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Rutgers School of Dental Medicine Becomes First U.S. Institution to Join Ibero-American Assembly

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FIEFO’s President and Dean of Francisco Marroquín University Dental School Estuardo Mata Castillo (fifth from left), Secretary of FIEFO and Dean of Stomatology Universidad Cientifica del Sur Claudio Peña Soto (third from left), RSDM Dean Cecile A. Feldman (fourth from right), and RSDM Associate Dean for Admissions Rosa Chaviano-Moran (second from right) together with other FIEFO and RSDM representatives at the organization's 10th Assembly in Guatemala.

February 2, 2026

The Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM) has been invited to join the International Federation of Dental Schools and Faculties (FIEFO), becoming the first institution in the United States to be admitted into the international consortium. 

This partnership underscores the school’s rising global influence in dental education, research and community-based care.

“Rutgers’ incorporation into FIEFO represents a historic milestone,” said FIEFO’s president Estuardo Mata Castillo, who is also the dean of Francisco Marroquín University Dental School in Guatemala, and Claudio Peña Soto, secretary of FIEFO as well as dean of Stomatology Universidad Cientifica del Sur in Peru, in a joint statement.

Founded in 2014, FIEFO brings together dental schools from 14 nations in South America, Spain and Portugal, with the U.S. now joining the federation. 

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Reprinted from Rutgers Health