Chair's Message November 2017

I would like to start by acknowledging the passing of Dr. Norman Wood who was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry (when it was a Faculty) in 1989. He received his dental degree at the University of Toronto in 1958, and spent 27 years in Chicago at Northwestern and Loyola Universities before coming to Edmonton in 1989. Dr. Wood led us through our 75 year celebrations in 1992, the theme: "75 Years and Forward." In an article published by the University of Alberta in 1992 Dr. Wood was asked: What else would he do if the University handed him a blank cheque? "A new building would be nice," Wood says with a smile. It's too bad Dr. Wood never made it over to see the new School of Dentistry state of the art facilities; he would have been very impressed.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Dr. Tom Stevenson has been selected as the 2017 Bulyea Cup Award recipient.

The Bulyea Cup recognizes faculty members who have clearly excelled in both teaching and research, members of the oral health care professions (dentistry and dental hygiene) who are involved in teaching, research or service to the School of Dentistry, and to members of the community who have made contributions to oral health sciences education.

During Tom's 36 years with the School he has received numerous clinical and preclinical teaching awards and has been the Honorary Class president in 2010 and 2014. Tom goes above and beyond to help students learn the skills they need to succeed in the profession but maybe equally as important, he serves as a mentor, role model and advocate for all students. This quote from Maya Angelou, provided by one of our faculty members as part of the nomination package, speaks to his interactions with students, faculty and staff at the School and it is: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Nothing could be more true of Tom.

And last but not least, In the month of October, the School of Dentistry publicly announced Dentistry for Life-an $8 Million fundraising campaign. This campaigns coincides with our centennial as a way to demonstrate and reinforce how we are vital to the health of our communities. We will work hard in the next 3-4 years to raise money in the following three areas:

1. Access to Care
2. Student Support & Wellbeing
3. Research & Innovation

Along with the launch of our new fundraising campaign is the donor wall. In the old Dentistry/Pharmacy building we had a donor wall in the lobby, but in 2012 when we moved to the Kaye Edmonton Clinic facility it was not feasible to take it with us.

The donor recognition wall that we have designed for the launch of this campaign is unique within the University. It is very important to us to capture and celebrate the legacy of those who have given in the past as well as to recognize and celebrate donors to the Dentistry for Life Campaign. For more information on the Dentistry for Life campaign visit the School of Dentistry website.

Also part of the launch and our centennial is the release of our new book: ROOTS - Extracted Tales from a Century of Dentistry at the University of Alberta. It is available for purchase for $20 and all proceeds go to the Dentistry for Life fundraising campaign.