12/19/06

Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU), Pomona, Calif, has appointed James J. Koelbl, DDS, MS, MJ, founding Dean for the College of Dental Medicine, which the University anticipates opening in the next few years.

The recommendation to add a College of Dentistry emerged from WesternU’s strategic plan as a logical progression of expansion and is supported by the president and accepted by the University’s Board of Trustees. The University has entered the preliminary phase of the accreditation process and selected Koelbl to spearhead the college’s completion of preliminary accreditation protocols with the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). No date has been determined for the official inception of the dental program at WesternU.

Koelbl has served as dean at the West Virginia University (WVU) School of Dentistry since 1999. Prior to his deanship, Koelbl held the position of Associate Executive Director at the American Dental Association in Chicago. His career in academia includes serving as chairman of the Department of Operative Dentistry, assistant dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, and associate dean for Academic Affairs at Loyola University School of Dentistry; and associate dean for Clinical Affairs at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry. Koelbl also practiced general dentistry over a 20 year period both full and part time in rural and urban settings.

[The State News, December 18, 2006]