History and Legacy
Celebrating 75 years: 1950-2025
At Adams School of Dentistry, we are celebrating our 75th anniversary throughout 2025. We are building on our strong legacy of high-quality care, ideal academic learning environment, cutting-edge research and welcoming culture as we lead the way in oral health care and education with compassion and care, and we are committed to caring for rural and underserved populations across North Carolina and beyond.
The past, present and future
Where we’ve been
Established in 1950 by the North Carolina General Assembly, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Adams School of Dentistry was the first dental school in North Carolina and the state’s only dental school for 61 years. Its first class of 40 students began learning in 1950, located in two Quonset huts.
Where we are
The school has grown in size and scope and now includes four buildings dedicated to the oral health profession —First Dental; Brauer Hall; Tarrson Hall, which includes one of dental education’s best clinical teaching facilities; and Koury Oral Health Sciences, which is a state-of-the-art-facility that houses the majority of the school’s research laboratories, classrooms, a lecture hall that seats 220, and a 105-person simulation lab.
Where we’re going
We are building on our strong legacy of high-quality care, ideal academic learning environment, cutting-edge research and welcoming culture at Adams School of Dentistry. We continue to lead the way in dental care and education, and we are committed to caring for rural and underserved populations across North Carolina and beyond.