The College of Dentistry’s new department chair in Preventive and Community Dentistry Leo Marchini grew up in Brazil with a father as a dentist, so it would make sense that Marchini would end up in the profession himself, even though he didn’t want to at first.

Growing up in São José dos Campos, Brazil, Marchini wanted to teach and while he was helping at his father’s dental clinic from a young age, he didn’t think he would find his passion through dentistry.

“I like to teach,” Marchini said. “I was thinking about a bachelor’s degree in history or geography and to teach those subjects.”

Marchini’s father graduated from the dental school down the street from their house before starting his own practice. It gave Marchini a lot of time to soak in his surroundings.

“The environment became very familiar,” Marchini said. “When I wasn’t in school, I would be at his practice and so early on, I started picking up the phone answer patient phone calls and when I was 10, he pulled me in for the first time to be an assistant.”

It took time, but Marchini was slowly convinced that he could still do what he wanted to do at a dental school.

“Academically, my dad knew that I could get into any school, so he told me, ‘Why don’t you go to dental school? You can teach dentistry.’ He was clever enough to convince me that I could teach dentistry and become a dentist,” Marchini said.

His father brought him to the same school he attended. Marchini was already familiar with the school and faculty from visiting to the school as a kid with his father, so it ended up being where Marchini eventually enrolled.

“In dental school, every course I took I thought about how I would want to teach this subject or that subject and when I graduated, there were a lot of interesting opportunities to teach,” he added.

After Marchini graduated, his father sold his practice, and they found a new location where they could lead a practice. From the ground up they planned, built, and grew their practice together for 15 years.

Years later, Marchini had a coworker visit the United States. Upon returning he thought Marchini would benefit from the structure in the U.S. because it allowed more opportunities and time to teach, which Marchini highly coveted.

“A coworker of mine in Brazil who went to Michigan told me about the opportunities in the United States,” Marchini said “He told me I can work as a faculty member and don’t need a practice, which allows for a reasonable work/life balance. I was convinced to apply, and I was eventually extended an offer from Iowa. I arrived at Iowa City on July 31, 2013.”

After nine years at Iowa working in the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, Marchini began a new chapter, leaving Iowa and moving to Cleveland to serve as Case Western Reserve University’s Professor and Chair of the Department of Comprehensive Care. It was a big step up for Marchini who gained valuable experience of leading a large department.

“The comprehensive care department is by far the largest department there,” Marchini said. “It would be a combination of multiple departments at Iowa. It is very large and it was extremely interesting to see a different American dental school from within.”

Case Western University was the sixth dental school that Marchini worked at as a higher education faculty member, not including numerous visits to schools all over the world, which included Nijmegen, Gent, London, Paris, Lyon, Valetta, Thessaloniki, and Athens.

But less than a year after Marchini left for Cleveland, the Preventive and Community Dentistry department chair position opened when Dan Caplan stepped down from his post. It was an easy decision for Marchini to come back to Iowa.

“When I saw the opportunity to come back to Iowa, I really took it to heart,” Marchini said. “I have worked at all these dental schools and visited schools around the globe, but there is no place like Iowa.”

It was almost a year to the day that Marchini returned to Iowa – this time as the department chair of Preventive and Community Dentistry. There’s no other place Marchini would have rather ended up.

“Our patients are committed to dental care. We serve multiple counties around the state and even people outside of Iowa, which means our reputation is very strong and that attracts great students.” Marchini said. “And Iowa nice is real. It’s not tangible or palpable, but it’s very real and that translates directly to the care of our patients and education of our students.”