SEED Board Members & Officers
All members of the SEED Oral Care Board have worked in domestic & international settings where dental care is difficult or impossible to access, & unmet need is high.
Most have worked in developing countries, & all continue to contribute to community-based programs in the US & abroad.
SEED Board Members & Officers are committed to enhancing dental education & preventing dental disease.
Executive Director & Interim President
Dr. Mary S. Willis, PhD
She has been in higher education for 25+ years & is currently teaching at Johnson County Community College in Overl & Park, Kansas. From 2000 to 2022, she was a Professor at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, & from 2022 to 2025, she was at Missouri State. Dr. Willis is a Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science & the Society for Applied Anthropology. She earned an MA & PhD in Anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, & was a Science & Diplomacy Fellow with AAAS in USAID’s Office of Population, Health, & Nutrition from 1995 to 1997. She has traveled & worked in Asia, Africa, & South America for 50 years. Her teaching & research are focused on bio-cultural approaches to food & nutrition, as well as global food security. Dr. Willis has taught 75+ students in Ethiopia & Zambia through education abroad programs for over 10 years. Her current focus is the NGO School Education & Essential Dentistry, designed to provide dental hygiene education & ensure high dental health status for K-12 students, first in Zambia & later in other global sites. SEED will also provide training opportunities for dental students from the US & host countries, as well as collaborative research opportunities.
Board Member
Dr. Natalie Hahn, Ed.D.
She has served 38 years with the United Nations, primarily in Africa, & also in Rome & New York City. Her assignments included serving as a Women & Finance Officer with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), organizing youth initiatives with the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNICEF Representative to Malawi, & Senior Private Sector Advisor at the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships. Her favorite job was in Nigeria with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Ibadan), where she assisted in introducing improved food crops & nutrition programs for rural women. An agricultural revolution was the adoption of soybeans, a new crop in the country. For this accomplishment, the Yoruba people honored her with a chieftaincy & bestowed the title Balogun Iyalaje, meaning “the person who empowers”. She graduated from the University of Nebraska with a B.A. The Ohio State University, M.A., & Harvard University, MPA & Ed.D. In order to give back to her home state, she founded the Malaika Foundation with a mission to globalize Nebraska education. www.malaikafoundation.org
Board Member
Dr. Fikadu Reta Alemayehu PhD
He has a PhD in Agricultural Leadership from the University of Nebraska Lincoln & MS in Agricultural Development from the University of Copenhagen. Previously, he was a faculty member in the Department of Nutrition & Food Science. He has a PhD in Agricultural Leadership from the University of Nebraska Lincoln & an MS in Agricultural Development from the University of Copenhagen. Previously, he was a faculty member in the Department of Nutrition & Food Science at Hawassa University in Hawassa, Ethiopia. Currently, Dr. Alemayehu is a public health leader & educator with over 15 years of experience directing million-dollar international grants, founding youth empowerment nonprofits, publishing extensive peer-reviewed food safety research, & managing complex food systems, nutrition, & workforce development projects at Michigan State University. at Hawassa University in Hawassa, Ethiopia. Currently, Dr. Alemayehu is a public health leader & educator with over 15 years of experience directing million-dollar international grants, founding youth empowerment nonprofits, publishing extensive peer-reviewed food safety research, & managing complex food systems, nutrition, & workforce development projects at Michigan State University.
Board Member
Dr. Dawne Y. Curry, PhD
She is a Professor of History at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. She received her Ph.D. in African History from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, in 2006. Curry’s research field is 20th- & 21st-century African history with emphasis on South African protest & resistance struggles, both in South Africa & within the diaspora. Dr. Curry was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to South Africa in 2017-2018. Dr. Curry has authored two books related to her South African research, the most recent of these titled Social Justice at Apartheid’s Dawn. She has published numerous articles & book chapters based on research in Africa. Curry argues that many of the women she discovered were in conversation with men & women; therefore, their contributions to political thought go beyond gender & geographical boundaries.
Secretary
Dr. Patrick Tschida DrPH, MPH
She holds a BSc in Molecular Biology & Sociology from Northwest Missouri State University, an MA in anthropology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, & a PhD in Rural Sociology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She joined the faculty in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at the University of Mississippi in fall 2016. Dr. Cafer co-founded the Community First Research Center for Wellbeing & Creative Achievement, working directly with local communities to build resilience using a CBPR approach. She has served as the director for UM’s Center for Population Studies, where she supported the center’s mission as a federal State Data Center to help communities access, analyze, & interpret public data for local & state decision-making. Dr. Cafer’s research focuses on the theoretical & practical applications of community resilience. She works closely with rural communities to examine the ways in which various social, economic, & environmental systems interact to create (non)resilient communities. She is a community-based participatory researcher, actively working with communities as co-investigators. Dr. Cafer is a Borlaug Fellow in Global Food Security & an Andrew Carnegie Fellow.
He brings public health leadership experience to the SEED Board of Directors. Dr. Tschida earned a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health & a Doctorate in International Health & Human Nutrition from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is an experienced qualitative & quantitative researcher with interests in parental, infant, & early childhood health & nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention programs, & exploring solutions to global healthcare disparities. Currently, Dr. Tschida serves as an Evaluator & Senior Epidemiologist with the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc. His international experience includes serving as a Fulbright Scholar & U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, as well as several consultancies with UNICEF, USAID, the International Red Cross, & Save the Children. He was recently named by the Pollen Foundation as one of the “50 Over 50” in Minnesota in the community engagement category of leaders. Dr. Tschida is a global public health epidemiologist & evaluator with over 35 years of experience monitoring parent & child health issues, managing infectious disease & pandemic response teams, & leading tribal health infrastructure initiatives across the Great Lakes region.
Board Member
Dr. Anne M. Cafer, PhD
Treasurer
William Hawkins CFP
He holds a business degree & certification from the Bloch School of Business at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He is a certified financial planner & executive with over 21 years of experience across the banking, insurance, & investment sectors. He is currently serving as President & CEO of Hawkins Financial Service while managing state-level financial governance for the Missouri Council of the Blind, etc., at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He is a certified financial planner & with over 21 years of experience across the banking, insurance, & investment sectors. He is currently serving as President & CEO of Hawkins Financial Service while managing state-level financial governance for the Missouri Council of the Blind, etc.
Board Member
Dr. Marion Pratt, PhD
She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Binghamton University. She completed a 1995-96 AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship with USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. Marion is a global development specialist with over three decades of international experience, beginning as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger & continuing as a Social Science Advisor at USAID, undertaking federal disaster preparedness, response, & mitigation programming in 20+ countries, & as an academic mentor directing global career development at Duke & Vanderbilt universities. She recently retired from her position as Director of Global Careers at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. She continues to engage with graduate students as a consultant supporting them in their internship & job searches. She earned a BA in Art History & Environmental Studies at Williams College & a Certificate in Technical Communication at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She also has experience as a grant writer & reviewer, teacher, & researcher.
