Two interim department chairs appointed

The Dental College of Georgia has appointed two long-time faculty members to serve as interim chairs of departments while the college conducts national searches for permanent candidates. Interim chairs provide important stability during a time of transition and establish transparency with open and frequent communication. We are proud to congratulate:

• Weston Fortson, DMD, assistant professor in the Department of Orthodontics, has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Orthodontics and interim program director for the Advanced Education in Orthodontics residency

• Anthony Mollica, DDS, associate professor of General Dentistry, has been appointed interim chair of the Department of General Dentistry.

Fortson is director of pre-doctoral orthodontics and an instructor and lecturer in the postgraduate orthodontic program. He is an AU alum, having completed his DMD in 1983 after completing a BS in microbiology at the University of Georgia in 1979. He joined DCG in 1999. Fortson is a member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the Georgia Association of Orthodontists and the Southern Association of Orthodontists. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He was elected president of Omicron Kappa Upsilon in 2020, and won the Pierre Fauchard Teaching Award in 2015 and the MVP Faculty Award from the Curriculum Committee in 2015.

Mollica spent 27 years in private practice before devoting a second career to dental education by joining DCG in 2008. He is a 1979 alum of The Ohio State University’s DDS program, and a 1976 graduate of Clemson University’s BS in ceramic sciences and engineering. He is a member of the South Carolina Dental Association, the American Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry and the American College of Dentists. He was awarded the Excellence in Dental Education Award from the Pierre Fauchard Academy in 2020, and Advocate Award from the American Student Dental Association in 2019, and the Adjunct Faculty Presidential Award from Tri-County Technical College Health Education Division in 2006.