Purnima S. Kumar, DDS, PhD, is a Najjar Endowed Professor and chair of the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. A Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and a Fellow of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program, she is an active clinician, teacher, researcher, administrator, and mentor. Kumar has authored more than 100 papers and book chapters. She serves as the co-editor of Clinical Advances in Periodontics and associate editor for the Journal of Periodontology, Nature Scientific Reports, and Microbiome. Kumar also serves as the chair of the Continuing Education Oversight Committee for the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) and is a member of the AAP’s Taskforce for Women in Periodontics and the Taskforce for Future Science.