CCRI professor and director of the college’s Dental Assisting Program Kerri H. Friel, of Warwick, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB), the national certification board for dental assistants.

DANB’s Board of Directors includes nine directors. Directors are nominated by the American Dental Assistants Association (3 directors), American Dental Association (2 directors), the American Association of Dental Boards (1 director), and American Dental Education Association (1 director). There is also one director who is a DANB certificant and one director who is a member of the public. Friel was nominated to serve on the DANB by the American Dental Education Association.

“Being elected to the Board of Directors for the Dental Assisting National Board is a tremendous honor and a significant milestone in my career as a dental professional. This appointment represents unique opportunity to contribute to the growth and advancement of the dental assisting profession and to promote the critical role dental assistants have in ensuring quality oral healthcare for all,” said Kerri H. Friel, RDH, COA, CDA, BSDH, MA.

Friel has served as a faculty member of CCRI’s Dental Program since 1999, first as an adjunct and for the last 23 years as a full-time professor. She has served as the Director of the Dental Assisting Program since 2014 and is president of the college’s Faculty Senate. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Dental Lifeline Network, serves on the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments, and previously served on the Rhode Island Department of Health Board of Examiners in Dentistry.

Friel earned a BS in Dental Hygiene (1994) and a MA in Adult Education (2005), both from the University of Rhode Island.