Dennis Lopatin, MS, PhD

Senior Associate Dean

Growing up in the Chicago area, he initially planned to go into industrial research and work for a pharmaceutical company.

One day, however, as fog in Chicago led to the cancellation of a flight that would have taken him to a job interview at a pharmaceutical company, Dennis Lopatin's career path changed.

A short time later, he was offered a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago and instead chose to pursue a career in transplantation and cancer research that would eventually bring him to Ann Arbor.

"Having earned a PhD in both microbiology and immunochemistry at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, I wound up working as a post-doc at Northwestern, first in the Department of Surgery, and then in microbiology," Lopatin said.

"I was happy with my research focus and had no intentions of changing. Then, one day, Don Clewell, who was chairing the search for an immunologist at the School of Dentistry, called to ask if I would be interested in coming to Ann Arbor to interview for a position in the School's Dental Research Institute."

"When I asked him where he got my name, Don said he was a classmate of my research advisor at Illinois who recommended me."

Lopatin turned Clewell down saying he wasn't interested in dental research.

But Clewell called back a week later.

"This time he asked me to at least come to Ann Arbor and take a look at the School. So I did."

Walking across the Diag from the Michigan Union where he was staying, to the dental school on the first day of his visit, Lopatin said, "I knew I was home and that this is where I wanted to be."

Having lived near the University of Illinois for more than eight years, Lopatin enjoyed the setting and lifestyle. "The University of Michigan was a breath of fresh air after commuting to downtown Chicago during my two-year postdoc," he said.

After his interview, he was offered a position as an assistant research scientist at DRI. "I started working there, no fooling, April 1, April Fool's Day, in 1976."

During his thirty-plus years at Michigan, Lopatin has been involved in research, teaching, and administration.

Doing the Most Good

"I thrive on serving the School in almost any capacity," he said. "It doesn't matter if it's in a classroom where I'm teaching, or in a lab doing research, advising a student, serving the dean, or representing the School. I love being here."

As senior associate dean since 2004, Lopatin works closely with Dean Peter Polverini in numerous aspects of the School's missions.

"The position was one that was created years ago by Bernie Machen when he was dean of the School," Lopatin said. "But when Pete returned as dean, he reactivated the position to help him meet the new challenges he was facing."

During the past five years, the scope of Lopatin's job responsibilities as senior associate dean has evolved.

Originally, he focused on faculty affairs, dental informatics, and the School's facilities. "But now it includes budget and finance, human resources, and strategic planning. We want to maintain the excellence that has been a part of this School for more than one hundred years, while also being flexible enough to meet current and future challenges," he said.

Lopatin also manages the School's All Hazards Planning Group which is responsible for preparing for an array of potential hazards and has devoted considerable time to ensuring oral health care professionals are uppermost in the minds of local, state, and national officials should a widespread health disaster or emergency occur in southeast Michigan or another part of the state. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2004, pages 48-49.]