FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — The American Dental Education Association has elected Indiana University pediatric dentistry professor Dr. Joan Kowolik to its board of directors, the latest in a series of leadership positions she has held in the top organization supporting dental educators in the United States and Canada.
Kowolik, associate professor and director of predoctoral pediatric dentistry at the IU School of Dentistry, was among four new directors elected to the board during the association’s annual session in San Antonio in March. The 11-member board includes seven directors, with Kowolik serving as the representative director for the Council of Sections.
The Council of Sections is composed of 38 sections and 10 special interest groups representing the major disciplines and areas of interest in dental and allied dental education.
At the 2014 meeting, Kowolik was also invited to join the American Dental Education Association’s Legislative Advisory Committee.
She has been involved in ADEA leadership roles for more than a decade, beginning with a fellowship in the association’s yearlong Leadership Institute and then a legislative fellowship. In 2006 she chaired an association Council of Deans panel that addressed reformation of dental education. She also served two terms as councilor for the Pediatric Dentistry section and as chair of the Council of Sections administrative board.
Kowolik joined the IU dental faculty in 1998, accepting a full-time position in 2002. She is a dental graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She completed her studies in pediatric dentistry at Edinburgh and the University of Leeds, England. She also holds a diploma in clinical hypnosis from the University of Sheffield, England.
Three of the 48 American Dental Education Association sections/special interest groups that Kowolik represents on the board are headed by IU School of Dentistry professors. Accepting their new one-year roles as chairs are Dr. Carrie Klene, clinical assistant professor of oral surgery and hospital dentistry department, Section on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Anesthesiology/Hospital Dentistry; Dr. Elizabeth Ramos, clinical assistant professor of periodontics and allied dental programs department, Career Development for the New Educator special interest group; and Dr. Kelton Stewart, assistant professor of orthodontics and oral facial genetics department, Section on Orthodontics.