Appointments, Faculty and Staff

Rankin Promoted to Rank of Assistant Dean of Information Technology

The School of Dentistry is pleased to announce the promotion of Mr. David Rankin to Assistant Dean of Information Technology, which was effective beginning May 24, 2016.

Rankin joined the School of Dentistry in January 2011 as director of the Office of Computing and Information Systems (OCIS) and has since been responsible for the school’s technology solutions, actively advising on hardware and software improvements that are integral to the school’s operations. In his new role as assistant dean, he will maintain these responsibilities, leading his expert IT team with an expanded scope. He will continue his work at the school and with high-level administrators across the UNC campus to develop and implement technology policies and to protect our patient health information. Rankin will also be continuing his collaborative work with colleagues at other universities to develop and implement a new electronic patient health record system.

Before joining the School of Dentistry in 2011, Rankin worked at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services where he was the deputy executive director of the Division of Information Resource Management. He also previously served as the UNC-Chapel Hill associate director of Distributed Computing Systems for Administrative Information Services, and in roles at the Department of Defense, within the federal government and also in the private sector.

Rankin has been managing technology professionals since 1996 and holds ITIL, Cisco, Microsoft and Novell technical certifications, is a member of the Epsilon Pi Tau technical honor society, and has published a number of papers on open source technology. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in mass media arts from Hampton University. He holds a master’s degree in technology systems and a post-graduate certificate in information assurance, both from East Carolina University. Rankin is also a graduate of the UNC Management Development Program and the State of North Carolina Chief Information Officer Certification Program.

“We’re proud to retain David as our new assistant dean of information technology,” said Jane Weintraub, school dean and alumni distinguished professor. “Since 2011, he’s done a wonderful job leading our school with his deep knowledge, dedication and skills and ensuring we’re on the cutting edge of technology and security. It’s our pleasure to promote him.”