Farrar Selected for Leadership Training

Suzanne K. Farrar, RDH, MSHCM, associate professor and director of clinical staff and patient services at the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Dentistry, is one of 24 dental educators chosen as a fellow to receive special training through the Leadership Institute of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). The purpose of the year-long program is to develop the leadership potential of the nation's most promising dental educators. Ms. Farrar will also receive a scholarship funded by ADEA and the Colgate-Palmolive Company.

Since joining the dental school faculty in 1997, Ms. Farrar has served in various leadership positions including president of the Faculty Assembly. In 2004, 2006 and 2008, her dental hygiene students recognized her excellence as an educator by choosing her to receive one of the school's "Golden Apple" awards. In 2010, she was named an honorary member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the national dental honor society.

Ms. Farrar's broad background in dental hygiene includes hospital dentistry in Saudi Arabia, private practice in dental hygiene, clinical instructor in the Department of Periodontics, course director, clinic supervisor in the dental hygiene program and lecturer for the course entitled "Principles of Management and Business Ethics".

In 2002 and 2010, she was awarded "Outstanding Dental Hygienist of the Year" by the Louisiana Dental Hygienists Association. She is currently the association's legislative chair, serving as a liaison between state government and the dental hygiene community. In 2010 she was appointed to the Louisiana Fluoride Advisory Board by Governor Bobby Jindal.

She has co-authored two textbook chapters in Weinberg et al., Comprehensive Periodontics for the Dental Hygienist (Pearson Education, 2010) and is a frequent contributor to the Journal of the Louisiana Dental Association.

Since 1990, she has worked more than 5,000 hours at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans as a volunteer scuba diver in the Gulf of Mexico exhibit which houses sharks. Her community service includes outreach through the Special Olympics and a dental mission to Honduras.