Longtime Dental School Faculty Member Named Interim Dean

Posted on May 18, 2016

Dr. Ken May ’69, a longtime faculty member at UNC, will become interim dean at the School of Dentistry effective July 1.

May, who earned his DDS from Carolina in 1973, joined the school’s faculty in 1976. This will be his second time as interim dean, bookending several leadership roles during his long and successful career.

Dr. Jane Weintraub announced in December that she would step down after five years as dean to return to research and teaching. She will continue her faculty appointment in the department of dental ecology with an adjunct appointment in the Gillings School of Global Public Health.

A search has been launched with the objective of having a new dean in place by January 2017.

During his early career at the school, May focused his research on the clinical evaluation of dental restoration materials. He later was associate professor and professor of operative dentistry in the student dental clinics and graduate clinics, director of admissions and student affairs, associate dean for administration and planning, and vice dean.

May’s service to dentistry in the state has included a term as delegate to the N.C. Dental Society House of Delegates and several leadership roles in the Third District Dental Society and Durham-Orange County Dental Society. May is a fellow in the American College of Dentists, International College of Dentists, Academy of Dentistry International and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He has served as treasurer of the Dental Foundation of North Carolina.

In 2015, May received the UNC Dental Alumni Association’s John C. Brauer Award, which recognizes a lifetime of service and outstanding contributions to the school. He also received the association’s 2006 Distinguished Service Award, the 2009 N.C. Dental Society Meritorious Achievement Award and the 1982 Richard F. Hunt Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence in Predoctoral Teaching, which is considered the school’s highest teaching honor.

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