Thursday Chancellor Carol Folt and Provost Jim Dean welcomed the eighth Dean of the UNC School of Dentistry, Dr. Scott De Rossi, to campus.
De Rossi previously worked at Augusta University but came to UNC in January of this year.
Dean expressed his excitement at having found a candidate he thought would be a good fit for the school — which has been without an official dean since July.
“While going through the process of recruitment and selection, one of the things that indeed most stood out about Scott was his contagious energy and his enthusiasm for dentistry…" Dean said. "I completely respect that sort of passion for one’s work."
Dean said De Rossi brings a long, distinguished scholarly record to the University that spans the research and clinical sides of dentistry.
“I will say that when we were doing the search one of the things that we really wanted was someone who could bring together the clinical elements of the school and the research elements of the school, and I think we very clearly found someone who has a deep passion for both,” Dean said.
De Rossi said he has a passion for education and public service. He said he hopes to encourage young professionals to pursue teaching and public service.
“I have some sort of personal initiatives that I always wanna focus on which includes building and creating and maintaining a diverse environment, making sure we are addressing the global needs of the community in Chapel Hill and also the state and really retaining faculty and generating some interest in people coming into academic dentistry,” De Rossi said.
He said he has a passion for teaching because both his parents were public school teachers, and they instilled that love in him.
