In a career spanning dental hygiene to academic dean, Pam Overman did it all with a smile
By BRYCE PUNTENNEY
During a 40-year career at the UMKC School of Dentistry, Dr. Pam Overman (BSDH ’70, MSDH ’80, EdD) always looked for unique ways to teach and lead, even if they came in the form of a squawking parrot.
Dr. Overman, who retired Sept. 1 as associate dean for academic affairs, recalled Dr. Harvey Eplee (DDS ’71) coming to her to ask about the school’s policy regarding service animals on the clinic floor — and not just service dogs.
Dr. Eplee was the clinic dean at the time and had fielded a question from a colleague at another dental school that was dealing with a patient with serious rage issues. The patient could be calmed, however, by his service parrot, which would feel his tension rising and squawk at him, “Don’t do it, Jim!”
The story made its way around, and Dr. Overman made good use of it, true to her sense of humor and creativity. She bought little toy parrots for the members of the school’s leadership team and told them, “When you feel a bit of anger coming on, look at the parrot and squawk, ‘Don’t do it, Jim!’ ”
The start of her career wasn’t so funny, Dr. Overman recalled, at least not at the time. When she had just finished earning her dental hygiene degree, she decided to follow a tradition among dental hygiene students and burn her books and notes in a particular trash bin behind her UMKC residence hall.
“That’s how long ago it was,” Dr. Overman joked. “We had to burn things because shredders didn’t exist yet.”
She was excited to be finished with school and ready to start work as a hygienist, so why not?
But the very next week, the director of the dental hygiene program called and offered her a part-time teaching position. She took the offer — and thought her books and all those class notes surely would have come in handy after all.
Undeterred, she did what she has done throughout her career: She drew inspiration from the challenge before her. She adapted, persevered and prospered, rising to become a leader at UMKC and in her entire field.
“There were three main things that stood out when I first hired Pam full time,” said Dr. Marilyn Harrington (BSDH ’69, MS ’72, PhD ’85), her longtime mentor. “The first was her intelligence. She was extremely bright. I think it’s a hallmark of an intelligent person when she can take a difficult and abstract subject and break it down so you can wrap your hands around it. Secondly, her personal character and professional demeanor in all that she did were of the highest order. Lastly, her sense humor. Regardless of the situation, she always had a way of incorporating her sense of humor.”
Those qualities came together in Dr. Overman’s leadership abilities and fueled her rapid rise. After starting as an assistant professor of dental hygiene in 1980, within four years she was named director of the dental hygiene program, and was promoted to associate professor while continuing as director.
She earned a doctorate in education and, in 2001, was named the assistant dean and then associate dean of academic affairs.
Looking at Dr. Overman’s career, Dean Marsha A. Pyle said, “Her leadership progress at UMKC is remarkable as she has left an indelible positive impact on our school and its program because of her tenacity, intelligence, emotional intelligence, diligence and grit.”
Through the years, Dr. Overman built a reputation as a stalwart advocate for all oral health professional students, hygienists and dentists alike, and their interests. She distinguished herself as an oral health researcher and as a leader in many national professional organizations. Her service has included chair of the American Dental Education Association’s National Dental Hygiene Directors, chair of ADEA’s Council of Allied Program Directors and chair of ADEA’s Section on Academic Affairs. Last year, she received the UMKC Chancellor’s Award for Career Contributions to the University, recognizing her for excellence in teaching and research.
Dr. Overman remembers being the only woman in a meeting with the school’s department chairs early in her career. As a young faculty member, she found that room full of white coats and ties quite intimidating. Nearly 40 years later, she’s proud of how the gender demographics of the field of dentistry have shifted to better represent society as a whole. Now, she noted, 52 percent of the school’s faculty are female.
“I think it’s awesome!” Dr. Overman said. “It reflects who dentistry and academic dentistry are now, and it brings different perspectives to the field.”