The School of Dental Medicine earlier this month named Dr. Huw F. Thomas as its next dean, concluding a nationwide search process.
Thomas, a graduate of Guy's Hospital at the University of London in England, will join Tufts after leaving his position as dean of the School of Dentistry at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
The search process involved the creation of a student−faculty search committee to create a profile for prospective candidates. The committee then conducted the interview process, narrowing the field to three candidates before agreeing on Thomas, Provost and Senior Vice President Jamshed Bharucha said.
The appointment follows Dean of the School of Dental Medicine Lonnie Norris' announcement last October that he would step down from his post in August of this year.
"The committee interviewed the first−round of applicants and then narrowed that down to three finalists, and he was selected among them," Bharucha said.
Thomas expressed excitement at the decision and eagerness to take on the position following his arrival at Tufts on August 1.
"I'm very honored and proud to have been selected and am looking forward to moving to Boston and joining the Tufts family," Thomas told the Daily.
Bharucha praised Thomas for his professional accomplishments.
The new dean was the recipient of the 2010 Society for Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Award for Excellence for Promotion of Women in Academic Health Professions. He has served on numerous dental boards, written over 150 articles and is a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon dental honor society.
Thomas also brings previous dental administrative experience to the post, according to Bharucha.
"He is very experienced, having served already as a dean of a dental school," he said. "He has experience in clinical dental education, in research and in running a dental school. He's also astute about the challenges facing dentistry in higher education."
The challenge for Thomas will be to mitigate the rising costs of running a dental school despite the nationwide recession, according to Bharucha.
Bharucha is confident that Thomas will rise to the occasion.
"He is a person of integrity and is calm under pressure. He is good with people and he will be a terrific leader," Bharucha said.
Thomas' long−time colleague James Broome, an associate dean for clinical affairs at the UAB dentistry school, expressed the same confidence in his abilities and admiration of his leadership strategies.
"Huw is one of those rare leaders who can both conceive a vision and effectively communicate it," Broome told the Daily in an email. "I heard him present [his] vision over and over with the same clarity and enthusiasm to each individual and group he spoke to. That's leadership."
Thomas praised Norris' work in building the school's endowment and expanding the dental school's budget and expressed hope that his own tenure would match those efforts.
"I plan to continue the wonderful work that's been done as the current dean and possibly take the school to new heights," Thomas said.
