Lyubov Slashcheva ‘11 bikes to work year-round, whether in rain, sun, sleet, snow, or ice: and the latter three are pretty common in Rochester, Minnesota. Her devotion and perseverance in cycling are qualities also apparent in her professional journey: a practicing dentist since the age of 23, Slashcheva works with the nonprofit Apple Tree Dental as a specialist in public health and special needs and geriatric patients. She also works as a research collaborator with the Mayo Clinic’s departments of dental specialties and health sciences research in Rochester, and holds leadership positions in the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry, the Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship, and the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions.
In honor of her achievements and service work, Slashcheva is the 2020 recipient of EMU’s Outstanding Young Alum award.
“The times I feel most alive would have to be instances where I am able to work with others to creatively consider a challenge – clinical, organizational, or personal – and develop a uniquely-suited solution,” she says.
Slashcheva has always been driven to achieve, achieve early, and achieve across a diverse array of interests. She speaks three languages: English, Russian, and Spanish; plays the flute; holds an amateur radio license; and has won more awards and scholarships than can be listed here.
Slashcheva came to the U.S. from Kazakhstan with her parents at the age of five – which she says set her up for a unique perspective on life. “Perhaps because of my early experience of being an immigrant – interpreting for my parents, co-navigating complex adult systems with them, and experiencing their strong work ethic – each new opportunity has looked more exciting than intimidating,” Slashcheva says.
She enrolled at EMU after graduating from Turner Ashby High School at age 16, and finished her undergraduate degree in biology just 2.5 years later.
Slashcheva says that “EMU both widened the scope of my curiosities, and grounded my interests and values in scholastically and vocationally relevant ways that continue to challenge me to seek the greater good, rather than my own personal achievement or benefit.”
After a four-month service term in Latin America, she earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, followed by a Master’s in Dental Public Health and a number of graduate certificates from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.
Her position at Apple Tree Dental fulfills a service commitment to the National Health Service Corps, which provided a scholarship for her dental training.
Slashcheva lives with her husband, Scott and three foster children, ages eight, 10, and 13, on their urban vegetable farm in Minnesota.
Editor’s note: On July 7, Lyubov Slashcheva announced the formal adoption of the three children.