Chadwick named permanent dean of ECU dental school
“Dr. Chadwick has been a major force behind the School of Dental Medicine, so this appointment is richly deserved,” said ECU Chancellor Steve Ballard. “More than any other single person, Dr. Chadwick saw the necessity and the value of creating a statewide dental school with 10 service learning centers. This is a national model for serving underserved populations.”
Dr. Gregory Chadwick
Ballard announced the appointment at today’s ECU board of trustees meeting.
Chadwick came to ECU in 2005 to lead the effort to obtain approval from the University of North Carolina system and the state legislature, as well as funding, to establish the school. He served from 2008-2011 as associate dean for planning and extramural affairs as the school began hiring faculty and staff and admitted its first class. Since August of last year, he has served as interim dean.
“I’m extremely pleased and honored with the appointment and the opportunity to work with our great faculty, staff and students,” Chadwick said.
One of Chadwick’s signatures on ECU’s dental school is the community service learning centers. He championed the centers as a better way to prepare future dentists and dental residents to work in rural, underserved areas. ECU opened its first center this summer in Ahoskie and will open the second in Elizabeth City in the coming months. ECU has announced plans to build four others in underserved communities: Lillington in central North Carolina, Davidson County in the Triad, and Spruce Pine and Sylva in the mountains. Officials plan to build up to 10 centers across the state.
“The opportunities are nearly endless,” Chadwick said.
Dr. Phyllis Horns, ECU vice chancellor for health sciences, praised Chadwick’s work in starting the school, the relationships he has developed statewide on behalf of the school and his vision for the school.
“Dr. Chadwick has a commitment and passion for the School of Dental Medicine, the unique curriculum model we are putting together and the service learning center model we have developed,” she said. “Students, faculty and staff reassured me that Dr. Chadwick is a good leader and would make an excellent dean.”
ECU enrolled its second class of 52 students in August. The school has a total of 104 students and is moving into its new home, the 188,000-square-foot Ross Hall, this fall. The North Carolina General Assembly has appropriated approximately $92 million to establish the new dental school.
Chadwick will earn $320,000 as dean.
A North Carolina native, Chadwick received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served in the U.S. Naval Supply Corps for four years before entering dental school. After graduating from the UNC School of Dentistry, he practiced general dentistry in a community health center before entering his residency in endodontics. He earned a master’s degree in endodontics from the UNC School of Dentistry in 1976 and practiced endodontics in his hometown of Charlotte for 30 years.
He is a former president of numerous dental organizations including the American Dental Association, the North Carolina Dental Society, the Second District Dental Society and the Southern Endodontic Study Group. In addition, he is a fellow of the American and International Colleges of Dentists, the Academy of Dentistry International and the Pierre Fauchard Academy and a founding member of the Holiday Dental Conference.
His recent international involvement in dentistry includes serving for six years as speaker of the General Assembly of the FDI World Dental Federation in Geneva.
A diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics, he served for 18 years as a part-time clinical professor at his alma mater and for 14 years as chair of the endodontic section at Carolinas Medical Center, where he served on the faculty for more than 25 years.
Chadwick and his wife, Knox, have two adult children, Stephen and Jane, both of whom are general dentists.