Dr. Shirley M. Beaver, R.D.H., PH.D.

Faculty

Shirley M. Beaver, RDH, Ph.D., has been a dental hygienist forever.  Dr. Beaver received a certificate in Dental Hygiene, a B.A. in General Science, and an M.S. in Dental Hygiene and Education from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. She completed a Ph.D. in Health Education from Southern Illinois University. She has been in Dental Hygiene Education for 34 years and continued to work in clinical practice until 2011.  Shirley previously was on the faculty of the University of Iowa, served as Dental Hygiene Program Director at Southern Illinois University and Kennedy-King and Sanford-Brown Colleges, both in the Chicago area.

She is currently the Director of a new dental hygiene program at Fox College in Chicago developing the program from conception to full accreditation. Dr. Beaver has been involved in various research projects including ethics research for her Ph.D dissertation and with the Study of Hispanic Health (SOL) at Northwestern University.  She has local, state, national and international presentations and publications. Dr. Beaver served as President and Speaker of the House for the Illinois Dental Hygienists’ Association, was District VIII Trustee for the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA), and Program Planning Chair for the American Dental Education Association’s (ADEA) Allied Program Directors.

Dr. Beaver has helped prepare thousands of students for the NBDHE through her lecturing and presentations and has a great amount of knowledge in NBDHE format and questioning.  She has been a consultant for the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation, served as a Public Health Educator for the State of Iowa and participated in dental mission trips to remote Mexican villages.  Dr. Beaver is a member of ADHA, ADEA, APHA, Sigma Phi Alpha, Eta Kappa Gamma and Omicron Kappa Upsilon.