New Fellows Induction with International Trustee Ernesto Acuna (center) and International Trustee Joseph Harris (right)

L-R, Drs. Raul Quezada, Trustee Ernesto Acuna, & Trustee Joseph Harris

MEXICO

Trustee Ernesto Acuna organized the Pacific Chapter of the Mexican PFA Section during the Latin American Dental Seminar (SOLA) and the 24th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Gnathology held September 4 through 7 at the Sheraton Bugamvillias Hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. Dr. Raul Quezada was the event organizer and assisted in arranging the new Pacific Chapter's formation with Dr. Acuna. The first of the three-day meeting was a lecture by Dr. Anibal Alonso of Argentina entitled "Oral Rehabilitation in Primary Dentition" and "Establishing Vertical Dimension in a Worn Dentition."

The next day, Dr. Acuna gave an historical and informational presentation about the Pierre Fauchard Academy to the seminar participants. That evening the PFA Induction Ceremony was held by Dr. Ernesto Acuna, International Trustee Joe Harris, and Dr. Raul Quezada to initiate 12 new members into Fellowship before an audience of over 100 dinner guests.

NORWAY

Dr. Harald Loe, 82, passed away at his home last August. He was internationally renowned for his dental research in periodontal disease. In addition to his professional abilities, he was known for being a mentor toward his younger colleagues. Dr. Loe was a past Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. He was born in Steinkjer, Norway, and received his dental degree in 1952 from Oslo University. He then became a Professor at the Royal Dental College in Denmark, and at Hebrew University in Israel. He was also a 1957 Fulbright Scholar in Oral Pathology.

In 1974, Dr. Loe was appointed Dean and full Professor in the Department of Periodontology at the University of Connecticut until 1983 when he became the fifth Director of the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDCR). While at NIDCR he established the Dentist Scientist Award Program and increased their spectrum of dental research to include molecular biology investigations of oral infections caused by system diseases. He transformed the National Caries Program to include periodontal and other diseases in a new Epidemiology and Oral Disease Prevention Program. He also increased the NIDCR budget from $80 million to $170 million. He helped establish some 30 centers for oral health research around the United States, and became the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Dental Research and Training.

Dr. Loe initiated a new series called "Scientific Frontiers in Clinical Dentistry" for continuing education credit.

In 1989, Dr. Loe was honored with the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Award in recognition for his leadership in public service in the United States. In 1994 he received the ADA Gold Medal Award. In 2003 Dr. Loe was presented the PFA Gold Medal for his outstanding service in our profession.

17- Dean Dr. Seymour H. Yale

UNITED STATES

Illinois

Dean Seymour H. Yale of the University of Illinois School of Dentistry passed away at the age of 87 last August. He was responsible for building the current facility on Paulina Street in Chicago's Circle Campus area. In addition, he established a rare collection of historic coins and maps at the University of Illinois. Born in 1920 to Henry and Dorothy Yalowitz, Seymour spent his entire life in Chicago. He married Muriel Cohen in 1943 while attending dental school at the University of Illinois in Chicago where he graduated in 1945. He opened a private practice that year and served as Senior Dental Director of Dental Care Plus Management Corp of Chicago. He joined the faculty of the UIC College of Dentistry in 1948 until 1957 when he was named Dept. Chairman of Radiology. He then became Assistant Dean in 1963, Acting Dean in 1964, and Dean in 1965 until 1987, when he became Professor-Emeritus until his death. He designed the UIC College of Dentistry, which opened in 1972. Dr. Yale's vision for the future of the dental school were ahead of his time because 20 years later, the school he designed 30 years earlier was able to be transformed in its physical foundation to accommodate the newer concepts and technology of modern times.

Dr. Yale and his wife had an intense interest in the history of the Middle East, collected coins, maps, and books of the Ottoman Empire and related Muslim states, which they donated to the University of Illinois to the Kottemann Gallery of Dental History. His interest in things Jewish led him to take courses in Jewish literature starting in 1995. Earlier he had helped found the Egyptian Dental Congress in 1984.

Dr. Yale served as Director of Training at the Dental Technicians School at the U.S. Naval Academy Training Center in Bainbridge, Maryland, from 1954 to 1956; on the Radiation Protection Advisory Board for the State of Illinois in the 1970's; and as a faculty member in the UIC College of Medicine and School of Public Health, and at Northeastern Illinois University's Center for Exercise Science and Cardiovascular Research.

Dr. Peter Hammes receives the Senior Student Award from Associate Dean Darryl Pendleton

Dr. Yale was a Fellow in PFA, ACD, and AGD. He also was awarded the centennial Research Award from the Chicago Dental Society in 1959, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from UIC in 1973, the Odontographic Society of Chicago Award of Merit in 1982, the Harry Sicher Memorial Lecture Award from the American College of Stomatologic Surgeons in 1983, the Loyalty Award from UIC in 1988, and the PFA Man of the Year Award, Illinois Section, in 1988.

