Her Story
About Brittany
Dr. Brittany Seymour has been a dentist for 21 years and has spent her entire career in academia. She has been full-time at Harvard for 16 years and joined the administrative leadership team in 2023. After graduating dental school and starting a clinical private practice, she recognized barriers to dental care access and returned to school part-time for her master's in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Before finishing that program, she had the opportunity to start a new global and public health program at the dental school, leading her to transition to full-time academia in 2011. In her role as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, she works to evolve institutional structures while maintaining traditions. She also serves as a mentor to dental students through the Harvard chapter of the American Association of Women Dentists. Her awards include a teaching and mentorship award from Harvard Medical School, Educator of the Year from a national entity, and the Innovation and Global Health Award from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, making her the first dentist to win the latter.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Brittany
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think about that a lot. ... I don't have a recipe for success. ... courage, certainly. Humility, because we will, you know, if you're really applying courage, you need to have not just courage, to make hard decisions, but courage to fail, courage to succeed, and the humility to be able to do both, and understand it's all part of the learning journey.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Oh my gosh. I wish I could remember where I first heard this, but that part of being human being we have to live life forward, but we really only best understand it looking backward. ... remaining patient with myself, and so I would say, again, understanding that take advice as it comes and pocket it, because at some point, when the time is right and we're ready to learn those lessons, they will make sense.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Yeah, yeah, I have to say, finding myself in a leadership role at Harvard. ... never stop dreaming. ... imposter syndrome is real. ... allow it to keep you humble ... but don't allow it to become an excuse or a distraction. ... women can have it all, but not always all at once ... have patience with that fluidity, and it takes effort and intentionality to balance that according to what each of us really wants in our lives.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
That is a good question. ... we're really, In my leadership role, working to continually evolve long-standing institutional structures. ... the challenge is ... really taking a look at systems that are not serving people that need our care the most ... driving forward teams to make changes together. And really that deriving that consensus for what needs to change and how do we achieve that change.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I love that question ... values-driven leadership, and that really, our values are what drives us as humans day-to-day, right? And so, for me, that is integrity, authenticity, those core values to make sure that whether I'm showing up as a mom, a wife, a dean, that My interactions with others. And how I'm showing up that day in whatever role, whatever hat I have on, are driven by my values, that it's I'm staying true to who I am ... people won't remember what we said, they just remember how we made them feel.
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