Robert Kiger completes term as ADEA Leadership Fellow

Robert D. Kiger, SD'70, MS'85, professor and chair, periodontics, pauses on the steps of the Capitol Building during the ADEA Legislative Workshop in Washington, D.C.

Robert D. Kiger, SD’70, MS’85, professor and chair, periodontics, has completed a term of service as an American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Leadership Institute Fellow. After seeing an announcement about the program in early 2001, he received approval to apply and is the first LLU faculty member to take part in the program.

The ADEA Leadership Institute is a year-long program designed to develop skills needed by dental and allied dental faculty to assume leadership roles in dental education and higher education. Each year up to 20 Fellows are selected for the program.

Leadership Institute Fellows participate in four meetings during the year-long program, and throughout the year study materials that are assigned to them. They also develop and complete a project.

The first meeting took place during the ADEA annual meeting in Chicago in March, 2001. In addition to setting up the seminars that would be held throughout the year, participants identified projects they would develop and complete during the year. Dr. Kiger’s group chose to put together a website on dental ethics, <dental ethics.net>.

The second meeting, the Legislative workshop, was postponed because of the September 11 crisis.

The group next met in Stowe, Vermont, in July, 2001. The session focused on identifying leadership styles and learning the elements of good leadership, among others.

The third conference, a three-day session, was held in Ft. Lauderdale in January, 2002. The group discussed leadership styles and management decisions, and began to work in groups.

The final phase of the program was the Association’s annual Legislative Workshop in Washington, D.C., held in late April, 2002.

“One of the most important things dental educators can do,” says David Johnson, ADEA president and dean, University of Iowa College of Dentistry, “is to become strong advocators for legislative initiatives affecting dental academia and the profession.”

Fellows learned about federal policy and the legislative process. They were briefed on the federal budget and appropriations process, federal health professions and research programs of importance to dental education.

Congressional staff talked about the Patients’ Bill of Rights; the Children’s Dental Health Improvement Act; and the Dental Health Improvement Act as well as the reauthorization of the National Health Service Corps and Community Health Centers.

Ricardo Martinez, MD, associate director, program development, National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research, spoke about the role the Institute plays in determining the future of oral research as well as the significant resources it provides to support education and research training in the nation’s dental schools.

Donald Weaver, MD, assistant surgeon general and director, National Health Service Corps (NHSC), provided an overview of the NHSC and its mission to provide access to primary care to underserved populations. He highlighted the increased efforts NHSC is undertaking to partner with dental schools to increase oral health-care providers in the Corps.

As he looks back on his term of service as an ADEA Fellow, Dr. Kiger recalls a rewarding year learning about leadership while studying reams of information, networking and planning and developing the dental ethics website, all during a year in which the dental school was undergoing accreditation.

The ADEA Leadership Institute, a program of the ADEA Center for Educational Policy and Research, is made possible through the generosity of the following Founding sponsors: ADA Health Foundation; GC America, Incorporated, Proctor & Gamble Company; and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.