President’s Profile: Dr. Cassis Embarks on an Era of Innovation for AGD in 2021

When Bruce L. Cassis, DDS, MAGD, was installed as AGD president at AGD’s Oct. 23–25 annual meeting, he did so in the midst of a global pandemic that has severely impacted public health as well as the financial health of dentists and professional associations like AGD. As life after the pandemic remains impossible to predict, leaders across the globe are faced with high expectations while charting unclear paths. Cassis is ready to take on this challenge, and the plans he has to make AGD nimbler and more responsive to changes in the healthcare and association landscapes are of increasing importance in this new climate. 

A graduate of the West Virginia University School of Dentistry, Cassis joined AGD in 1986 and served in many roles in both the West Virginia AGD, including president for four consecutive years, and at the national level. He was chair of the Membership and PACE councils, each for two years, and the first chair of the Communications Council when it was formed, a position he held for five years. 

He maintains a general dentistry practice full time in Fayetteville, West Virginia, where he focuses on bringing cutting-edge technology and services to a rural community. Now, he hopes to bring that spirit of innovation to AGD. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has only strengthened his belief that AGD and its members suffer when the organization cannot move quickly. 

“AGD’s most critical need is to improve our governance,” Cassis said. “I’ve run my own business for 40 years now, and, if I moved as slowly as AGD does, I would be bankrupt. We haven’t had any appreciable changes to our governance structure since the Academy’s inception 60 years ago. We have an inefficient system that doesn’t allow us to respond in a timely manner to our environment, an example being the COVID-19 pandemic, where we could have done so much more if we weren’t handcuffed by our bylaws. If we can’t react quickly, how can we support our members? AGD may be a nonprofit organization, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t apply for-profit protocols to increase our capacity to support our membership. If we strive for perfection, the result will at least be excellence.

“We have an excellent group of grassroots members on the Governance Evaluation and Review Committee (GERC), and I’m going to give them 110% support to accomplish their goals,” he continued. “I want it to happen at warp speed, because, if we have another crisis on our hands, we can only do what the rules allow you to do. GERC is evaluating every facet of governance, including the Executive Committee, board, councils, committees and the House of Delegates to streamline operations and the functions of each level. Immediate Past President Connie L. White, DDS, FAGD, was making decisions and forming consensus in the best interest of the Academy, and we were very proactive under her leadership. But COVID-19 still brought to light a lot of things that we didn’t have the opportunity or foresight to have accomplished beforehand, including establishing the essential status of dentistry in healthcare. Our staff and volunteer leaders did an incredible job with what they had to work with, from advocacy to education, but, as an organization, we have to ensure we have the resources and structures in place to respond to our members needs and support them in a timely manner.” 

In the two years Cassis has spent as vice president and then president-elect, he has worked to support initiatives to move AGD forward, from governance and advocacy to member services and education. He has also been an outspoken supporter of maintaining benefits like AGD’s print publications and has focused on proposals that better tailor the AGD experience to the needs of members, such as a tiered membership model with a monthly membership fee rather than an annual one. 

“Something that has come to fruition that I started as chair of Membership is the tiered membership program,” said Cassis. “Fortunately, Chethan Chetty, DDS, MAGD, took that program over when he became chair and, with a lot of market research and innovation, we now have the program that was presented at the House of Delegates this year. This model is about giving our members the opportunity to have the benefits they want and deserve. One of the main points of tiered membership is that it finally recognizes that not all dentists are practice owners and employers — some are employees — so the separation between standard and premium helps separate those benefits that different dentists need and want. Additionally, early in the COVID-19 crisis when we were taking a huge hit on membership because dentists were out of work, I suggested allowing our members to pay their dues in installments rather than annually. These are great tools to retain our existing members but with the huge upside of making it easier to recruit new members. Whatever your goals are, the Academy can support you. I don’t care where you work; what I care about is that we’re there to support you.” 

In addition to furthering the organization’s advocacy and education missions, Cassis has a few other projects he intends to work toward in 2021. 

“For the members, I think we’re starting down the right road with tiered membership and an installment payment plan and letting them know what benefits they’re getting. It really comes down to starting everyone on the pathway of membership, then keeping them involved until they hit Fellowship and Mastership, at which point they are more likely to remain lifetime members. Also, as a second-generation Lebanese-American, I think we can do a much better job of making AGD more diverse. Yes, we have some diversity among membership, but you don’t see much diversity in leadership roles.” 

Two years into his involvement in the Executive Committee, Cassis has not changed his mind about his priorities for his presidential term, and his perspective of leadership echoes his personal statement when he ran for vice president in 2018: 

“As an organization with a mission, we must reach consensus and move forward with a sense of urgency. Through adding value and bringing dental students to the pathway of lifelong learning, I pledge to bring all my skills in concert with the best AGD leaders to fulfill our mission of continuing education and advocacy for the general dentist while building stronger constituencies and growing membership.” 

Caitlin Davis is associate editor of AGD Impact. To comment on this article, email impact@agd.org.