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Dennis A. Mitchell is a Canadian-American university leader and scholar of dental medicine. He currently serves as Executive Vice President for University Life, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement, and Professor of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center at Columbia University.

Early life and education
Mitchell is the son of immigrant parents from Trinidad, two teachers who were recruited to work in Toronto in the 1960s, during Canada’s teacher shortage. He played competitive hockey for a Canadian junior team, and his early experiences of racism from US players would later have a significant impact on his career.

On the advice of an uncle, Mitchell left Canada to study in the US, earning his degree in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University. He subsequently attended Howard University’s College of Dentistry, earning a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree, and earned a MPH in Executive Health Services Management from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Career and research
Mitchell started his residency training at Harlem Hospital in the 1980s, during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. His research focused on oral manifestations of the disease and periodontal interventions on mothers to reduce the incidence of babies born prematurely. He described how the perception of HIV/AIDs at the time was that it was a predominately white, gay man's disease; he worked to change this perception and increase awareness about marginalized people that the disease affected, particularly women and people of color.

After receiving a full-time appointment at Columbia University, he co-created and directed the Community DentCare Network, which seeks to address the lack of oral healthcare services in northern Manhattan.

Since 2004, Mitchell has served as the Dean for Diversity and Inclusion for the College of Dental Medicine at Columbia. He then became Columbia’s Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement. Mitchell’s office is the steward of $185M in publicly-committed fund. In August 2021, Mitchell was appointed as the Executive Vice President for University Life.

He is the winner of the 2022 American Dental Education Association Distinguished Service Award.