UF College of Dentistry names new associate dean of faculty affairs

July 10, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — William P. McArthur, a professor of oral biology and director of the University of Florida’s Periodontal Disease Research Center, was appointed the College of Dentistry’s associate dean for faculty affairs, effective June 29. In this new position he advises faculty and college and campus administrators on matters affecting faculty and provides administrative support for the faculty’s role in shared governance.

As associate dean for faculty affairs, McArthur will work to foster a positive and supportive work environment that facilitates opportunities for faculty professional growth and development. This will include serving as an ombudsman for faculty affairs to the dean and to the Health Science Center and campus administration.

“The college is committed to supporting faculty in their professional development and shared governance endeavors,” said Dr. Teresa A. Dolan, a professor and dean of the UF College of Dentistry. “This position will serve to facilitate effective organizational support for those areas.”

The position is the result of an administrative reorganization that encompasses recent additions of the associate dean for clinical affairs and associate dean for continuing education and strategic partnerships and the elimination of the senior associate deanship. The new administrative structure is intended to be more adaptive to the highly competitive nature of recruiting and retaining excellent dental faculty, and to UF’s still-developing efforts toward shared governance.

McArthur has a long and distinguished career at the college as a professor and researcher. He received his doctoral degree from Purdue University in 1969, was a postdoctoral fellow at New York University Medical School and held a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania before coming to UF as an associate professor of basic dental sciences in 1981. McArthur previously served as interim chair of the department of basic dental sciences and was the first assistant dean for research of the college. He was instrumental in shaping the basic science curriculum for the college’s D.M.D. program and is currently leading the college through its self-study for accreditation process.

As associate dean for faculty affairs, McArthur will continue to be involved as a member of the college’s Strategic Planning, Promotion and Tenure, and Faculty Assembly steering committees.