The university was given $25 million to establish the Tanner College of Dental Medicine in May 2022. The university expects to welcome its first cohort of dental students in June 2026, according to an Oct. 4 news release.
The groundbreaking comes after the university switched locations for the dental school earlier this year. The university first purchased a building from Appalachian Newspapers in 2023 to house the dental school, but later opted to construct a new site near its Health Professions Education Building after deciding that constructing a new building was more feasible than attempting a partial demolition and remodeling of the newspaper building.
