Dr. Vann is a graduate of the School of Dentistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed his residency/MS degree in the specialty at the UNC-Chapel Hill Adams School of Dentistry/Hospitals and a PhD in higher education on the Carolina Campus.
He served in the Division of Pediatric and Pubic Health as the DDS Program Director from 1978-85, Chair from 1985-94, and Graduate Program Director from 1994-05. For 15 years, he was Director and the PI for the federally funded Maternal and Child Health Center for Excellence in Pediatric Dentistry at Chapel Hill. He served as the Demeritt Distinguished Professor from 1998-2010.
A board-certified specialist, he served the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and as a Trustee for eight years and as President 1990-91. He was President of the AAPD Foundation on two separate occasions. He was National Pediatric Dentist-of-the-Year in 1999.
Currently he is a Professor teaching part-time, having retired from full-time academia after 32 years of service. He is one of three Carolina dental school faculty members named to the UNC-CH Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars.
