Commencement

Dr. Southerland recently left the Vice Chancellor position to return to School of Dentistry at the Health Sciences Center, where she is a tenured professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Dr. Southerland is an experienced clinician, educator, administrator, researcher, and interprofessional and collaborative trailblazer. She has led efforts at multiple institutions to transform the academic health sciences enterprise through active engagement with faculty, students and staff.

Dr. Southerland holds a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree, an MPH in Health Policy and Administration, and a PhD in Oral Biology, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She has led transdisciplinary research and clinical teams, and has served with numerous national, regional and state professional, accreditation, editorial and advisory organizations. She has authored and contributed numerous book chapters related to inclusivity, belonging and mentoring in dentistry, education and other areas of healthcare.

Prior to joining the LSU Health Sciences Center, Dr. Southerland was Vice President for Interprofessional Education, Institutional Effectiveness and Health Education at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

From 2011-17, Dr. Southerland was a professor in the Department Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Meharry School of Dentistry in Nashville, Tennessee. From 2011-13, she was Dean of the school.