Wyatt R. (Rory) Hume, DDS, Ph.D.

Provost and Executive Vice President - Academic and Health Affairs

University of California

Rory Hume was appointed Vice President for Academic and Health Affairs in September 2005 and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic and Health Affairs in June 2006.

Born and educated in South Australia, he qualified first in dentistry and then in human physiology and pharmacology, being awarded a PhD in 1973 by the University of Adelaide for research into nerve-muscle interactions in small blood vessels. Following government service as a dentist, he came to UCLA in 1975 as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine.

Joining the faculty of the UCLA School of Dentistry in 1977, he developed his own field of research, in vitro studies linking the release dynamics and biological effects of chemicals that move from materials used in tooth restoration into adjacent tissue. Funded continuously between 1980 and 2003 by the US National Institutes of Health or its Australian equivalent, this work resolved the toxic-therapeutic paradox of materials that contact dentin and dental pulp. With graduate students and other collaborators he then showed how adhesive restorative materials cause tooth pain, dental pulp death and allergic responses, and how such adverse effects can therefore be prevented.

Dr. Hume is the recipient of multiple teaching awards from UCLA and UCSF. His standing as a dental clinician and scientist has been recognized by membership of the Academy of Restorative Dentistry and three national and international professional Colleges. He is the co-editor of the text “Preservation and Restoration of Teeth” and an originator of a recently proposed system for the classification and treatment of carious lesions, now being evaluated for adoption by the Fédération Dentaire Internationale .

Since 1984 Dr. Hume has also served as an academic administrator in Australia and the US. He chaired the Department of Dentistry at the University of Adelaide and was Dean of the University of Sydney's School of Dentistry.  He then chaired the Department of Restorative Dentistry at UCSF, prior to service as Dean of UCLA's School of Dentistry. From 1998 to 2002 he was UCLA’s Executive Vice Chancellor, then returned to Australia to become President of the University of New South Wales. He was a member of the Australian Research Council from 2002 to 2005, was chair of the Australian Research Information Infrastructure Committee, and from 2004 to 2005 led the planning process for future investments in Australia’s national research infrastructure as chair of NCRIS.

Dr. Hume is married with two children and two grandchildren. He represented Adelaide University in both rugby football and rowing, was a member of the Australian eight-oared crew in 1970, and served for many years in the Australian Army Reserve.  His principal recreational activity is sailing.

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