Appointments, Faculty and Staff

Frazier-Bowers Appointed Assistant Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Equity Initiatives

Sylvia Frazier-Bowers, DDS, PhD, recently began her appointment as the school’s first assistant dean for inclusive excellence and equity initiatives.

“I am looking forward to this new role and find most inspiring the opportunity to reinvigorate the way we all communicate so that ALL stakeholders feel inspired to do so freely and professionally. Under the leadership of Dean De Rossi, the School of Dentistry has boldly affirmed one of our strategic objectives is to create a culture of transparency, integrity, respect, collaboration and trust,” said Frazier-Bowers. “If we all believe that, by embracing diversity, we shall possess the most powerful tool – seeing the same problem through the lenses of many different people – then we will foster creativity and inspire productivity. My first day will begin the journey that can be summed up as: #ItsAllAboutEverybody.”

In this role, Frazier-Bowers will spearhead diversity efforts related to the school’s strategic priority to retain and recruit the very best people in a collaborative environment. Her work will focus on the identification and creation of initiatives and programs that enhance the school’s culture and environment. She will continue her appointment as an associate professor in the Department of Orthodontics.

“Sylvia will do a wonderful job in this capacity,” said Dean Scott S. De Rossi, DMD, MBA. “She is passionate about inclusiveness and equity, and she is endlessly creative – which will allow her to find innovative ways to help us create a culture of transparency, integrity, respect, collaboration and trust with all our constituencies. I am excited for her to begin her work on this important endeavor.”

An Illinois native, Frazier-Bowers earned both of her early degrees in Illinois: her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Illinois Chicago. She received her training in orthodontics from the UNC School of Dentistry and earned her doctorate in genetics and molecular biology from UNC as well before completing a post-doctoral fellowship in orthodontics at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston. Outside of UNC, she currently serves as chair of the Council of Scientific Affairs for the American Association of Orthodontics (AAO) and is president of the International Association of Dental Research Craniofacial Biology Group.