Caswell A. Evans, Jr., DDS, MPH

Caswell A. Evans, Jr., D.D.S., M.P.H., is an Emeritus Professor after fifteen years serving as Associate Dean for Prevention and Public Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry; and faculty member at the UIC School of Public Health.   For thirteen years during that period he was a mayoral appointed member of the Chicago Board of Health and also served two terms as an gubernatorial appointed member on the Illinois Board of Health. Prior to joining the UIC faculty, he was the Executive Editor and Project Director for Oral Health in America: A Report of the U.S. Surgeon General, released by US Surgeon General David Satcher in 2000.

For the previous twelve years, Dr. Evans was Director of Public Health Programs and Services, and Assistant Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.  He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and was a member of NAM Committee on Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations.  He served a three-year term as co-chair of the NAM’s Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professions Education.

Dr. Evans is a Past President of the American Public Health Association, the American Association of Public Health Dentistry, the American Board of Dental Public Health, and the Institute of Medicine of Chicago.  He was honored with the Champion of Prevention Award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Dr. Evans also received the Gies Award for excellence in education from the American Dental Education Association Gies Foundation.

Dr. Evans has been focused on the issues of health inequities, access to care and social justice throughout his career. Over the past several years he has been a leader in the movement to advance the practice of dental therapists from its US origination in the tribal health systems in Alaska and the more recent expansion to several other states. Dr. Evans’ DDS degree is from Columbia University. He completed a dental internship at the University of Chicago Hospital. His MPH degree from the University of Michigan. Most importantly he is an avid fly fisher and fly tier.