Dr. Yale's funeral was held in the chapel at Shalom Memorial Park on September 2nd in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

The PFA Senior Student Award was presented to graduating UIC senior Peter Hammes by UIC Associate Dean for Student and Diversity Affairs Dr. Darryl Pendleton.

Iowa Section Fellows

L-R PFA Vice President Steve Hedlund, Iowa State Dental Association President Heather Heddens, and Section Chair Fred Fuller

L-R, Iowa dental school Dean David Johnsen and former Dean John Montgomery

Iowa

Section Chair Fred Fuller reports hosting their annual PFA Luncheon last September during the University of Iowa's Alumni Weekend. The Luncheon was held at the Athletic Club on Friday, September 26. Dean David Johnsen gave a presentation regarding the plans for a building addition to the current dental school.

The University had suffered "considerable damage in the recent floods, and necessary repairs and changes were needed to be made before the school opened.

Following Alumni Weekend, PFA Fellows were asked to volunteer for the IMOM Program held on October 3-4, 2008, at the Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa.

The Iowa Section helped sponsor the freshman White Coat Ceremony last May.

At the annual PFA Dinner Meeting, Dr. LeRoy Strohman was honored as the Iowa PFA Dentist of the Year. Dr. Karen Baker, Associate Professor in Oral Pathology and Medicine Dept and in the clinical Pharmacy Division was presented the Allied Service Award. Dr. Michael Rovner, an orthodontist from Des Moines, was inducted as Iowa's newest Fellow by PFA International Vice President Steve Hedlund and Section Chair C. Frederick Fuller.

Condolences to the family upon the passing of Dr. Michael Leary.

Chairman C. Fred Fuller hosted their annual Homecoming Meeting on September 26 at the University of Iowa Athletic Club with featured speaker Dean David Johnsen of the University of Iowa School of Dentistry discussing the multi-million dollar dental school building transformation and how all of us can keep their outstanding dental school record top most in the country. In the past, the dental school facility had been constructed with expansion in mind for new technology and a changing landscape of dentistry. So Dean Johnsen now needed to add $30 million to the facial aspects and another $15 million to the internal technological upgrades. Also in attendance were PFA International Vice President Steve Hedlund, former Dean John Montgomery, and Iowa State Dental Association President.

Massachusetts

Dean-Emeritus Erling Johansen of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, a PFA Fellow, passed away last February after a long illness at the age of 84 in his native Norway. He was the longest serving Dean of this prestigious institution, where Dr. Robert Shira also served as Dean just before Dr. Johansen. Memorial Services were held last September in Merritt Auditorium on the Boston Campus of the dental school.

Erling Johansen was teaching high school in 1945 in his native Overhalla, Norway, when Tufts University Dental School invited 22 Norwegian students to become dentists. The Nazis had closed all the schools in Norway, and Tufts was part of a U.S. program to help get the beleaguered Scandinavian country running again.

Dr. Johansen graduated with his dental degree in 1949.

After serving for a year as lieutenant in the Norwegian Armed Forces Dental Corps in the Allied Occupation Army in Germany, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue doctoral studies at the Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. After completing his degree in pathology in 1955, Dr. Johansen was appointed to Chair of the Rochester Dept. of Dentistry and Dental Research. In 1966 Rochester named him the Margaret and Cy Welcher Professor of Dental Research.

Tufts University School of Dental Medicine was looking for a researching dentist to replace the retiring Dr. Robert Shira in 1979, and Dr. Johansen was selected. His first task was to establish the dental school in a four-year curriculum from its then three-year curriculum. This was not an easy task since the six-year-old dental school was built for a three-year program.

In 1994, Dr. Johansen received the Tufts University Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award as well as reached Distinguished Professor status. That year prominent alumnus Dr. Edward Becker donated the Erling Johansen Endowed Professorship in Dental Research.

He retired in 1995, 50 years to the date from when he arrived at Tufts, and had served 16.5 years as Dean at the 140-year-old institute. He was named Dean-Emeritus.

Dr. Johansen was a member of the ADA, of PFA and of ACD, IADR, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Massachusetts Dental Society. He loved fishing in the New York Finger Lakes, in Alaska, and in Europe. He enjoyed skiing.

He became chief fundraiser for the Scandinavian Charitable Society of Greater Boston and instrumental in founding the Scandinavian Living Center in West Newton, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Norumbega Lodge of the Sons of Norway, and in 2004 he was awarded the Sons of Norway District Lief Erikson Day Citation in recognition of his lifetime achievement.

Dr. Johansen is survived by his wife Inger and three sons Erling, of Alaska, Erik, of Australia, and Steven, of Norway.