What inspired you to become part of the dental profession?
My father, Dr. J. Winston Harper, is a physician, and he introduced me to health early in life. I was premed and before I took my medical admissions my stepmother suggested I think about dental school. I considered it and spoke to Dr. Jeanne Sinkford, the associate dean at Howard University, who recruited me to the dental school. She advised me that I would have control over my life, and I would be able to balance my family and career.

How long have you been involved in the profession?
I graduated from Howard University in 1975. I was able to get a specialty training degree from Howard, and then I took a position on the faculty in community dentistry. I had the opportunity to pursue my master's in public health at Johns Hopkins through a fellowship from Howard. My focus was administration and health legislation.

I stayed at Howard for seven years as a full-time faculty member. While I was on the faculty, I was asked to join a new multispecialty group practice that was forming. The practice was in a building next to the dental school. At the time, I really wasn't interested in private practice because I wanted to teach. However, the group knew the strengths I had in administration and organization policies. I accepted the position as one of the senior partners and the group's administrator. Even though my first love was teaching, I was challenged by the prospect of laying the groundwork for what was then the largest group dental practice in the city. I was there for nine years, while continuing to teach at Howard part time. Today, I am still on the Howard faculty without compensation as a volunteer teacher.

What is your specialty, and how did you get there?
There is strength and purpose in understanding the needs of the public. I have always been intrigued by the Medicaid and Medicare public health system. I felt I needed to study what I believed to be disparities in care and blemishes or flaws in the program. While I was a student at Johns Hopkins, for one of my assignments I went through the health care process by disguising myself as an underserved patient with no insurance who sought treatment in a public clinic. I discovered firsthand how people were made to feel. There are reasons why disparities in health exist. From my research I learned that poor people and people of color suffer many indignities in the health care system. My personal experiences as a public health student in the '70s laid a solid foundation for me to pursue equity, equality and the elimination of disparities in health.

I never intended to work in a clinical setting. Early in my career, I thought my true calling was academia, but sometimes your purpose in life evolves. Although for the last 20 years I have owned my own practice, I continue to focus on community health education and awareness. I dream of having input into the transformation of a culture of crisis into a culture of prevention. The moral imperative is that we promote community health education, we train providers who are culturally competent, and we do not rest until EVERYONE has access to care.

How do you address health care disparities among minority populations within your profession?
African American health professionals have to assume the responsibility not only as health care providers, but as community health leaders. We are considered role models and are held in high esteem in our communities. People listen to us when we speak in our churches, schools, health fairs and career days. They trust us. We have to keep pushing the prevention message. We need to leverage the media that African Americans pay attention to most. We have to market health the same way corporations market their products. Education is the key.

What do you like best about working in the field?
I truly love what I do. We each have to choose those things in our profession that we really love to do. I like general dentistry because it offers me a tremendous variety. I am stimulated by providing multiple services. What excites me most about dentistry is to be able to shape a smile and change a personality. I am thrilled to be able to help others develop self-confidence and self-esteem because they are proud of their healthy and attractive smiles.

My patients are appreciative. I am constantly using them as a sounding board for what I do in the community. I keep them involved in my many projects, and they energize me. I find by establishing relationships and rapport with my patients, they provide me with invaluable feedback.

Tell me about your past role as executive editor for the NDA Journal?
I was intellectually stimulated by that position. I now have so much respect for editors and journalists. There is so much time and energy that goes into staying true to the project. An enormous responsibility is placed on the editor to balance the work of the author with the science and ethics of the profession. The goal is to publish an article that is a perfect balance of substance and style. I write as often as I can, and I continue to encourage my colleagues to write.

What, if any, barriers or challenges have you personally had to overcome?
As a female in the early '70s, there were only eight women in my class of 100 dental students. My father had a very strong influence on me (and he still does) that I have carried with me my entire life. He told me there wasn't anything that I couldn't do. I wasn't aware that later in life I would be called an "overachiever." I didn't even know what the term meant back then. I was taught to be very thorough. My ancestry has roots in Guyana, South America. My father's family places a very strong emphasis on academics. My home training focused on academics and ethics. I felt as if I had to work twice as hard in dental school. Instructors weren't sure how to handle women then. I also was very outspoken. Dr. Joseph Henry, then the dean of Howard University College of Dentistry, worked hard to teach me the value of diplomacy. Boy, was that hard! I was a product of the '60s -- the women's revolution, the black revolution, the student revolution and boycotts. He told me to expect frustrations, and that some things wouldn't be fair.

I also remember Dr. Jeanne Sinkford, the associate dean at the time, telling me that my femininity and my strengths could be combined and used as my greatest assets. Those formative years in my career were very challenging. Women were struggling for identity. Drs. Henry and Sinkford continue to be role models and wonderful mentors.

What is your proudest accomplishment?
Mentoring students and serving as a role model for each of them, just as those who mentored me. In the past 25 years, 35 dental students have worked in my practice, and now they are practicing all over the country. I thank the Lord that I am blessed and able to give back. A lifetime accomplishment is my father's pride in me.

Who is/are your role model(s) or mentor(s)?
Dr. Floyd Keene, an exceptional clinician, is a role model. He helped me learn what it takes to be a good businesswoman. I learned how to communicate with men who were business oriented. I had to cultivate that side from the male perspective. I had to think like a man to get the job done.

The late Dr. Eddie G. Smith taught me what it takes to be a leader. He was a consummate political strategist who believed in the potential and the power of women. I am grateful that he believed in me. He was there for me when I became the first female president of the Student National Dental Association and then 25 years later when I became the first woman to lead the National Dental Association.

What are your plans for the future?
I hope to still help as long as I can. I'd like to be able to write more and do what I need to do to help this pipeline of African American dentists -- recruit more and ensure that young students have the financing they need to complete dental school. Within communities, we need to ensure that providers are culturally competent, and that there is availability and access to health care. These are the things that are part of my life's work.

What words of wisdom do you have for students just graduating?
Take on the obligation to give back. If you choose to work in a career that brings you joy, then aspire to be the best that you can be in that profession. Mediocrity is not an option. Strive for excellence. Value integrity. Never compromise ethics and don't compromise the standards to be successful.

What do you like to do in your spare time (hobbies, interests, sports, travel, volunteering)?
I love to travel and recently traveled to Alaska. I also love to ski. My ultimate dream is to ski one week a month, each month, in a different part of the world. I also have become more interested in collecting art.