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The Leadership Excellence for Academic Professionals is designed to expand leadership knowledge and practical application skills for evolving health care, higher education and research professions. Participants interact with and learn from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio senior leaders and industry experts. This year, 16 faculty and staff leaders from across the institution recently completed the program. 
 
The School of Dentistry congratulates the following faculty for their successful graduation from the most recent LEAP program cohort:  

• Soo Cheol Jeong, DDS, associate professor/clinical, prosthodontics. 

• Enas Bsoul, DDS, MSc, MS, assistant professor/clinical, director of predoctoral oral and maxillofacial radiology. 

• Annetty Soto, DMD, associate professor/clinical, director of geriatrics clinic, holder of Castella Distinguished Professorship. 

The LEAP graduation was held on Sept. 22, marked by the eight-member teams’ presentations to a panel of senior leaders. In those, the graduates summarized findings from projects in which they expanded their leadership knowledge and practical skills that they can apply in their leadership roles at the institution. 

Jeong and Soto represented as leaders for the School of Dentistry during the first group presentation of “Change Management: It’s not a project, it’s a journey.” Change is a pertinent topic, as the institution focuses on several growth initiatives. This team assessed various change management models and leadership behaviors for managing and leading change. The team made suggestions to adapt and enhance the adoption of change. 

Bsoul represented the School of Dentistry during the second group presentation, “Community Engagement: The Love Language of the Community.” As a pillar of the institution’s strategic plan, community engagement activities and alignment were reviewed to make suggestions for greater visibility and participation across the university and the region it serves. 

Andrea Marks, MBA, CPA, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, complimented the connections being made across campus by the participants and recognized the project’s alignment with the institution’s five-year strategic plan.