If you follow the dental industry news, you probably remember that last year (February 2025) the ADA Executive Director resigned. The resignation was "effective immediately" and the reasons were never given, which means people had to draw their own conclusions. In the midst of a serious re-working of ADA management that was already taking place, it was a blow to the organization from a public relations perspective.
However, rather than filling the position quickly to give the appearance of "nothing to see here", the organization instead spent almost a year to find the best candidate available. That approach seems to have been a good one.
Yesterday the ADA announced the name of the new Executive Director, Nader A. Nadershahi, D.D.S., M.B.A., Ed.D. This looks like a solid choice. The organization found a leader who was already on the inside of the ADA. He is currently the ADA’s senior vice president of education and professional affairs and has been with the ADA since June 2025. That means he has a feel for the organization and how it works. That should help him get up to speed fairly quickly.
He also served as dean of the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco. Having run a large institution like the UOP dental school should give him a great skillset to apply to his new position.
As I've said here previously, the ADA is undergoing a serious revamping of their processes and expenditures. It seems to me that Dr. Nadershahi has been "on the inside" of the ADA long enough to understand how it works, but not so long that he will be entrenched into the previous way the organization was run. Also, with the experience he gained as a dean, he will be well familiar with the problems facing the younger generation of dentists. Many younger dentists don't join the organization right out of school as happened in previous generations. When I graduated, it was almost expected that everyone joined. It seemed like a right of passage and acceptance. However, that may have given the group a sense of invincibility which translated into a failure to embrace change.
Membership numbers have been dropping the last few years and that has forced the ADA to re-evaluate their services and expenditures. The organization is now, finally, pivoting and embracing change. The last decade of doctors, and their expectations of what a professional organization should provide, has been a disruptor. I give the ADA kudos for embracing change and moving to modernize the way they provide and speak for the profession. I think Dr. Nadershahi is a solid choice.
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