The National Dental Association (NDA) Convention was held in Las Vegas, NV, from July 25–28, 2024, with the theme, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Launching into a Future Beyond Imaginations.” Karen West, D.M.D., M.P.H., ADEA President and CEO; Angelo Lee, Ed.D., ADEA Chief Diversity Officer; and Kristen Wong, Ed.D., ADEA Director of Inclusive Programs and Services, presented at the Minority Faculty, Administrators and Practitioners Forum. In a presentation titled, “ADEA at a Glance and Board Leadership,” Dr. West provided insights into ADEA’s key initiatives, while Drs. Lee and Wong discussed, among other things, U.S. dental school and workforce data and ADEA Access, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. Todd V. Ester, D.D.S., M.A., Chair-elect of the ADEA Board, was also present and instrumental in the development of the conference as a member of NDA’s Minority Faculty Affairs Committee and moderator of the NDA/Colgate faculty awards luncheon. 

In February 2024, ADEA released the national and dental school level faculty compensation reports resulting from the analysis of the 2022-23 ADEA Dental School Faculty Salary and Demographic Census. All ADEA members can purchase a copy of ADEA U.S. Dental School Faculty Compensation National Report, 2022-23. The deans at the participating U.S. dental schools received a copy of their school’s ADEA Faculty Compensation Dental School Report, 2022-23. This Excel-based report provides the school’s aggregated compensation and institutional data compared to national, regional and institution-type data. The report displays information on the 2022–23 guaranteed annual salary and total compensation of full- and part-time U.S. dental school faculty nationally and by ownership type and U.S. Census region. These reports are intended to help the deans at the U.S. dental schools in their hiring policies and all members in assessing the trends in U.S. dental school faculty compensation. 

Based on the data from 2021-22 ADEA Faculty Census and 2018-19 ADEA Faculty Survey, the ADEA research team produced a new trend analysis of U.S. dental school faculty demographics and other information about faculty. The analysis compares the landscape of dental school faculty in 2018-19 with 2021-22, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. This is the first study to analyze trends in dental school faculty since the article written by Allan J. Formicola, D.D.S., M.D., in the August 2017 Journal of Dental Education. 

In summer 2024, the ADEA research team released three interactive reports examining the changes between 2018-19 and 2022-23 of overall U.S. dental school positions, open and lost positions. The research examines the trends between 2018-19 and 2022-23 of U.S. dental school faculty position information, faculty demographics and information about new faculty and separated faculty. Another aspect it analyzes are the changes in the open faculty positions by employment status, major discipline, academic rank, length of time the positions were vacant during the fiscal year, factors influencing the ability to fill vacancies and sources of coverage for the open faculty positions. A similar analysis was released simultaneously for lost positions. 

In November 2024, Rebecca Stolberg, RDH, M.S., ADEA Vice President, Allied Dental Education and Faculty Development, represented ADEA at the first American Dental Assisting Association (ADAA) Annual Conference in a decade in Dallas, TX. The current association president and program directors in the room expressed appreciation for ADEA’s support over their past difficult years. The conference had great attendance—over 200 participants—and offered Continuing Education on infection control, advocacy, dealing with difficult patients and sexual harassment. 

The ADEA Council of Deans Fellowship (ADEA CDF) Program is accepting its third cohort of Fellows into the 2025-26 year-long program. The program’s goal is to provide skills, knowledge and experience to fellows who intend to apply to positions as dental school dean or higher-level administration. This program is characterized by scrupulous selection of Fellows and high-level mentoring.  

The current cohort completed their second module at the 2024 Deans’ Conference, where they participated in a joint session with ADEA corporate members. They are completing their second dental school site visit where they shadow dental school deans and are finishing their capstone project for presentation at the 2025 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition in National Harbor, MD. 

The 2025-26 ADEA Leadership Institute Fellows have been selected, with six fellows successfully earning scholarships to attend this program. The 2024-25 cohort presented their projects through a new live eLearn webinar series from January to February 2025. The sessions are below:  

• “Make It Stop: De-implementation Strategies for Low-value Care in Dentistry”; 

• “Understanding Faculty Wellness Resources and Their Utilization at U.S. Dental Schools”; 

• “Quiet Quitting: Authentic Leadership Strategies in Maximizing Workplace Efficiency in Dental Education”; 

• “The Impact of Informal Caregiving on Dental School Faculty”; and 

• “Implications and Opportunities of Expanding Enrollment in Dental Education Through New Schools and Existing Programs.”

The ADEA Emerging Leaders program is aimed at early–career faculty who show promise as potential leaders, and provides guidance, insight and skills as the goal of each participant building an academic career. The 2024-25 participants will develop a research project, which they are invited to present at the 2025 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition in National Harbor, MD, when they graduate. Two of the 2025-26 candidates have been awarded scholarships that pay their tuition.  

In 2024, ADEA eLearn held both live and on-demand webinars. The recorded asynchronous presentations are available on eLearn for the next three years. Topics covered included:  

• “Navigating a Road to Residency”—a virtual event hosted by ADEA Council of Students, Residents, and Fellows; Council of Advanced Education Programs and Council of Sections; 

• Persons with intellectual, physical and developmental disabilities; 

• Sustainability in dental education; 

• Creating pathways to dentistry for indigenous communities; 

• Sustaining momentum of the ADEA IWLC VII: Equity, advocacy, scholarship and research; and 

• AI in higher education. 

In addition to webinars, ADEA also continued to offer the Micro-credential Program. In 2024, 10 micro-credentials (MC) were purchased and the first ADEA Micro-credential badge was awarded for the Technology Integration in Didactic Teaching MC. 

In August 2024, nearly four dozen deans attended the 2024 Summer Deans’ Institute in Colorado Springs, CO, an annual Fall gathering of the deans of U.S. and Canadian dental schools that partners with ADEA. Featured presenters included Karl Haden, Ph.D., FACD, President and CEO of the Academy for Advancing Leadership (AAL); Brig. Gen. I Linell A. Letendre, J.D., Dean of the Faculty, U.S. Air Force Academy; and Nader A. Nadershahi, D.D.S., M.B.A., Ed.D., Dean and Vice Provost, University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. 

This biennial survey was successfully launched in November 2024 in collaboration with the allied dental leadership team in ADEA’s Office of Knowledge, Engagement and Development. The survey represents an important data collection effort for ADEA allied constituents. The survey questionnaire was revised and improved prior to launch to ensure its relevance and effectiveness. It collects valuable information about the allied dental program director role and demographics, allied faculty positions, compensation, vacancies and retirements. 

This program aided allied-dental faculty to discover new possibilities and build skills in collaboration. Participants prepared new goals for potential advancement into senior positions, leadership roles and further promotion at their schools. They also acquired an instant network of colleagues and resources to support their move into the next phase of their academic careers in research, leadership, administration, advocacy and/or promotion.