Education Specialist at Baylor Dental School Named Dean of UB School of Dental Medicine

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Richard N. Buchanan, D.M.D., director of advanced clinical education at Baylor College of Dentistry, The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center in Dallas, has been named dean of the School of Dental Medicine at the University at Buffalo.

His appointment is effective Feb. 1, 2002.

Buchanan previously served as dean of the college and for five years as dean of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

UB Provost Elizabeth D. Capaldi, in announcing Buchanan's appointment, noted that he "is a gifted educator and dynamic leader who will bring extraordinary vision and vigor to the School of Dental Medicine.

"He has a strong entrepreneurial spirit," Capaldi added, "and comes with the highest recommendations from professional peers."

A graduate of the University of Texas-Austin, Buchanan earned a doctorate in dental medicine from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

He began his career in academia at Georgetown University School of Dentistry, where he was an instructor for a year before taking a faculty position at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

During his 16-year tenure at the University of Texas-San Antonio, he rose to the rank of professor and held several administrative positions. These included chair of the Department of General Practice, associate dean for academic affairs, and interim dean and special consultant for strategic planning of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Buchanan left the University of Texas in 1989 to become executive associate dean of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where he spent the next seven years, the last five as dean.

He was named dean of Baylor College of Dentistry in 1996 and served in that position until 2000. Buchanan spent the following year as a senior fellow at the Center for Educational Policy and Research of the American Dental Education Association in Washington, D.C., then returned to Texas A & M to assume his current position.

Early in his career he served two years as dental officer at the U.S. Military Academy and was in private practice.

Buchanan has authored or co-authored 23 abstracts and articles and has lectured widely. He is a fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists, and a member of the Southwest Academy of Restorative Dentistry and the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honorary Dental Society, among other professional affiliations.

Buchanan is a member of the board of directors of Friends of the National Association of Dental Research. He served on the Council of Deans and was a member of the House of Delegates of the American Dental Education Association from 1990-2000 and has chaired several association committees, beginning in 1978.

He also has held several committee chairs within the American Dental Association and is a reviewer for the Journal of Dental Education.