Faculty Spotlight: GSDM faculty member wins 2025 ADEA Dr. Jeanne C. Sinkford Leadership Award
Dr. Kadambari Rawal AGED 10 DPH 18, clinical associate professor of general dentistry, was awarded the 2025 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Dr. Jeanne C. Sinkford Faculty Leadership award, the first GSDM faculty member to receive this award.
The ADEA Dr. Jeanne C. Sinkford Faculty Leadership Award recognizes faculty members at U.S. and Canadian dental or allied dental education institutions who has demonstrated a passion for academia, leadership, and social justice issues. The award is given in honor of Dr. Jeanne C. Sinkford, the first woman and African American to become dean of a U.S. dental school. According to the ADEA website, Sinkford’s leadership and activism has had–and continues to have–an impact on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within dentistry and on access to equitable oral healthcare. The award was established in 2023.
According to Rawal, this award symbolizes the never-ending work she and her colleagues have done to champion positive changes in dental education and the profession of dentistry. She said she is grateful to Dean Cataldo Leone and Dr. Joseph Calabrese, associate dean of students and clinical professor of general dentistry, for nominating her for this prestigious award.
“This award is definitely very empowering because not only does it confirm that all the work that not just me, but everyone else in this space, has put in is truly acknowledged … but it also says that there’s so much more work to be done,” Rawal said, who added that she accepted the award not just for herself, but for the long list of mentors who have supported her throughout her career.
Looking ahead, Rawal said she wants to continue and expand her work in assisting dental educators/leaders, promoting health equity, and launching advocacy initiatives.
“I realize how many of us [in the dental profession] are internationally educated and we bring a plethora of knowledge and information about global dental medicine to our schools where we serve as faculty in the United States,” Rawal said. “We learn from our colleagues, we educate our colleagues, our students, and ourselves each and every day. An award like this helps to set in stone how important representation, multiculturalism and acceptance are in our teaching spaces. A big thank you to GSDM for continuing to promote these ideals in our clinics and classrooms.”