Seattle — The University of Washington School of Dentistry announced March 26 that Dr. Gary Chiodo, its interim dean since August 2018, will now serve a full five-year term as dean.
The announcement comes after University of Washington Provost Mark Richards, Ph.D., and President Ana Mari Cauce, Ph.D., conducted a survey of the school’s faculty, staff and students, in addition to consulting with the school’s alumni and volunteer boards.
“President Cauce and I believe that Dr. Chiodo has demonstrated the leadership needed to maintain the school of dentistry’s quality while keeping it on a course of fiscal stability,” Dr. Richards said in a news release. “Using the input from the survey, I look forward to working with Dr. Chiodo to align key priorities in his capacity as dean.”
Dr. Chiodo, who will also be appointed as professor of clinical dental pathway, first arrived to the university from Oregon Health & Science University, where he was assistant director of the Center for Ethics in Health Care and professor emeritus in the department of community dentistry. From 2012-14, Dr. Chiodo served as interim dean at the OHSU School of Dentistry.
He became interim dean at the University of Washington School of Dentistry at a time when the school had faced a series of rising annual operating deficits that at one time reached $11 million, according to a news release. In the most recently concluded fiscal year, 2019, the school’s operating deficit fell below $1 million.
According to the University of Washington, halfway through fiscal year 2020, which ends on June 30, the school had generated a positive operational margin and was on a clear path to continue its fiscal recovery.
However, with the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, the school and all other clinical institutions face a “significant loss of clinical revenue and added expenses,” according to the university.
“The COVID-19 outbreak has confronted us with challenges unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes,” Dr. Chiodo said in a news release. “However, when I look at our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and dental community, I know that there is no place I would rather be and there is no team with whom I would rather work.”
Dr. Chiodo obtained his bachelor’s degree in biology from Portland State University in 1974 and his dental degree from the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center in 1978. He earned a certificate in health care ethics from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1992.