UIC Alum Voted President-Elect by the American Dental Association
Dr. Brett Kessler, ’95, a dentist in Denver, Colorado, is the new president-elect of the American Dental Association (ADA). Kessler was recently elected at the ADA House of Delegates Meeting at ADA SmileCon™ in Orlando, Florida, on October 10. Kessler will assume ADA presidency in 2024.
Kessler has been an active volunteer leader and member of the ADA for 26 years. Since 2019, Kessler has represented the 14th District on the ADA Board of Trustees, and he has chaired several ADA committees, including the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Audit Committee. He is also the Chair of the ADA Science and Research Institute’s Board of Directors and currently serving his second term.
Kessler’s vast ADA leadership involvement also extends to the House of Delegates, the Dental Wellbeing Advisory Committee and the Council of Dental Benefit Programs, where he was vice chair. Additionally, he has served as a Board of Trustees Liaison to the Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention, Council of Communications and Council on Dental Practice. He was also awarded the Golden Apple award for “Outstanding Leadership in Mentoring” in 2010, which is the highest award bestowed from the ADA.
Kessler is also involved in numerous other organizations, including the Metropolitan Denver Dental Society, the Colorado Prosthodontic Society, the American College of Dentists, the International College of Dentists, the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the Colorado Dental Association Foundation, where he was the founding chair.
He served as president of the Colorado Dental Association from 2014-2015, and prior to his term, he held a plethora of other leadership roles within the organization. Kessler graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry and completed his General Practice Residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He has experience practicing in a wide variety of practice modalities, including hospital setting, employee dentist, practice owner in a fee-for-service startup, chief dental officer at a dental support organization and currently practices in a restorative preferred provider organization.
Kessler has been an educator at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine and University of Michigan. A national wellness and leadership speaker, he is also a five-time Ironman triathlete, ultra-marathoner and avid trail runner. In addition to his work as a clinician, he has been involved with volunteer organizations which promote substance abuse advocacy and wellbeing. He is married to Dr. Gina Kessler, ‘95, and they have four children together.
Read the announcement here.