William D. Davenport, Jr. joined UNLV School of Dental Medicine as part of the inaugural faculty during 2002 and has taught numerous biomedical sciences courses. He is a professor of biomedical sciences and currently serves as interim dean.

Dr. Davenport earned his bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Mississippi in Oxford and his Ph.D. from the Medical College of Georgia (now Augusta University) in Augusta. His research interests currently focus on educational methodology and assessment.

Dr. Davenport is an active member in the American Dental Education Association; the American Association of Anatomists; the American Association of Clinical Anatomists; Omicron Kappa Upsilon honor society; Sigma Xi; Association of Fraternity Advisors; and the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society. He served four years on the Board of Directors of the Council of Sections of the American Dental Education Association, and was on the National Board of Directors for Omicron Kappa Upsilon.

He has served as a test constructor for the Joint Commission on National Dental Exams, and is an accreditation site visitor consultant for the Commission on Dental Accreditation for biomedical sciences and research.

He is an editorial board member for the International Journal of Dentistry and Oral Health; Journal of Dental Research and Applications; International Journal of Clinical Care; and Oral Health and Dentistry. He also serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Dental Education and the Journal of Clinical Anatomy.

Dr. Davenport received the Teacher of the Year award from the University of Mississippi Medical Center Dental Alumni Association, and the Outstanding Basic Science Teacher and Didactic Instructor of the Year awards from the dental classes at Louisiana State University School of Dentistry. He recently earned the Chair of the Board Citation Award from the American Dental Education Association. He also received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship from the History of Medicine department at the University of California, San Francisco, and a Gies/AADS (now ADEA) fellowship.

His recent publications include:

Ditmyer, M, Dye J, Guirguis N, Jamison K, Moody M, Mobley C, Davenport WD. Electronic versus traditional textbook use: Dental students’ perceptions and study habits, Journal of Dental Education 2012 76(6):728-738.

Ditmyer, M, Mobley, CM, and Davenport, WD.  Evaluation of an Integrative Model for Professional Development and Research in a Dental Curriculum. Journal of Dental Education 03/2014; 78(3):368-379.