Penn Dental Medicine has named Sean Meehan, D’92, to the new role of assistant dean and chief dental officer. His appointment to this post and to a faculty position as a professor of clinical oral medicine took effect on August 1.

As chief dental officer, Dr. Meehan has joined the Penn Dental Medicine Office of Clinical Affairs to provide clinical expertise and standardization to all the school’s clinical departments.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Meehan to Penn Dental Medicine,” said Mark S. Wolff, the Morton Amsterdam Dean of Penn Dental Medicine. “He brings such a depth of experience in leadership as a dental educator and clinician, along with a great commitment to student mentorship and faculty development.”

Dr. Meehan, a Penn Dental Medicine alumnus, comes to the school from the U.S. Naval Dental Corps, retiring this summer as a Captain after 29 years of uniformed service. Dr. Meehan, who earned his DMD at Penn Dental Medicine and his certificate in oral medicine at the National Institute of Dental Research, had a distinguished career with the Navy, holding a diversity of leadership roles within dental education. They included serving as associate dean and then dean of the Naval Postgraduate Dental School, the U.S. Government’s largest centralized postgraduate dental school. He also chaired the school’s department of oral diagnosis and served on its faculty. .

Over the past several years, Dr. Meehan has returned to Penn Dental Medicine regularly to support and advise Penn Dental Medicine students who are pursuing military careers.

“I am excited to provide any expertise I have developed over my Naval career to Penn Dental Medicine as well as to the University at large,” said Dr. Meehan. “I look forward to turning the page onto this next chapter of my professional career.”