470 The Executive Director of the American Dental Association, Kathleen O’Loughlin : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran

Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran

Dr. Kathleen T. O’Loughlin, of Medford, Mass., became the American Dental Association’s executive director/chief operating officer June 1.

Prior to joining the ADA staff, Dr. O’Loughlin worked briefly for United Healthcare as its chief dental officer after having served as a consultant to Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, on curriculum development in preparation for expansion of the dental school facility and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, Boston, in preparation for its 2009 accreditation.

She received her dental degree (summa cum laude) from Tufts in 1981 and a master’s degree in public health and health care management from Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, in 1998. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology (cum laude) in 1973 from Boston University.

She is the first woman to hold the position of ADA executive director.

From 2002–2007, Dr. O’Loughlin served as president and chief executive officer of Dental Services of Massachusetts, Inc. (d.b.a. Delta Dental of Massachusetts) where, through her leadership, the company doubled its reserves, increased membership by 400 percent and executed a successful five-year growth plan.

Also during her leadership, Dental Services of Massachusetts made charitable contributions of $53 million, which included endowed professorships at the dental schools at Tufts, Harvard and Boston University, as well as at MCPHS.

She is an assistant clinical professor in the Tufts Department of General Dentistry and a member of the Tufts University Board of Trustees.

For more than 25 years, Dr. O’Loughlin has been a member of the ADA, the Massachusetts Dental Society and the East Middlesex District Dental Society. She is a member of both the American and the International College of Dentists, the Santa Fe Group, Pierre Fauchard Academy, American Association of Women Dentists and the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine Alumni Association.

Dr. O’Loughlin serves on the boards of directors of Oral Health America, Biomedical Science Careers program at Harvard Medical School, and the Children’s Dental Health Project, Washington.

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