William Wallace Dodge

William W. Dodge, 76, passed away on Friday, May 27, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. He was predeceased by his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Wallace Dodge and his sisters Dorothy Dodge Riley and Marjorie Dodge Granger.  He was born on June 4, 1945 in Los Angeles, California.  

He obtained his undergraduate degree in 1967 from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas where he had the great good fortune to meet Nancy Jill Pollock who was to become his beloved wife of 55 years and without whom none of what follows would have been possible. He obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Southern California in 1971.  Following two years of service in the United States Army Dental Corps and five years in the private practice of dentistry in San Antonio he joined the faculty of the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Dental School in 1978. He began his academic career in the school’s teaching clinics teaching and training the future dentists for the state of Texas.  During his forty-year tenure he served in a variety of capacities. He directed the School’s general dentistry program, initiated and directed the Dental Faculty Practice, served as interim chair of pediatric dentistry and interim chair of oral and maxillofacial surgery. In 1996 he was appointed associate dean for patient care and in 2004 was appointed the school’s Vice Dean. In 2012 he was appointed Interim Dean and in 2013, following a national search, was appointed Dean, a position he held until his retirement in 2018.  

In 1995 he was awarded the American Association of Dental School’s Harry W. Bruce Legislative Fellowship and spent 3 months in Washington DC immersed in advocacy issues affecting dentistry and dental education. He has been a member of the Journal of Dental Education’s editorial review board, served in multiple capacities with the Commission on Dental Accreditation, the accrediting body for all US dental schools to include serving as a commissioner from 2012-15, and he has served as a consultant to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In addition, he was a special pre-accreditation consultant for a number of dental schools including the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina, Columbia University, and the Universidad De La Salle Dental School in Leon, Mexico. His primary academic interests and the focus of his published articles and invited presentations included dental materials, exploring methods to improve the dental school curriculum, enhancing predoctoral clinical training and competency assessment, and dental school financing.  

He is survived by his wife, Nancy Pollock Dodge, their two sons Rhett Andrew Dodge and his wife Monica of Greenville, SC, Ryan Riley Dodge and his wife Amy of San Antonio, TX and his grandsons Logan Henry Dodge and Austin Carter Dodge of Greenville, SC and his granddaughter Bryce Riley Dodge of San Antonio, TX.