The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Multicultural Affairs Committee (DEI-MAC) is comprised of students, faculty and staff from the School of Dentistry with the purpose of promoting diversity and planning activities that celebrate different cultures.
The mission of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry DEI-MAC is to create an atmosphere where students, staff, faculty and patients can inter-act and benefit in a supportive environment by promoting justice and by exploring and celebrating differences and similarities.
The DEI-MAC will contribute to the University of Michigan School of Dentistry’s process for achieving excellence through diversity by:
The committee meets on the second Tuesday of the month. Dental student members are appointed for a three year term and dental hygiene students a two year term, with the new member being accepted once per year, usually in the Fall.
Staff | Students | Faculty | Office of DEI-MAC Staff |
---|---|---|---|
Celia Alcumbrack McDaniel, MARCOM | Said Al-Jazaeri | Giovana Anovazzi Medeiros, OPD | Blake Bufford, DEI-MAC Assistant, Grad Pros. |
Todd Brown, Contracts & Grants | Richa Bahtia, Grad Peds. | David Apsey, CRSE | |
Cara Canady, Dental Informatics | Anthony Barraco, DH4 | Sun-Yung Bak, BMSP | |
Dinella Crosby, Office of DEI | Amy Bulmer, DH3 | Marcia Campos, CRSE | |
Leen Dakhialla, BMSP | Jordan DeVoe, D2, DEI Student Liaison | Rogerio Castilho, POM | |
Lisa Dodge, POM | Brhan Eskinder, D2, DEI Student Liaison | Geetha Duddnahalli Siddanna, CRSE | |
Usha Dronamraju Kompella, Dental Informatics | Aya Fattah, D3 | Iwonka Eagle, POM/DH | |
Nileshkumar Dubey, Research Fellow | Bradley Harrison, D4, DEI Student Liaison | Todd Ester, CRSE | |
Shante Galloway, Human Resources | Omair Hasan, D3, DEI Student Liaison | Jian-Guo Geng, BMSP | |
Mary Jo Gray, Compliance | Alexis Holton, DH4 | Elliott Hill, BMSP | |
Nicole Haskett, Patient Services | Marsha-Kay Hutchinson, DDS/PhD | Marita Inglehart, POM | |
Adam Johnson, Sindecuse Museum | RayJ Jackson, D3, DEI Student Liaison | Kenneth May, BMSP | |
Bliss Ledford, Dean’s Office | Carla Jones, Grad Peds. | Martha McComas, POM | |
Peggy Page, Grad Restorative | Christina Jones, DDS/PhD | Mark Migdal, Adjunct | |
Melanie Panyard LaPointe, Dean’s Office | Ryan Koa, D1, DEI Student Liaison | Romesh Nalliah, Patient Services | |
Karyn Proctor-Wicks, Human Resources | Tommy Lau, D4 | Elizabeth Pitts, CRSE | |
Cheryl Quiney, Patient Services | Annie Lu, D1 | Andrea Pobocik, CRSE | |
Keisha Reid, Patient Services | McKenzie Maynor, Grad Pros. | Casey Rhines, CRSE | |
Deveny Rosebrock, Development | Oak Gar Moe, D3, ITDP, DEI Student Liaison | Helena Ritchie, CRSE | |
Raney Russell, CE | Bhavinkumar Patel, Grad. Pros | Berna Saglik, BMSP | |
Malines Scannault, BMSP Grad. Pros | Ligia Schmitd, PhD | Shruti Thomas, CRSE | |
Theresa Schneider, OCIO Administration | Palak Shah, D4 | Stefanie VanDuine, DH | |
Gloria Sdao, OMSHD | Nita Singh, OHS PhD/MS Peds. | Rodney (Vee) Vergotine, OPD | |
Katherine Shin, Academic Affairs | Alexander Stryk, D1 | Suman Vij, CRSE | |
Cherokee Taylor, BMSP | Sophia Alexis Timban, DH4 | Nikia Washington, POM/DH | |
Carmen Lyn Vega, DH4, DEI Student Liaison | Megan Weivoda, POM | ||
Di Xie, D4 | |||
Nicholas Zhang, D1, DEI Student Liaison |
DEI-MAC CE Course, 3/29/2022 - PDF slide deck
Speakers: Dr. Marita Inglehart & Dr. Todd Ester
DEI-MAC CE Course, 3/16/2022
Speakers: Said Al-Jazairi, BSD, Hygiene; Fatin Amireh & Mohamed Kazbour
DEI-MAC CE Course, 2/8/2022
Speakers: Drs. Elizabeth Hatfield and Kristine Phillips
Apologies, the recording was started a few minutes into the presentation
