Gary L. Roberts, DDS, a Shreveport, La-based general dentist, is the new president-elect of the American Dental Association (ADA). Roberts was elected at a recent meeting of the ADA House of Delegates in Washington, DC. He will assume the role of ADA president in October 2016.

Roberts served as the Twelfth District trustee to the ADA House of Delegates, as well as the ADA Council on Ethics, Bylaws and Judicial Affairs, and the Council on Government Affairs, and was chair of the Committee on Budget and Finance. He also served as a trustee liaison to the Council on Dental Practice, Council on Annual Sessions, and the Council on Dental Education and Licensure.

Roberts is a past president of both the Louisiana Dental Association (LDA) and the Northwest Louisiana Dental Association. He served as editor of the Journal of the Louisiana Dental Association for 8 years. In 2007, he received the LDA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

Roberts earned his dental degree from Baylor College of Dentistry in 1977.

At the same House of Delegates meeting in October, Irene Marron-Tarrazzi, DMD, MS, a periodontist practicing in Miami, Fla, was elected second vice president of the ADA.

Marron-Tarrazzi has been an ADA member for 12 years. Outside the ADA, she has served as president of the South Florida District Dental Association and treasurer of the Florida Dental Association Political Action Committee. She is also a member of the ADA New Dentist Committee, an alumna of the ADA Institute for Diversity in Leadership, and a speaker for the ADA Success Program.

Originally from Venezuela, Marron-Tarrazzi studied dentistry at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning her Certificate in Periodontology and Master of Science degree. In 2003, she earned her dental degree from Nova Southeastern University. She is an adjunct faculty member at Nova Southeastern University and the University of Florida Hialeah Dental Clinic.