Polverini said the School’s defining value is summed up in one word – leadership. "Leadership has made this institution great, has sustained its excellence today, and will continue to allow it to mature in the future in ways that we cannot entirely envision today," he said.

Citing some of the School’s achievements during its 129-year history, innovations in clinical and classroom education, and the contributions of former faculty members and students who have made an impact on the oral health care profession, Polverini said that the School “has progressed far beyond the expectations of its founding fathers.” That tradition of leadership, he said, has not only sustained the School, but it will also be important “in enabling us to meet the challenges that we are likely to face in the future."

Challenges Cited

Among the challenges the School will need to address, Polverini said, include: a reinvention of the dental program as the nation’s health care system changes, finding ways to offer dental students and postgraduate students greater educational opportunities, and establishing a dental scholars program where select students “to work closely with faculty and explore new models of dental education.”

Polverini also noted the possibility of establishing a closer partnership with the U-M Health System and exploring opportunities to enhance flexibility and independence in the operation of the School’s patient care programs that would enable it “to approach delivering dentistry in a more economically sound environment without the risk of diminishing our academic values."

Strategic Assessment

A strategic assessment of the School would begin in the near future. The assessment, he said, would allow the School “to take a clear-eyed look at our intellectual directions and priorities, our strengths and weaknesses, and assess our comparative advantages over other institutions. This assessment,” he continued, “will guide our future decisions and initiatives in a way that promotes focus in the pursuit of academic excellence.” Another potential benefit would be identifying opportunities for possible collaboration with other units on campus as well as “the significant intellectual choices and trade-offs facing us.”

Polverini said he wants the convocation to become an annual event that would recap successes during the past year as well as an opportunity to look ahead.

Also delivering remarks at the ceremony was Robert Quinn, the Margaret Elliot Tracey Distinguished Professor at the School of Business. Quinn has studied organizational behavior for more than thirty years, has written 14 books on organizational change and effectiveness, and is the co-founder of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship.

Citing the difficulty of changing organizational behavior because of an inherent desire to stay within one’s comfort zone, Quinn said, “we fight to stay in that zone of comfort in our jobs and in organizations.” But he said everyone is responsible for making change happen, not just leaders. “Leadership is not about what we do, it’s about who we are,” he said. Quinn said everyone in an organization is a potential leader because “every one of us, at every moment of every day, is exercising some kind of influence on others.”

But making change take place also involves asking the right questions, he said. “When you want to make change occur, ask yourself ‘What results do I want to create?’ instead of asking, ‘How do I get what I want?’.” By asking the first question, he said, one establishes a vision that enables them to develop a strategy to reach that vision.

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.