DEI-MAC CE Course, 1/10/2022
Speaker: Dr. Geoffrey Gerstner, DDS, MS, PhD, D.ABDSM Associate Professor of Dentistry; Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics
DEI-MAC CE Course, 12/07/2021
Speaker: Karen Burnett LMSW, University of Michigan School of Dentistry
DEI-MAC CE Course, 9/27/2021
Speaker: Dr. Steven Geiermann, Senior Manager; Access, Community Oral Health Infrastructure and Capacity & Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention; American Dental Association
DEI-MAC recognizes the month of June as LGBTQI+ PRIDE Month. Visit our Pride Page for more info on events and resources for Pride month and beyond.
Each year DEI-MAC hosts a Taste Fest. This event highlights food from the many diverse cultures representated at the School of Dentistry.
DEI-MAC celebrates Martin Luther King Jr Day with a speaker, presentation of the Ida Gray Diversity Awards and a reception.
In celebration of Women's Awareness Month, the DEI-MAC celebrates the past, present, and future achievements of the women of the School of Dentistry.
Ida Gray, Class of 1890, was:
These few facts about the life of Ida Gray are from university records. In response to a request for information from University’s Alumni records Office in 1910, Dr. Gray wrote that she was born on March 4, 1867, in Clarksville, Tennessee. In 1920, however, she wrote that she was born on March 4, 1870, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
There are indications Ms. Gray became interested in dentistry in Cincinnati when she came under the influence of Dr. Jonathan Taft, the founding dean of our School. Dr. Taft was an early advocate of women dentists. He was the only dentist in Cincinnati who was willing to accept a determined young woman as an apprentice in his office in 1859--that was Lucy Hobbs, who was to become the first woman dentist.
Ida Gray made it known in her later years that she had worked in the Cincinnati office of Dr. Taft before she entered our school in October 1887. Her student record notes Dr. Taft was her preceptor. At the time of Ida’s 1890 graduation, 22 women had matriculated in our dental school.
At the time Ida entered the Dental College (1887), the curriculum was in transition from a two-year to a three-year program. She returned to Cincinnati following graduation and practiced there until 1895 when she married James S. Nelson and moved to Chicago. They resided on State Street, and Ida became Chicago’s first black woman dentist. For the 1900 U-M Alumni Catalogue, she wrote her husband’s full name as, “Captain James S. Nelson, attorney.”
By 1903, their address was 3652 Wabash Avenue, another famous Chicago street, and it remained her home until her death. An updated clipping from her stationary contains her professional name, Ida Gray Nelson, D.D.S.
In 1929, Ida married William Rollins, and used the name of Dr. Ida N. Rollins for rest of her life. Ida died on May 3, 1953. Her obituary in the Chicago Tribune noted that Dr. Ida Nelson Rollins, 87, had retired in 1928 and that Mr. Nelson died in 1938. There was no indication that Ida had children.
Nominees must be a faculty member (current or alumni), staff member or student with present or past affiliation with the School of Dentistry. They should possess two or more of the following criteria:
Nominations for Ida Gray awards can be made at any time by sending a document that includes the nominee's name and the school role (faculty, staff, student [class year]) and explanation why this person should receive an Ida Gray award based on the award criteria (above). The document should be sent to to the following DEI-MAC co-chairs: