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Faculty member Dr. Renée E. Duff is the dental school’s next Senior Associate Dean, effective June 1, 2025. Her five-year appointment extends through May 31, 2030.
The Senior Associate Dean works closely with the Dean on decisions throughout the school, and represents the dean as delegated at university and school levels. She will lead the school’s strategic planning process and supervise the school’s director of human resources, compliance manager and the director of safety, emergency preparedness and infection prevention.
Dean Jacques Nör cited Duff’s strong leadership in her current position as Associate Dean for Students in the Office of Student Services. Her work in that office dates to 2013 when she began as Assistant Dean for Student Services, with a promotion to Associate Dean for Students in 2020. The office focuses on recruiting, retaining and fostering the educational and career development of students in the school’s academic programs, including dental, dental hygiene, graduate and DDS/PhD students. Student Services is responsible for admissions, financial aid, registrar services, course registration and student support, such as wellness counseling and academic and career advising.
Duff has a longstanding connection to the university and dental school, first as a student who earned three degrees – a bachelor’s degree (1991), Doctor of Dental Surgery degree (1996), and a master’s degree in prosthodontics (2005). She began teaching at the dental school as a part-time faculty member in 1997 and became a full-time faculty member in 2004. She holds a faculty appointment as clinical associate professor in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences and Division of Prosthodontics.
The Associate Senior Dean position came open with the retirement of faculty member Dr. Mark Fitzgerald, who has been a part of the dental school for more than 45 years. He earned his undergraduate, DDS and MS degrees at U-M. He is a professor in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics and served as Associate Dean for Community-Based Collaborative Care and Education (CBCE) from 2017 to 2024. His teaching, research and patient care, in both private practice and at the school, have been recognized with numerous awards and grants. M Dentistry magazine will profile Fitzgerald’s dental school tenure in the Fall 2025 edition.
