Addendum

Addendum

ADA Installs Linda Edgar President, Brett Kessler President-Elect Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon Second Vice President

THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION welcomed its 160th president in October when it installed Linda J. Edgar, D.D.S., of Federal Way, WA, as the Association’s top elected official. Dr. Edgar’s installation took place at the conclusion of the ADA’s Annual Meeting, SmileCon, in Orlando, FL.

At the meeting, the ADA also installed its new president-elect, Brett Kessler, D.D.S., of Denver CO, and Second Vice President Edwin A. del Valle-Sepúlveda, D.M.D., J.D., of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

An ADA member for over 30 years, Dr. Edgar served as president-elect, 11th District Trustee and delegate to the ADA House prior to being installed as president. She served on the ADA Council of Dental Practice and on the ADA Budget and Finance Committee and Business Innovation Committee. Dr. Edgar was also a Board representative and delegate to the FDI World Dental Federation and a Board liaison to the American Student Dental Association, Membership Council, Commission on Dental Accreditation and the Specialty Recognition Commission.

Dr. Edgar has practiced general dentistry with her husband, Dr. Bryan Edgar, for over 30 years.

Colorado Prosthodontist is President-Elect

Dr. Kessler has been an active volunteer leader and member of the ADA for 26 years. Since 2019, he has represented the 14th District on the ADA Board of Trustees, and he has chaired several ADA committees, including Diversity and Inclusion, and Audit. He is also chair of the ADA Science and Research Institute’s Board of Directors, and he previously served as Board liaison to the Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention, Council of Communications and Council on Dental Practice.

A national wellness and leadership speaker, Dr. Kessler has been involved with volunteer organizations that promote substance abuse advocacy and well-being. His wife, Gina Kessler, is also a dentist.

Forty Years of Service

Dr Valle-Sepúlveda has been an ADA member for over 40 years, serving in the ADA House for half of that time. He has been a member of the Commission on Continuing Education Provider Recognition and a member representing the 4th District of the ADA Council on Membership. He is a past president of the Hispanic Dental Association and the Puerto Rico Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Dr. Valle-Sepúlveda is a fellow in both the American Association and the American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, an honorary fellow in the American and International colleges of Dentists, a diplomat of the American Board of OMS and a diplomat on the National Dental Board of Anesthesiology. His wife, Lilian de Laosa-Vazquez, is a general dentist.