Gregory W. Olson

Dr. Gregory Olson joined the UTHealth School of Dentistry at Houston faculty in late 2018 as professor and chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry. He is a dual-trained orthodontist/pediatric dentist who taught in both graduate and predoctoral programs at Loma Linda University in California, where he earned a DDS, certificate in pediatric dentistry and a master’s degree in orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics. He also holds a BS in management and operations from Pacific Union College.

Dr. Olson is certified by the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, and as a newly appointed ABPD director, he is researching the impact the certification process and continued learning have on members and their patients. He completed a legislative fellowship with the American Dental Education Association and remains active with ADEA’s Legislative Advisory Council (current chair), building alliances that support oral health and dental education. He is a graduate of the ADEA/AAL Leadership Institute.

He is also passionate about advocacy and held a Faculty Scholar appointment in the Institute for Health Policy and Leadership at LLU. While there, he led policy research projects ranging from hunger issues to opioid-prescribing practices. 

Dr. Olson’s current research focuses on extracting and analyzing digital data related to clinical, educational and business processes. His purpose is to enhance individual and organizational decision-making to improve quality of life, with a global impact. He currently holds the Catherine M. Flaitz, DDS Professorship in Pediatric Dentistry.