advance the educational, clinical and research mission of the school.
Under his leadership, UIC Dentistry has achieved many goals, including the creation of a 7/70 DMD curriculum and enrollment plan; creation of joint degree programs; revision of the Masters in Oral Science degree program; and recruitment of strong administrative and departmental leadership. Additionally, the college completed an HVAC project and renovated academic, clinic, simulation and student social spaces, and the college partnered significantly with the UIC College of Engineering to address aerosols issues within the dental office setting. NIH funding has doubled since 2016, and the college has made significant improvements in its financial management to support strategic reinvestments into important activities. In the area of student recruitment and support, the College of Dentistry has enhanced the diversity of the applicant pool, matriculating classes, and brought support for wellness through the Resilience Center, student advocates and humanistic policy. As the College nears its goal of $37 million for the IGNITE Campaign, philanthropic support has helped to create multiple new clinical facilities, renovate public spaces, and establish 10 new endowed professorships and chairs, along with a novel post-graduate endowment program in orthodontics.
Most significantly, under Dean Stanford’s leadership and alongside other extraordinary faculty and staff, the college has launched an expansive clinical service area, including the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation Pediatric Dentistry Outpatient Care Center, which reached its goal of treating its 1,000th patient last fall. Late last year, he also lead a robust accreditation review by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), which evaluates both the educational curriculum and the clinical facility. This accreditation review received outstanding commendation and was one of the most impressive reviews I have witnessed in my career.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dean Stanford has led the modification and continued operations of dental services and education while also partnering and supporting the entire UI Health academic health enterprise and its Hospital and Clinics. We are indeed incredibly grateful for his partnership during this challenging time.
While on faculty at UIC he was also recognized as the 44th person in the history of the university to receive the Distinguished Professor designation. Furthermore, Dean Stanford continues to be a devoted practicing clinician that has continued to serve patients throughout his leadership appointment, treating patients for complex rehabilitation, with an emphasis in craniofacial anomalies.
Although Dean Stanford is a Chicagoland native (growing up in Northbrook, IL), this appointment at the University of Iowa is a return to a familiar university where he has spent much of his academic and professional career for over 35 years. Dean Stanford arrived at the Iowa City campus as an undergraduate in 1979. There, he received his BS in 1984, his DDS in 1987, and a Certificate in Prosthodontics and PhD in cell biology in 1992. He then joined Iowa’s faculty that same year. Immediately prior to joining the UIC community, he served as Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Prosthodontics at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.
The university and its academic health enterprise are immensely grateful for Dean Stanford’s dedication and strategic approach to enhancing the awareness and programming of the academic, discovery and care delivery mission of the UIC College of Dentistry. Please join me in wishing Dean Stanford continued success in the next chapter of his career.
Robert Barish, MD, MBA
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
