Harvey Brody, UCSF Dentistry Alum and Professor, Named Alumni UC Regent

Harvey A. Brody, DDS '63 receives the UCSF DAA Medal of Honor at UCSF Alumni Weekend 2013. Photo by David Hand

The Alumni Association of UC San Francisco has appointed Harvey A. Brody, DDS '63, to serve as alumni regent-designate to the UC Board of Regents, effective July 1.

A clinical professor emeritus of dentistry, Brody’s distinguished UCSF career spans more than 50 years and includes teaching and administrative positions, innovative program development, medical and educational research and publications, and numerous national and regional honors. In addition to his UCSF degree, he holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from UC Berkeley and a master’s in education from San Francisco State University.

The two-year alumni regent term rotates among the 10-campus UC system. Brody will serve as regent-designate and treasurer of the Alumni Association of the University of California (AAUC) his first year, attending all meetings and participating in policy discussions. The second year, he becomes a full voting member of the Board of Regents and will serve concurrently as AAUC vice president.

“Harvey Brody will be very effective as alumni regent,” said Renee Navarro, PharmD, MD '86, resident alumna and UCSF vice chancellor of diversity and outreach. “He is trusted and wise, he cares deeply about UCSF and its public mission, and he thinks in innovative ways that can add a vision for the future. He laid the groundwork for many of UCSF’s diversity efforts, a crucial component of UC’s mission.”

In addition to his career interests of dentistry and education, Brody is a longtime champion for social justice, diversity, and equal rights, a sensibility he ascribes to his UC years during national turbulence over civil rights and the Vietnam War. “Whatever I’m involved with, I look for the gap between what is promised and what is actually provided,” Brody said. “Then I try to find ways to more fully meet the promise.”

As alumni regent, Brody aspires to examine UC’s systemwide diversity efforts and work with all the campuses to explore new opportunities for diversifying faculty, staff, and students. “I've benefited from and been involved with UC on so many levels,” he said. “I’m devoted to the University and am honored to have the opportunity to serve in this special capacity.”

During the 1960s and ‘70s, Brody developed community-based clinics that offered dental care services. He spearheaded a Mount Zion program to train dental residents in providing care to complex, underserved patients; and he served as faculty ambassador to recruit minorities into UCSF faculty positions. For these and other efforts, he was given the UCSF Martin Luther King Award in 2006.

Brody is a San Francisco native and former executive member of the UCSF Alumni Association Board of Directors. His many awards include the UCSF School of Dentistry and Mount Zion Outstanding Teacher awards and the UCSF School of Dentistry Alumni Association Medal of Honor. He has served as a health policy advisor to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health Philip Lee, and the UC Office of the President.

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