Dean Mays announces retirement
Dean Keith Mays, DDS, MS, PhD, will retire and step down from his role as Dean of the School of Dentistry, effective June 30, 2026.
“Dean Mays has served the University, the School of Dentistry, and the broader healthcare community with integrity, vision and deep commitment to public service,” Executive Vice President Provost Gretchen Ritter shared with the University community. “Throughout his tenure, he strengthened the School’s national reputation in oral health sciences, clinical care, education and research, while advancing its role as a leader in community-centered care.”
Mays first joined the School of Dentistry as an associate professor of prosthodontics and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in 2015. He was named interim dean in March 2020, amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. One year later, Mays became the first African-American dean of the school on June 21, 2021.
“In March of 2020, a season of unprecedented and unknown times, I was given the privilege and honor to serve the school as dean,” Mays reflected in a message to the School of Dentistry community. “I am proud of the many achievements we’ve made together. Our mission is to advance health through scientific discovery, innovative education and the highest-quality care for all communities, and we have achieved this goal in various ways since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.”
As dean, Mays led the school through the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, establishing procedures to ensure the safety of our patients and community remained the utmost priority, while also ensuring our learners achieved their academic goals.
Mays made student scholarship priority a key focus of his leadership, identifying opportunities to recruit and retain the best and brightest future oral health professionals from Minnesota and beyond amid the rising cost of dental school. Through Learners to Leaders: the Drive for School of Dentistry students, Mays raised more than $6 million in scholarship funds for students between 2021 and 2026.
In service of the school’s mission to advance health through scientific discovery, innovative education and the highest-quality care for all communities, Mays prioritized intention, research, academic integrity and patient care.
He made excellence in research a priority, onboarding an Associate Dean for Research and Discovery, establishing the Orofacial MRI Center and reinvigorating the Student Summer Research Program—where he passionately mentored research students each summer, alongside fellow faculty. Under his leadership, the school’s Blue Ridge Institute rankings elevated from 24 in 2022 to 13 in 2024.
Mays oversaw the achievement of accreditation for the school’s pre-doctoral program through the Council on Dental Accreditation in 2021, established an Assistant Dean for Faculty Development to support faculty growth and partnered with various organizations, including the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation, on scholarship support.
In order to care for patients in Moos Tower and beyond, Mays invested in innovative technology for patient care and experience and increased our footprint at community outreach programs and events—from 6 events attended in 2022 to 31 in 2024.
Mays has been active in organized dentistry at the national level throughout his tenure, serving as Chair of the Board of the American Dental Education Association and Vice Chair of the Commission on Dental Accreditation. He has mentored oral health professionals through the Academy for Advancing Leadership, ADEA Emerging Leaders Program, the Student Summer Research Program and the School of Dentistry's Student National Dental Association chapter.
“Accept my appreciation and gratitude for the privilege of serving in leadership these past 11 years at the School of Dentistry,” Mays reflected. “It has been a pleasure to serve.”