Vann Named Demeritt Professor

The School of Dentistry is extremely pleased and honored to announce that Dr. William F. Vann, Jr. has been selected as the first William W. Demeritt Professor of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Bill Vann was born and grew up in southern Alabama. He received his D.M.D. from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, in 1974. Selected as a John Motley Morehead Fellow at UNC he completed his residency in pediatric dentistry here at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1976. He joined our full-time faculty the same year as a Clinical Assistant Professor. In 1976-78 Dr. Vann was selected for a Teacher Training Fellowship from the American Fund for Dental Health. He was awarded a Ph.D. in higher education from UNC-CH in 1980.

In 1984 Dr. Vann was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure and rose to the rank of Professor in 1990. From 1985-94 he served as the Chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and is currently the Graduate Program Director for the department.

Dr. Vann has served the School of Dentistry and the University in many leadership capacities including either chairing or serving on over 25 committees. He has also been a state leader in his profession having served as the president, North Carolina Society of Pediatric Dentistry from 1994-95.

As a national leader in his profession, his credits are truly remarkable. Beginning as the national Chairperson, Council of Students, American Association of Dental Schools (AADS) while a dental student, he has served in over thirty positions of responsibility with the American Dental Association (ADA), AADS, American Society of Dentistry for Children and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD).

In 1990-91 Dr. Vann served as the President of the AAPD. In 1993 he was elected President of the AAPD Educational Foundation and remained in that office until 1996. During his tenure and under his stewardship the Educational Foundation corpus grew from $225,000 to $650,000. Currently, he is a member of the Review Committee on Pediatric Dentistry Education; ADA's Commission on Dental Accreditation and the AADS Task Force for the Postdoctoral Application Support Service.

Dr. Vann has long enjoyed a reputation as an outstanding teacher among the predoctoral and graduate students in the School of Dentistry. In 1997 he was recognized by the University for his accomplishments with the bestowing of the Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Education. This was a first for a School of Dentistry faculty member. He is also an active participant in the continuing education responsibilities of the School of Dentistry having provided more than 120 presentations to local, state and national audiences.

His extensive list of academic accomplishments includes fifty publications in refereed journals, fifty-four published abstracts and contributions to two textbooks. He has mentored eleven predoctoral research projects and directed ten postdoctoral theses, many of which were award winners in research competitions. Over the years, Dr. Vann has been a well-supported investigator. He has been the principal or co-principal investigator on seven research or training grants with a total value of over $1.8 million. The most recent being the high-profile and very competitive Maternal and Child Health Center for Leadership in Pediatric Dentistry Education Grant.

It is for these and many other accomplishments that we have duly deliberated and have selected Dr. William F. Vann, Jr. as the first William W. Demeritt Professor of Pediatric Dentistry.

Congratulations Bill.

About Dr. William W. Demeritt
Doctor Demeritt came to the UNC School of Dentistry as the first chair of Pediatric Dentistry in the early 1950s. He was a friend and confidant of Dr. John Brauer, the School's first Dean. Willie, as he was widely known, was promoted to be the School's first Assistant Dean. In the early 1950s, he recognized that dentistry in North Carolina was desperate for superior continuing dental education. Doctor Demeritt set out to give North Carolina one of the finest dental CE programs anywhere, and that is how he became connected to so many outstanding and appreciative dental professionals in this state, and throughout the southeast.

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