Bethesda, MD — Retired Air Force Colonel Drew W. Fallis, DDS, MS, has been selected as the new Executive Dean of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Postgraduate Dental College. Fallis, who most recently served as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the USU Postgraduate Dental College, will succeed Dr. Thomas Schneid, who will be retiring July 31 following more than 45 years of Federal service.
“Dr. Fallis brings a wealth of experience in dental education, faculty development, clinical dentistry, research and leadership, making him an outstanding choice to lead the Postgraduate Dental College,” said Dr. William Roberts, interim president of USU.
Fallis retired from the Air Force in 2018 after more than 29 years of active service. He has extensive experience in dental education, where he served in various roles, culminating as Dean, Air Force Postgraduate Dental School, and Military Consultant to the Air Force Surgeon General for Graduate Dental Education. In that role, he was responsible for the executive leadership, oversight and strategic direction for 19 Air Force dental residency programs and over 100 dental faculty. Fallis currently holds an appointment as professor of Orthodontics in the Air Force Postgraduate Dental School.
Fallis earned his dental degree from Oklahoma University. Following graduation, he joined the Air Force, where he served as a general dentist. He earned his specialty certificate and Master of Science degree in Orthodontics from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Fallis is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics, for whom he served as a Clinical Board Examiner. He has extensive experience in the area of dental accreditation, having served for seven years as a Site Examiner for the American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation.
Fallis served as the Orthodontics Training Officer for the Air Force Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency at Sheppard Air Force Base before being selected for assignment to the teaching staff for the Tri-Service Orthodontic Residency Program (TORP) at Lackland Air Force Base, which is the only Tri-Service dental residency in the DoD. During that time, he worked as Research Director and Clinical Director, before being selected as TORP Program Director. He then served as Chair for the Department of Orthodontics and Military Consultant for Orthodontics to the Air Force Surgeon General, before rising to the pinnacle position in Air Force dental education as Dean, Air Force Postgraduate Dental School. He also completed the 30-hour faculty development credit hour requirement to earn the Uniformed Services University Faculty Development Certificate in Teaching.
As Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Fallis supervised the expansion of the PDC to now include 450+ faculty assigned to 19 MS in Oral Biology degree programs and 27 military PGY-1 programs, spearheaded the development of an online PDC faculty appointment and promotion process to streamline the appointment and promotion for faculty. Fallis also developed and directed an online Dental Faculty Development course to introduce new PDC faculty to graduate teaching concepts, directed the establishment of a PDC Long-Term Career Outcome database to track progression of students, faculty, and alumni, and obtained eIRB approval to begin research directed toward the establishment of a comprehensive dental faculty development framework for the DoD.
Fallis is widely published in Orthodontic literature and has served as the supervising professor, or on the research committee, for 12 Orthodontic residents. His research areas of interest include assessing the incorporation of asynchronous teaching strategies in competency-based dental curriculum models, development of an outcomes assessment model to assess value in dental education programs, application of new technologies to traditional orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning, esthetic orthodontic appliances with focus on advanced fiber-filled composites, and neuromuscular adaptation following surgical orthodontic treatment.
“I am honored to have been selected as the next Executive Dean of the Postgraduate Dental College and look forward to working with military leadership, all USU colleges, and our talented dental faculty to build upon the amazing progress made over the past decade,” Fallis said.
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About the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences: The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the nation’s federal health sciences university and the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. USU also has graduate programs in oral biology, biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research. The University’s research program covers a wide range of areas important to both the military and public health. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.
