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Biography

John A. Valenza, DDS, is dean and the William N. Finnegan III Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Dental Sciences at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry (UTSD).

Dr. Valenza is a Houston native who is an alumnus of UTSD, graduating in 1981 when it was known at The University of Texas Dental Branch. He completed a residency in general practice at The University of Tennessee Memorial Hospital in Knoxville and practiced full time in the Nashville, Tenn., area from 1982-87 while also serving part-time on the faculty of Meharry Medical College - School of Dentistry.

In 1987, Dr. Valenza was appointed to the full-time faculty at UTSD, where he initiated the school’s General Practice Residency program with Memorial Hermann Hospital, serving as the program's director until 1996. He subsequently has held positions as director of Advanced Education and Extramural Affairs (1994-96), associate dean for Patient Care (1996-2004), acting chair of a new Department of Diagnostic Sciences (2002-04), and Executive Associate Dean (2004-09).

As executive associate dean, Dr. Valenza was directly responsible for several initiatives, such as initiating a faculty practice, developing a simulation clinic, converting to electronic patient records and digital radiography, and obtaining new equipment for UTSD clinics. He subsequently led the design, planning, and construction of a new, 314,000 square foot full replacement dental school building and conference center, both which opened in May 2012.

In May of 2009, he was appointed interim dean of UTSD and then as dean in 2011.

Dr. Valenza teaches both undergraduate and graduate students and his interests in innovation and research include clinical simulation, dental-medical integration of care, dental informatics, and the use of technology in education and patient care. He has authored/co-authored numerous papers, chapters, and reports, and received grants totaling more than $1.5 million.

Dr. Valenza is a fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry, the American College of Dentists, the International College of Dentists, the Pierre Fauchard Academy, and is a member of the ADA, ADEA, AADOCR, and the Special Care Dentistry/American Association of Hospital Dentists. He previously served as a consultant to the Commission on Dental Accreditation and an advisor in the ADEA Leadership Institute, and is currently a member of ADEA’s Legislative Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the CODA Ad Hoc Committee to Review Accreditation Standards for Dental Education Programs, currently performing a comprehensive review of the predoctoral dental program standards.

In 2007, Dr. Valenza was inducted into The University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, MD Academy of Health Science Education, and in 2012 the UTSD Alumni Association named him "Outstanding Alumnus." He received the Greater Houston Dental Society President's Award in 2004, 2012-14, and in 2019, he was named Texas Dentist of the Year by the Texas Academy of General Dentistry.