Henry Fields is putting the final cap on his tenure as the dean of the Ohio State College of Dentistry. Fields will be vacating the position in September -finishing out his second five-year term as dean.Fields said it is in the best interest of any institution to get a new look every so often. He thinks it is appropriate for the College of Dentistry to do just that after the improvements he has made to the school during the past 10 years.”There’s a chance for someone to take this plateau to the next level,” Fields said.Fields said his successor needs to find more faculty in order to compete with the dentistry programs at other universities as well as increasing salaries at OSU.”The faculty are exceptionally hard-working with our reward plan,” he said. “They do more with less than any other school.” Fields added that budget restrictions will help the college and the university in improving research and recruitment.Colleagues express respect and gratitude for Fields and the work he has done for OSU.”He is a good dean because he has an excellent grasp of his profession and its potential for fulfilling the university’s mission and is well respected among his academic colleagues in the discipline,” said Carole Anderson, dean of the College of Nursing. Under Fields’ leadership, research funding increased 200 percent and the college endowment doubled. The accomplishments he is most proud of include: improving comprehensive care clinics, which he said have led to better learning and patient care; increasing the productivity of faculty, thus improving the scholarly environment and working with practitioners, legislators and alumni.”We’ve worked hard to be visible to them and a part of their activities,” he said, “I’m real pleased of the relationship we have with alumni in the field.”Fields said the most enjoyable aspect of his job has been working with students and faculty.”Working with faculty to solve institutional issues can be really rewarding when it works,” he said. “The job is highly unpredictable and the things you deal with make the job pretty interesting.”Gregory Williams, dean of the College of Law, said Fields is an invaluable asset to students and the university.”He is a person fully committed to ensuring students receive the best education possible. They also have a leader who has a full understanding of the issues they will face when they are practicing dentists,” he said.”His commitment to the university has been outstanding and he has always added important points for consideration in meetings of the council of deans,” Williams added. “You may think I have too many superlatives for Henry, but he is truly an outstanding dean and a fine person fully committed to OSU and higher education.”Students who have worked with Fields say he is an involved dean committed to his students.”He definitely takes an interactive role with student government to help us field complaints and just to help us out,” said Jason Doerschuk, a dentistry student.”Those are big shoes to fill,” Doerschuk said, “and it will have to take another extremely motivated person to take on that job.”Fields said there is a possibility that he might return to the dentist’s chair and teacher’s chalk board after his term as dean ends.”I have still been teaching and seeing patients,” he said, “I do not expect the transition to be difficult.”Fields’ wife, Anne, said she has her own plans for him when he retires from the position of dean.”It was a good 10 years and I’m happy he did it, but I plan on him coming home a little bit earlier. He never expects anyone to work harder than he does. He gives 100 percent to this university and he thinks about this place all the time,” she said.To relax Fields says that he rides motorcycles, but never to work.Fields owns two motorcycles, a Harley Davidson and a BMW. When he rides, he wears the appropriate apparel that goes with the motorcycles.”I have got some leather jackets but I do not think that I look like the traditional biker,” he said. “I used to wear jeans a lot, but you will still see me wear them around town.”He has six or seven pairs of cowboy boots, according to his wife.”He puts together some strange combinations,” she said. “The only reason I am so understanding about the bikes is because I know it is the only time he is not thinking about work.””It is fun to tinker around with them and to ride because it does take your mind off of everything else,” Fields said.However, Fields is not willing to share his motorcycles with his sons, Ben and Justin. Ben, a high school English and journalism teacher, received his master’s at OSU. Justin is a junior in college at the University of Richmond.Justin has recently expressed some interest in motorcycles, Fields said.”I told him to take safety classes and save up his money to buy a bike,” he said. “He’s not riding mine.””He is extremely proud of his two kids,” Anne said. “Raising his sons is what he would probably consider his greatest accomplishment.”