Dr. Brittany Seymour, associate professor of Oral Health, Policy, and Epidemiology, has been appointed to serve as HSDM’s new Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. In this leadership role, she will serve as HSDM’s first full-time administrative dean dedicated to faculty affairs, including faculty mentorship, recruitment, and professional development. She begins her new administrative position on July 17, 2023.
Seymour, who has served as a faculty member at HSDM for 12 years, is well-known across Harvard as well as nationally and internationally, for her work in global and community health and as a leader in advancing oral health initiatives around the world. She earned her DDS degree from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine in 2005, and joined HSDM in 2011 after completing her MPH at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Seymour’s interests include interdisciplinary global health curriculum development and pedagogy, digital public health communication and network science, and oral health workforce development in resource-challenged settings. Her efforts have helped launch the first dental school in Rwanda, supported dental education reform in Vietnam, and helped develop a hospital wing for dental care in Haiti. Her work has also led to collaborations with the World Health Organization, the creation of a Global Health Starter Kit for educators, and a global health field course that gives Harvard students the opportunity to study global oral health concepts in action in Costa Rica.
In this new role, Seymour will be responsible for managing all faculty-related matters at HSDM. She will oversee the recruitment of highly qualified faculty and develop a faculty mentoring program for new full-time and part-time faculty as well as serve as a key advisor to department chairs in support of their work to guide and mentor faculty of all academic ranks and promotion pathways.
“Dr. Seymour’s experience creating her own unique faculty path in global and community health, and inspiring her students to pursue roles in academia, will be a great asset to HSDM’s faculty affairs program. I’m excited to have Dr. Seymour lead this vital area of strategic development for HSDM’s faculty community,” said Dean William Giannobile.
Dr. Seymour has held leadership positions at the American Association of Public Health Dentistry and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health’s (CUGH) Global Oral Health Interest Group and has been honored with numerous awards. She was most recently recognized as Cuspies’ Dental Educator of the year, as well as CUGH’s Velji Faculty Leader in Global Health Innovation. She has also served on a number of initiatives with Harvard Medical School (HMS) Faculty Affairs, including the Leadership Council for the Joint Committee on the Status of Women at Harvard, the task force for the faculty HMS CV generator project, and the Eleanor and Miles Shore Fellowship Academic Promise Review Committee.
“I have been so fortunate to craft a pioneering, dynamic career here at HSDM due to the world class talent and resources available across our university,” Seymour said. “My vision in dentistry has always been to support healthcare leaders prepared for equally diverse career pathways who can be responsive to the world’s rapidly evolving oral health landscape. I am honored to serve in this new capacity as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and am ready to lift others in their careers.”
