Alumnus Dr. Frank Licari named Top Academic Leader of the Decade
The International Association of Top Professionals honors the former UIC College of Dentistry teacher and administrator for his ongoing impact on dental education.
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When Frank Licari, DDS ’86 received an email in January from the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) naming him as the organization’s Top Academic Leader of the Decade, he re-read the message three times to “make sure they had the right person.”
But Licari, a former UIC College of Dentistry teacher and administrator who has served as dean of the Roseman University of Health Sciences in Utah since 2013, was indeed the award’s intended recipient. The IAOTP, an international boutique networking organization that handpicks the world’s finest professionals from different industries and celebrates them at an annual awards gala, recognized Licari for his outstanding leadership, dedication and commitment to the dental profession.
“Being named anything for the decade is quite the surprise, and I’m incredibly humbled,” Licari said.
In nominating Licari for the IAOTP award, Roseman professor Dr. Shankargouda Patil said Licari represented “the highest ideals of academic leadership.” He noted Licari’s sustained impact on dental education policy, institutional governance and workforce development, ranging from his enterprising leadership at Roseman to his prominent roles steering organizations such as the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).
“His contributions have reshaped institutions, influenced accreditation standards and improved the lives of countless students and educators worldwide,” Patil wrote of Licari.
Climbing the ranks
Immediately after earning his DDS at UIC in 1986, Licari joined UIC’s faculty ranks. Over a nine-year run at the college, he treated patients and taught in the classroom as well as the clinic.
In 1995, Licari departed UIC for Marquette University, where he served as director of clinical education and patient care, before becoming manager of predoctoral education at CODA. When then-UIC College of Dentistry Dean Dr. Bruce Graham joined the College in 2000, reuniting Licari with UIC was among his top priorities.
“I admired Frank’s work and he was the guy I wanted,” Graham said. “He knows so much about dental education and what success looks like.”
At UIC from 2000-2009, Licari led efforts to modernize clinical affairs at the college, from equipment to operations, while also strengthening curriculum and collecting buy-in from stakeholders across the college to ensure its positioning as a top dental school in the Midwest.
“People respected him and loved to work with him,” Graham said of Licari, who earned master’s degrees in public health and business administration from UIC in 1994. “He was humble, unassuming and a tremendous motivator of people.”
Taking the leading role
In 2013, Roseman, a private, not-for-profit university founded in 1999 with campuses in Utah and Nevada, tapped Licari to guide its two-year-old College of Dental Medicine. Licari immediately went to work, recruiting faculty, sharpening curriculum and enhancing the student experience to strengthen Roseman’s positioning.
As dental students at Roseman and elsewhere across the country faced accelerating costs and with student costs surging north of $500,000 for some, Licari spearheaded Roseman’s ambitious shift from a four-year DMD program to an innovative three-year model – only the second school in the nation to offer a three-year dental program at the time.
“Student debt was a crisis we needed to address, so we committed ourselves to make a complete change in what dental education is,” Licari said.
The enterprising shift has sliced student costs 25 percent at Roseman and is propelling students – Roseman’s first class of three-year DMD students graduates this spring – into the professional ranks in a healthier way. The model is projected to generate nearly $200 million in cumulative savings for students over the next decade and sparked a 50 percent enrollment increase at Roseman, which has become a national talking point for improved affordability, access and efficiency in dental education.
“A lot of colleges are looking at what we’re doing and asking questions, and we’re transparent with each and every one of them,” Licari said. “We want to be a working model for the future of dental education.”
Focused on students and patients
Roseman’s rise has only further brightened Licari’s star as a dynamic industry leader, stirring recognition like the IAOTP’s Top Academic Leader of the Decade honor.
“Choosing Dr. Licari for this honor was an easy decision for our panel to make. He is inspirational, influential and a true visionary and thought leader,” IATOP president Stephanie Cirami said.
Indeed, Licari boasts an impressive resume speaking to his impact on dental education. He has served as a trusted consultant in accreditation, curriculum development, outcomes assessment and faculty development for dozens of dental schools across the U.S. and around the globe, from South America to Asia to the Middle East. He has held chairperson roles with CODA, the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations and the Dental Therapists Education Standards Advisory Panel. In 2015, UIC honored Licari with its Distinguished Dental Alumnus Award, specifically celebrating his rich contributions to dental education.
“At its simplest form, I want to put students and patients at the center of every decision and cultivate a culture that respects this,” Licari said. “If we’re guided by this and keep our collective eye on the student and patient experience, then we build a stronger profession and improve patient care and human health.”