SHORTLY AFTER the opening of the School of Dentistry’s state-of-the-art Pre-clinical Lab in 2019, Marsha Pyle, DDS, MEd, announced she would be stepping down as dean in 2020. She had spent nearly 12 years leading the dental school and securing its reputation as a leading academic program. Rather than coast to retirement, however, Pyle oversaw multiple challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the closure of almost all school facilities in March. Pyle and her team worked tirelessly to shift classes online, shut down the school’s dental clinics, revamp them with new safety equipment and procedures, and then reopen slowly and carefully.

At the same time, Pyle and her team made sure that the classes of 2020 would graduate on time, despite not being able to screen patients
in anticipation of impending dental licensure board exams. Making the Pre-clinic Lab a reality, navigating the pandemic and graduating the classes of 2020 were quite a trifecta to cap a career. “I remain impressed by the level of education, research and service that we provide, daily by those who thoroughly love what they do,” Pyle said.