Sir Professor Nairn Wilson

We are delighted to introduce our first DTA Ambassador, Sir Professor Nairn Wilson. 

A valued member of the DTA Fellowships panel, Sir Nairn's extensive knowledge and experience in dentistry, dental technology in particular, played a pivotal role in the development and piloting phase of the new DTA Fellowship Award launched in 2022. We now welcome Sir Nairn as a DTA Ambassador.

"I consider this appointment to be a great honour. I look forward to working with the DTA as it's first Ambassador." - Sir Professor Nain Wilson

Professor Nairn Wilson CBE FCGDent, Honorary Founding President (now President Emeritus) of the College of General Dentistry, has just recently been appointed Knight Bachelor in King Charles III's first Birthday Honours List.

Professor Wilson is thought to be the first dental professional to be knighted since Sir Nicholas Sturridge KCVO in 2007, and is the first to be made a Knight Bachelor since Sir Ian Gainsford in 1995.

Professor Wilson - now Sir Nairn - is a Founder and Founding Fellow of the College, and its first Chair, serving from 2017-20. He was then appointed Honorary Founding President, and following the full activation of the College with the transfer of the membership of the former Faculty of General Dental Practice in 2021, President Emeritus. He was founding Editor of the Faculty's (now College's) Primary Dental Journal from 2012-2017 and was also the College's first Life Fellow.

A Patron of the Dental Wellness Trust, he is a Past President of the British Dental Association and Emeritus Professor of Dentistry at King's College London, where he was Professor of Restorative Dentistry, Dean and Head of the College's Dental Institute, and Deputy Vice Principal for Health. His many other positions have included Dean of Manchester University Dental Hospital and subsequently Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester, Editor of the Journal of Dentistry, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, President of the General Dental Council, Chair of the Council of Deans and Heads of Dental Schools (now the Dental Schools Council) and co-chair of the Forum of European Heads and Deans of Dental Schools.

He was made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2004 for services to dentistry and healthcare regulation. His awards for research excellence include the Hollenback Memorial Prize, a British Dental Association Tomes Medal and the International Association for Dental Research Ivar Mjor Award for practice-based research.