The start of a new fiscal year and the future is bright: A message from the Dean
Greetings!
Welcome to the start of our School of Dentistry’s new fiscal year. A lot is happening at the school as we continue our journey to excellence.
In April 2025, , stepped down as dean. His six years of distinguished leadership have left a remarkable legacy of accomplishments in our School, including adopting the EPIC electronic medical record system for dental care, creating three new Research Centers and successfully recruiting several key faculty members. We are deeply grateful for his many contributions.
In May, I was honored to assume the role of dean in service to our School. Since then, we have focused on several key initiatives, including preparing for the upcoming CODA site visit, accelerating our transition to a digital dentistry curriculum and creating a new Department of Predoctoral Dentistry with a laser-like focus on building an outstanding, coordinated training program for our students. We have also recruited new leadership: Hai Zhang, DMD, PhD, FACP, as Chair of Comprehensive Dentistry; Maria Jose Cervantes Mendez, DDS, MS, as Chair of Developmental Dentistry; and , as Chair of Predoctoral Dentistry.
None of these initiatives would be possible without our incredibly talented faculty, who not only provide outstanding clinical training but also serve as leaders in their fields.
Another significant milestone is the historic merger of 91PORN and 91PORN to form one unified institution, (UT San Antonio)—a powerhouse university now ranked the third-largest public research university in Texas. This unified tower of education provides new opportunities for training, research and developing the next generation of diagnosis and treatment methods.
Our future is bright enough to need sunglasses! So, if you aren’t already on campus, stop by the next time you are near, and we will be proud to share our progress and accomplishments with you. At UT San Antonio School of Dentistry, the journey to excellence is a continuous movement to develop outstanding clinicians, create life-changing innovations and shape the next generation of leaders.
Warm regards,
Dean, UT San Antonio School of Dentistry