After nine years at the UF College of Dentistry, including the last three years as interim chair of the UF Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, John Hardeman, M.D., D.D.S., a clinical associate professor, is retiring from the University of Florida at the end of July. Stepping into the role as interim chair is M. Frank Dolwick, D.M.D., Ph.D., who has served the college four times in the past as chair and will guide the department during the college’s search for a permanent department chair.
“I’m grateful and appreciative of Dr. Hardeman and his many contributions to our college and the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, especially the last three years as we weathered the COVID-19 pandemic together,” said A. Isabel Garcia, D.D.S., M.P.H., dean. “He has served as a tremendous example to our oral surgery residents, relying on almost four decades of experience to train the next generation of oral and maxillofacial surgeons. He was also an extremely valuable liaison for our college with UF Health and the Academic Health Center.”
Hardeman served as the DMD program director for OMFS and program director for the college’s oral and maxillofacial surgery residency program. At the onset of the pandemic, Hardeman was one of the faculty members who took the lead in planning and providing emergency care at the college’s Gainesville centers. Together, with other UFCD leaders, they created screening, patient care and safety protocols that served as the standard for the college’s clinics through the duration of the pandemic.
Dolwick, a professor in the UF Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, has held the Academy One Hundred Eminent Scholar Professor and the Parker E. Mahan Facial Pain Endowed Professorship. Previously, he served as the chair and associate chair of OMFS for a total of 23 years during four separate tours and directed the OMFS residency program twice for a total of eight years. That makes this his fifth tour in the leadership role for the department.
Dolwick is known nationally and internationally as a pioneer in the development of temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, arthrography and surgical procedures for TMJ internal derangement. He began his career as a dental educator in the U.S. Air Force in 1979 as assistant chair and director of residency training in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. After his military service, he joined the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where he became an associate professor with tenure in 1983. In 1994, he became the chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the UF College of Dentistry, or UFCD, and UF Health Science Center in Jacksonville. He earned his dental degree from the University of Kentucky and his doctorate and certification in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from the Medical College of Virginia.
“I wish John the very best that this new chapter brings for him and his family and a sincere congratulations on his well-earned retirement. And a heartfelt thank you, again, to Frank for being willing to step back into a leadership role,” Garcia said.