Bruce Donoff examines 28 years as dean of School of Dental Medicine
Life stories from Paul Farmer, Drew Faust, Howard Gardner, Annette Gordon-Reed, Martin Karplus, Toshiko Mori, Steven Pinker, E.O. Wilson, and many more, in the Experience series. The University’s longest-serving dean, Harvard School of Dental Medicine’s Bruce Donoff, will step down in January after 28 years in the post and return to the School’s faculty. Donoff, the Walter C. Guralnick Distinguished Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, guided the School through various changes, championed reforms to dental education, and advocated a closer relationship between dentistry and primary medical care — he earned both his D.M.D. in 1967 and M.D. in 1973 at Harvard. Donoff, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who has conducted research on wound healing, bone grafts, oral cancer, and nerve repair, sat down with the Gazette recently to share his experiences in leadership and his hopes for dentistry’s future. A symposium and reception at the School will honor his service on...