Sheila Riggs

Sheila Riggs is Chair of the Department of Primary Dental Care at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry and leads health policy initiatives for the Academic Health Center. Prior to her roles at the UMN, she was President and CEO of Delta Dental of MN. Prior to her arrival in Minnesota, Dr. Riggs played a very unique role in Iowa and South Dakota healthcare for 10 years. Using her doctorate in epidemiology, Sheila led the analytic division Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa and South Dakota while also serving as the Executive Director of the Wellmark Foundation. This, coupled with the long term relationships she had with policy makers, afforded her leadership opportunities to help Iowans and South Dakotans achieve innovations in care models that resulted in general health and oral health improvement in community-based models. Dr. Riggs received her dental degree (DDS) from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. She went on to earn her doctorate of medical sciences (DMSc) in epidemiology from Harvard University. She maintains faculty appointments at her alma maters. Locally, Sheila is on the Board of Directors of the Greater Twin Cities United Way where she chairs the Health Impact Committee which distributes $16 million annually. Sheila is President of the Women’s Health Leadership Trust and also serves on the Board of Directors of the YWCA and the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable. Sheila is frequently asked to speak to audiences of young women on the opportunities in the fields of science and math.