Speaker: Dr. Muriel Bebeau
The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is honored to have Dr. Muriel Bebeau as our key-note speaker for commencement this year. Dr. Bebeau is faculty at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry where she conducts research on the processes involved in ethical decision-making and their role as determinates of ethical behavior.
Muriel Bebeau, PhD, FACD, is a Professor in the Department of Primary Dental Care, School of Dentistry, Director of the Center for the Study of Ethical Development, and a Faculty Associate in the Universityís Center for Bioethics. An educational psychologist by training, Dr. Bebeau pioneered the teaching of ethics in dentistry. To design the curriculum, she enlisted a multidisciplinary team (practitioners, philosophers, psychologists, and educators). To evaluate outcomes, she and the late developmental psychologist James Rest, Professor Department of Educational Psychology designed and validated measures that assess functional processes that give rise to morality. To maintain the program, she recruits dental faculty to lead seminars and practitioners to serve as expert assessors. Educational materials and assessment tools have been widely disseminated. For a description of the program see a 1994 book chapter: Influencing the Moral Dimensions of Dental Practice.
In the early 90s, Dr. Bebeau and colleagues at Indiana University's Poynter Center applied ideas worked out in dentistry to research ethics. Moral Reasoning in Scientific Research: Cases for Teaching and Assessment is available from the Poynter Center. In related work, she surveyed research leaders to learn the prevalence of questionable research practices. Then, as Chair of the American Association for Dental Research Ethics Committee, she organized a symposium to explore the role of scientific societies in deterring misconduct, developed a consensus statement on future directions of the AADR to promote research integrity, and published proceedings. She also served on a University of Minnesota committee to design courses for faculty on the responsible conduct of research, and in 2000, she was appointed to an Institute of Medicine special committee on assessing integrity in research environments. The report, Integrity in Scientific Research: Creating an Environment that Promotes Responsible Conduct, published by the National Academy Press, adopts the theoretical model of morality that Dr. Rest proposed and prominently features the studies conducted by the Minnesota research group that validate the theory and offer models for assessment development.
Dr. Bebeau writes on ethical issues facing the dental profession, has consulted with ethics educators in over 50 institutions on the design of curriculum and assessment, has lead seminars for peer review boards, and designed individualized courses for dental professionals cited for ethics infractions. In recognition of contributions to dental ethics, the American College of Dentists awarded her an honorary fellowship. The Association for Moral Education recognized her contributions to moral psychology with its life-time achievement award. She is a three time recipient of the American Association of Dental Schools' outstanding research award, a recipient of awards for educational innovation, and in 2000, she and her colleagues received outstanding book awards from two divisions within the American Educational Research Association. In 2003, she received a Civilian Meritorious Service Award for her work to promote character and other dimensions of leadership while serving as a Visiting Scholar and Professor of Character Development at the Simon Center for Professional Military Ethics at USMA. Her book (with Jim Rule) on moral exemplars in the dental profession has been nominated for a book award by the AERA special interest group: Moral Development and Education.
http://www.dentistry.umn.edu/faculty_bios/Bebeau_Muriel.html