Page 5 - Dentistry Magazine 2021

Introducing Dean Keith A. Mays, DDS, MS, PhD
Keith A. Mays, DDS, MS, PhD, was appointed dean of the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry and assumed the role on June 21, after serving as interim dean for just over one year.
“I am confident, as are his colleagues, that Dr. Mays has the leadership skills, administrative experience, and academic strengths to provide excellent leadership for Dentistry,” said Provost Croson in her announcement. “Please join me in thanking Dr. Mays for his service in the interim role over the past year and in welcoming him as the new dean.”
Mays replaces previous dean, Gary C. Anderson, DDS, MS, who has remained a professor in the Department of Develop- mental and Surgical Sciences. Anderson was named director of the Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Program in November 2021.
Before becoming interim dean in 2020, Mays served as associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Dentistry from 2015 to 2020.
Previously, Mays served as division director of prosthodontics at East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine. He also served as assistant director of the University of Maryland General Practice Residency Program. His academic career includes teaching in preclinical and clinical prosthodontics, student mentoring and advising, and private faculty practice.
Mays earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and a Master of Science and Certificate in Prosthodontics from the University of Iowa. He completed a Bachelor of Science degree at Morgan State Uni- versity and earned a PhD at the University of Maryland. Mays has served as a member of the American Dental Education Association Board of Directors and has held numerous leader- ship roles with ADEA and the National Dental Association.
Mays becomes the first African American dean of the
School of Dentistry. He plans to continue the efforts he has implemented during his year as interim dean while boldly looking toward the future of dentistry. Mays’s priorities include research discovery, fostering an inclusive environment for learning and clinical service, engaging the community, developing a collaborative curriculum, relieving the financial burden of dental school, and creating an infrastructure that meets the needs of our learners and clinicians.
We spoke with Dr. Mays to get to know him and his hopes for the position better.
What excites you about being the dean?
It is an awesome job to consider that we are training future oral health professionals, who will take care of millions of patients—and to realize that previous deans trained us to
understand infection control, so that when the pandemic hit, we were ready. We are training some really smart students. To be part of the transformation of health care is incredible.
How can alumni help you accomplish your long and short term goals?
Continue what you are already doing. I applaud the ways you have been involved so far. You can always provide the school with advice, thoughts and ideas. Reaching out to our students and sharing your stories is vital. It was important to me as a student, and it is vital to our students today. Always feel welcome to donate, and never underestimate your ability to recruit your patients into the profession. Especially when you serve BIPOC patients or patients from diverse backgrounds, you are a front-line recruiting source and a role model. I would ask that you continue to lean in to men- toring young patients, and mentoring our students today.
Who inspires you?
I am inspired by leaders who can bring a team together: people like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr., who seemed to sacrifice so much for a movement and a cause.
I think they show you the grit and determination that comes with sacrificing for others. In a quiet way, I am inspired by
my parents. My dad used to be a shoeshiner, and he later became one of the first Black salesmen in Detroit stores.
My mom was a seamstress and worked in people’s homes,
as a high school graduate. Their trajectory and aspirations for me were high: they could see what they thought I could become, and I know how much they sacrificed. They inspired me to do all I could: the way they loved and sacrificed and got up every day is part of what got me where I am today.
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