Executive Search Services
Finding the Right Candidate Is Only the Beginning
Why AAL?
For more than 15 years, AAL has worked with over 5,000 faculty and administrators in dental education, from deans to chairs and emerging leaders. These individuals have come from every one of the 78 dental school in the U.S. and Canada, international schools, and the associations that represent dentistry, dental education, and dental research. No search firm is better qualified or better networked in dental education and dentistry than AAL. Approximately one-third (25) of the current dental school deans have participated in AAL-directed programs.
We know dental education leadership.
Our focus is to provide high-touch, high-level client service through the entire search process. We maintain a curated portfolio of potential candidates to minimize “off limits” conflicts, therefore, providing an extensive candidate pool to organizations the large firms cannot match. We know our candidates well and we identify the top candidates for your dental dean vacancy.
- Communication, conflict resolution, and finance/budget were reported as the most important knowledge areas.
- School administration/management, fundraising, students, the academic environment, leadership development, and faculty had the highest influence on job satisfaction.
- A majority reported being better prepared for clinical education and student relations than fundraising and sustaining the school’s research mission.
Source: Haden NK, Ditmyer MM, Rodriguez T, et al. A profile of dental school deans, 2014. J Dent Educ 2015;79(10):1243-1250.
Executive Search Process
AAL’s executive search process is based on the philosophy that effective talent management is the most important component for organizational success, productivity, and performance. Our approach to the search process is based on experience in organizational research, performance management, leadership development, and talent assessment and evaluation. We consider an organization or program’s talent needs alongside its strategic goals and objectives to match the right candidate with the needs of the institution.
AAL follows a comprehensive approach to the search process with specific timeline goals for each phase of the process. This enables us to fill the leadership vacancy efficiently and effectively with the most qualified and competent high performer.
Tiers of Service
AAL offers three tiers of executive search services:
Executive search as a standalone activity.
Executive search with 6 months of coaching, onboarding, and development of that individual.
- Core components of coaching for new deans:
- Conflict management
- Finances
- Transitioning a team
- Planning
- Accreditation
- Managing up
Executive search with 6 months of coaching, onboarding, and development of that individual, plus organizational strategic planning in an additional 6-12 month engagement.
Tiers of Service
AAL offers three tiers of executive search services:
Tier 1
Executive search as a standalone activity.
Tier 2
Executive search with 6 months of coaching, onboarding, and development.
Core components of coaching for new deans:
- Conflict management
- Finances
- Transitioning a team
- Planning
- Accreditation
- Managing up
Tier 3
Executive search with 6 months of coaching, onboarding, and development, plus organizational strategic planning in an additional 6-12 month engagement.
AAL Executive Search Leadership Team
N. Karl Haden, PhD
President and CEO
Since AAL’s founding in 2005, Dr. Haden and AAL have worked with more than 150 U.S. and international higher education institutions, associations, and businesses through AAL’s professional development programs and consulting services. Dr. Haden oversees ongoing leadership development initiatives for numerous organizations, including the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, the American Dental Education Association, the Dental Trade Alliance, and the Interprofessional Education Collaborative. His areas of expertise include executive search, leadership, organizational change, team building, strategic planning, curriculum development, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. Haden has authored or coauthored more than 80 articles and monographs. He is the author, along with AAL Senior Fellow Rob Jenkins, of The 9 Virtues of Exceptional Leaders: Unlocking Your Leadership Potential (Deeds, 2015) and 31 Days with the Virtues (Deeds, 2020). Dr. Haden is a Fellow (Hon.) of the American College of Dentists and a Fellow of the Center for the Study of the Great Ideas. In 2017, he was honored by the ADEA Gies Foundation as recipient of the Gies Award for Achievement-Public or Private Partner. In 2019, he received the Professionalism and Ethics Award from the American College of Dentists.
John N. Williams, DMD, MBA
Senior Consultant
Dr. John N. Williams, throughout his 36-year academic career, has recruited and mentored many successful leaders who advanced to roles of dental dean and beyond in academic leadership positions in dental schools and universities. During his career, he has been actively involved in higher education administration and leadership. Now as a Senior Consultant at AAL, he is sharing his expertise in matching outstanding, talented candidates with leadership opportunities in the academy. His areas of expertise include executive search, administrative organization, financing dental education, dental accreditation, faculty mentoring, leadership development, and philanthropy. He has served as interim president/president of Transylvania University, Lexington, KY, served as a dental dean of three research intensive university-based dental schools (1999-2019; Indiana University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and University of Louisville) as well as serving as Associate Dean for Educational Programs (Louisville) and as Assistant University Provost (Louisville) in charge of discipline-specific accreditation. He has been active at the national level serving as a member of the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA-Chicago) and Chair of the CODA Pre-doctoral Review Committee, which oversees accreditation policy for all DDS/DMD educational programs in the United States. He has served as vice president for Deans of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and two terms as a member of the ADEA Board of Directors. Dr. Williams also serves as a Consultant for the Commission on Dental Accreditation. For five years, he was a faculty adviser and mentor for the ADEA-AAL Leadership Institute. He has made over 250 presentations to groups in dental and higher education. Dr. Williams has authored or coauthored more than 25 articles on dental education. He is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists, Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy and Fellow of the International College of Dentists. He is currently a member of two private higher education boards of trustees.
