ADA Announces New Executive Director

13 May ADA Announces New Executive Director

The ADA announced May 12 that it named Dr. Raymond A. Cohlmia, dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry and a former ADA Board of Trustees member, as its executive director. Dr. Cohlmia will be replacing the retiring Dr. Kathleen O’Loughlin and will begin his new position on November 15.

Dr. Cohlmia’s experience includes joining the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry faculty in 2009, serving in a variety of leadership positions. In 2011, he was named director of comprehensive care, and he served as assistant dean for patient care from 2013 until he was appointed dean in 2015. Prior to joining the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Cohlmia ran a private dental practice for 26 years.

“I am humbled and honored to be selected as the next executive director of the American Dental Association,” said Dr. Cohlmia.  “I have always believed that organized dentistry plays an integral role in the advancement of the profession, and to me, there is no better organization to advocate for oral health than the American Dental Association.”

An active leader in the dental community at the local, state and national levels, Dr. Cohlmia served on the ADA Board of Trustees from 2015-19 and as president of the Oklahoma Dental Association in 2001 and his local dental society in 1997. He has led the ADA New Dentist Committee and Council on Membership, serving as chair in 1999 and 2007, respectively. Additional ADA appointments over the years include the Council on Annual Sessions, the Council on Dental Benefits, and the American Dental Political Action Committee. Dr. Cohlmia has also represented his district as a delegate to the ADA’s House of Delegates, the governing body that develops ADA policies.

Dr. Cohlmia earned his dental degree in 1988 from the OU College of Dentistry. He currently resides in northwest Oklahoma City with his wife, Sherry, and has three children.