Columbia University, New York, has named Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, dean of the College of Dental Medicine and senior vice president of Columbia University Medical Center, effective August 1, 2013. He succeeds Ira B. Lamster, DDS, MMSc, who stepped down in 2012 after a decade leading the college.
Stohler is a leading expert on pain management and on jaw and muscle disorders. He is currently dean of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in Baltimore, where he oversaw Maryland’s expansion to become the largest public dental school in the United States, obtained the volunteer commitment of more than 200 practicing dentists to teach real-world dentistry, and expanded the school’s global presence.
“I am delighted to join Columbia University,” Stohler said. “The bold leadership at the College of Dental Medicine… the pervasive and unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation; and the impressive esprit de corps among the faculty, which includes world-class clinicians—all of this makes Columbia a dream opportunity for me.”
Before joining the University of Maryland in 2003, Stohler spent more than 20 years at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he was a professor in the School of Dentistry, research scientist at the Center for Human Growth and Development, director of research at the School of Dentistry, and professor and chair of the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences. He has helped lead National Institutes of Health-funded work into the genetics, endocrinology, and neurobiology of the human response to pain—particularly in patients with TMJD.
Stohler received his DMD from the University of Bern in Switzerland, where he also earned his DrMedDent in hematology, as well as certificates in oral surgery and prosthodontics. He holds an honorary doctoral degree of philosophy from Nippon Dental University in Tokyo. He is a recipient of the Jerome M. & Dorothy Schweitzer Research Award from the Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics and the Horace Wells Merit Award from the Connecticut State Dental Association. The National Dental Association, the Orthodontic Education and Research Foundation, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy have honored him, as well. He has chaired the Board of Scientific Counselors at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and is a fellow of the American College of Dentistry and of the International College of Dentistry.
