Dean appoints three department chairs

Dean Teresa A. Dolan announced the appointment of three faculty to department chair positions: Matthew Dennis, D.D.S., will serve as chair of the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery; Marc Gale, D.M.D., an associate professor emeritus, will serve as interim chair for the department of operative dentistry; and Arthur Nimmo, D.D.S., F.A.C.P., will serve as chair of the department of prosthodontics.

Matthew Dennis, D.D.S.
Matthew Dennis, D.D.S.

Matthew Dennis, D.D.S., will serve as chair of the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery following an internal search process. Dennis earned his D.D.S. from UCLA in 1979, completed his oral surgery training in Jacksonville in 1983 as part of the UF program and is board certified in oral and maxillofacial surgery. He joined the college in 2001, and he was recently promoted to the rank of clinical professor.

After 18 years of private practice in the Tampa Bay area, he came to the University of Florida in 2001 and began an academic career, where he is responsible for clinical and didactic teaching of the oral surgery curriculum as the Director of Predoctoral Education for oral surgery. He is certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and has been active in organized dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery, having held several leadership positions including past president of the Florida Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the Florida Dental Society of Anesthesiology.

Dennis received the Teacher of the Year award for the School of Dentistry in clinical sciences in 2004 and 2009, and has received the Florida Dental Association’s Dental Educator Award three times. In 2010 he was awarded the Predoctoral Educator of the Year award by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Marc Gale, D.M.D.
Marc Gale, D.M.D.

Marc Gale, D.M.D., an associate professor emeritus, will serve as interim chair for the department of operative dentistry from May 14, 2010 through the end of the fall semester. He joined the faculty in 1972 and has served the college in many important capacities during his tenure.

Gale’s service as interim chair takes place as the college works on a transition plan to create the Department of Restorative Dental Sciences. As such, his duties as will include the day-to-day tasks of running a large, active and robust department coupled with assisting the college in creating and successfully launching a new department.

Arthur Nimmo, D.D.S., F.A.C.P.
Arthur Nimmo, D.D.S., F.A.C.P.

Arthur Nimmo, D.D.S., F.A.C.P., will serve as chair of the department of prosthodontics following an internal search and selection process. Nimmo, a professor in the department, joined the college in 1999 and previously served as chair of the department from 1999 to 2005. Nimmo earned his bachelor’s degree from SUNY College at Oneonta in 1975, his D.D.S. from the University of Maryland in 1979 and completed specialty training in prosthodontics at the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences in 1983.

Nimmo began his academic career in 1983 at the University of California in San Francisco as an assistant professor. He spent eight years at Temple University and five years on faculty at the University of Detroit Mercy before joining UF in 1999.

He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics and a Fellow of the American College of Prosthodontics. He is a member of a host of professional organizations and currently serves as president of the Xi Omicron chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon and was recently elected as an examining member of the American Board of Prosthodontics for a seven-year term.