UW News

June 23, 2005

Admissions chair announced

Dr. Pollene Speed, the first African American woman to graduate from the UW School of Dentistry, now chairs the school’s Admissions Committee. She was named to the post last year by Dean Martha Somerman.

She has a faculty appointment at Seattle Community College/Seattle Vocational Institute and directs the dental program there in the Allied Health section, as well as heading their Dental Admissions Board. She is also an affiliate staff member at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. In the past, she has been a dentist at Children’s, Seattle-King County Public Health and Puget Sound Neighborhood Health.

She and her husband, Dr. George McIntyre, who is also a dentist, are mentors to high school and community college students considering careers in dentistry. Both are working to increase the number of applicants from minority and underserved groups.

Speed is treasurer of Seattle Girls, Inc., a member of the Washington State Dental Association, the American Dental Association, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and the Washington State Dental Assistant Task Force.