Lex MacNeil named dean of new dental school

Downers Grove, Ill.鈥擮n April 20, Midwestern University named Dr. M.A.J. (Lex) MacNeil the inaugural dean of its new College of Dental Medicine in Illinois.

Once fully operational, the program will be Midwestern University’s second dental school. Students at its first institution in Glendale, Ariz., began predoctoral studies in fall 2008. A news release from Midwestern University indicates that Dr. MacNeil’s appointment is an initial step in the university’s plan to seek approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Commission on Dental Accreditation. The school intends to offer doctor of dental medicine degrees beginning in 2011.

Dr. MacNeil has served as the associate dean for clinical affairs and associate professor in the Department of Oral Health Sciences at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Dentistry in Vancouver, Canada. He has been actively involved in the development of continuing education programs and clinical practice guidelines for dental practitioners in British Columbia, serving as chair for both related committees of the College of Dental Surgeons of BC. He joined the faculty at UBC in 1994 after practicing dentistry full time in the Vancouver area for 20 years and serving as a part-time clinical faculty member at UBC in prosthodontics since 1982.

Kathleen H. Goeppinger, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Midwestern University, said Dr. MacNeil brings outstanding expertise to the new dental school.

“Dr. MacNeil brings valuable experience, a deep understanding of dental education and keen insight into the upcoming trends in dental medicine to Midwestern University,” said Dr. Goeppinger. “He will be an asset to the university and state of Illinois as we open a new College of Dental Medicine.”

Midwestern University is a graduate degree-granting institution specializing in the health sciences with seven colleges and two campuses. The Illinois campus is home to more than 1,900 students and the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Chicago College of Pharmacy and the College of Health Sciences.