Dolores Mercedes Franklin is an American dentist, health policy advocate, and author. She was the first African American woman to graduate from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1974. Franklin became the highest ranking dentist executive at Sterling Drug, the first woman and first Black person in the United States to do so at a Fortune 500 company. She was also the first woman and first Black person to hold a dean's level position at New York University College of Dentistry, the nation's largest dental school at a major university, making her the first woman and first Black person from Harvard to become a dental school dean in the United States. Franklin is also a consultant and clinical professor.