Sharon R. Bannister

Dr. Sharon Bannister is a former U.S. Air Force Major General with 20+ years of C-level experience leading complex healthcare teams during her 31-year military career.  Her culminating military role was as the Director of Medical Operations for the Air Force and Space Force. 

Sharon is a board-certified periodontist who served as the 20^th Chief of the Air Force Dental Corps directing dental policy and operational guidance for a global dental enterprise.  She also served as the Air Force Postdoctoral Periodontal Residency Program Training Officer, Adjunct Professor/Graduate Faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center, and as Professor of the Practice of Military Dentistry at the Air Force Postgraduate School, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.  As a national leader in organized dentistry, she served on the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) and the Board of Directors for the AAP Foundation.  In the latter capacity, she served as board president.  She is also a Fellow in the American College of Dentistry and the International College of Dentistry. 

As a dedicated Veteran’s advocate, Sharon currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the Military Women’s Memorial Foundation, the Be Good Foundation, and Dog Tag. 

Dr. Bannister received her Doctor of Dental Surgery from Case Western Reserve School of Dentistry (1992) as well as Master of Science degrees in Periodontics from the University of Texas Health Science Center (2002) and National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University Industrial College of the Armed Forces (2009). Her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry was received from Miami University (1988) where she was recently awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.