Dental World^®

PIERRE FAUCHARD ACADEMY

President’s Message

November/December • 2005

and to further the excellent communication levels between the Board of Trustees and the entire membership through the increased usage of e-mails, Internet vehicles, and Dental World, all capably led by our Editor, Dr. James Brophy, and our Web Master, Mr. Mark Stanley. Strong liaison between the Academy and the PFA Foundation, its grants, scholarships, and committed humanitarian aims, will be paramount in addition, so that the service ethic of the Academy continues to be met and grow. These are not mere promises—I will do all that I can to make them realities!

In Philadelphia, we adopted a streamlined version of the Committee Structure that was put in place to make it more efficient and responsive. Each Committee will receive a direct charge from me for their activities during 2005-2006. I will need to render two reports to the Board during this period. This is to insure that they are working for you as charged, as well as giving the Management Team an opportunity to review their functioning and to react to it in a timely fashion as the year unfolds. In addition, it is my intention to reach out to the membership and to seek out individuals who can serve in these capacities, as actual members of the committees or as consultants to them, when appropriate. You come first in the scheme of things, because without you, there is no PFA!

The Strategic Plan, as adopted by the Board of Trustees, will serve as the guiding principle for all of our efforts and is the basis for the goals I have set during my Presidential year. We shall continue to review it, re-prioritize it as deemed necessary, and make a living and functional document. I will welcome all ideas, suggestions, and critiques, no matter from what quarter they came. I have broad shoulders and will always remember that I am in this position of trust to serve you in every way possible. Please use my e-mail Howard.Mark1@comcast.net; my Fax (860/216-3003); my telephone (860/232-9486); or snail mail: 101 West Ridge Drive, West Hartford, Connecticut, 06117, to reach me—this is truly meant!

Thank you again for the high honor you have bestowed upon me. I will not let you down!

Philadelphia Marriott Hotel
7–9 October 2005

The Academy Board convenes

President Michael Perpich called the opening meeting to general session on Friday, 7 October 2005, with all the officers and trustees in attendance. Vice President William Winspear gave the Invocation. Secretary General Richard Kozal announced that a quorum was present and asked for approval of the agenda. With that start began three days of PFA Academy, Foundation, and Chair Caucus activities.

The Minutes from the March Executive Board Meeting (Management Team) were reviewed and approved by the Board.

President Perpich reviewed his year in office. Some of the highlights of his report were the compliments of our accountant, Dan Jonker, who stated that the PFA Management Team has made a very successful return to be operating in the black in a very short time span. President Perpich also discussed his visitations during his term. He attended the Foundation Meeting in Chicago, the PFA Gala in Montreal, the outstanding Georgia Section Weekend by Chair Karyn Stockwell, and Section Meetings in Oklahoma, the very successful Southern California Session, and tremendous Ohio gathering honoring Chair Al Uveges. He went on to thank everyone for making his year such a success.

Secretary General’s Report

The Central Office Computer is constantly being updated and refined to increase the database. The Web site, under Drs. Mike Perpich and Howard Mark, along with our Webmaster Mark Stanley is always being modified to facilitate your easier access in obtaining Academy and Foundation information. There have been few significant problems with our publisher, Elsevier Science, with inputting new data and producing our publications.

While the Central Office is still collecting straggling 2005 dues, the 2006 dues statements will be mailed in November. Along with the statement notice, the Academy is asking for a voluntary $20 donation for the Foundation. 2004 voluntary donations were at $35,785. A donation may be made with the same check as the dues payment and will be separated by the Central Office. As of October, all 2004 delinquent members will be dropped from the rolls after duly being notified. All Fellows paying the full dues are in the database for full services. Those not paying full dues, by the Board’s discretion, do not receive Dental World/Dental Abstracts. The Initiation Fee is still $150.00 U.S.

Twenty “Outstanding Dentist of the Year” plaques have been prepared for the requesting Sections, and eight retiring Section Chair plaques have been sent out.

While the Central Office sends out an introduction letter to all new Fellows, the Academy strongly recommends a local or Section Induction Ceremony to formally present the Fellowship ribbons, keys, and certificates.

Outstanding Dental Student certificates were mailed out for 71 requesting institutions including five to India and one to Ireland. More non-U.S. Sections can effectively make use of this certificate to introduce our Academy to the dental student body as they are graduating.

Secretary General’s Report cont'd

The letters requesting names for these certificates are mailed out with the Foundation’s request for a selected dental scholarship student. This has, at times, caused some confusion between the two awards. But the Board decided to continue the Academy award and still mail the two letters in the same envelope to save on costs.

There are currently 1374 Life Members who pay no dues. However, they all will be sent a request for a Foundation donation and asked if they wish to subscribe to Dental World/Dental Abstracts. Often, the Life Members fail to realize that once their status changes, they must forward a subscription fee, which is at cost, to continue to stay in touch with the Academy’s activities. The small fee merely covers the publication’s cost and mailing. Life Members may also choose to send in the full Fellowship dues and remain on the complete mailing list as they had been.

The Management Team (formerly the Executive Board) continues to hold quarterly conference phone calls to review the current financial condition and expenses of the Academy.

The annual Corporate Report has been filed in the State of Illinois. In Nevada, the Academy files a report as a foreign corporation.

The annual financial review by the independent accounting firm was completed last March. This document was forwarded to the Budget and Finance Committee Chairman and the PFA President. The report was very favorable as all the Academy’s accounts are in order.

The Fauchard Dental History Museum continues to grow with donated antique dental items. The Foundation has financially supported any costs involved. Before anyone starts sending the museum their old dental units, please contact Dr. Kozal to discuss this with him. The local media has printed many enthusiastic articles about our museum, and several schools, organizations, and visiting individuals have toured our exhibits. Last May, a local Las Vegas TV station featured the museum on their telecast.

The Central Office continues to send out monthly reports to all the officers on their 30-day activities.

All current invoices have been paid to 1 September 2005 except for the Philadelphia Meeting and the remaining Elsevier printing expenses.

Membership has been going up, and all the Board appreciates that. To date (as of 5 October), 455 new Fellows have been added to our rolls during the past year.

All the year’s financial statements and account reports have been included in the meeting packets distributed to the Board and Officers. Included in that packet are all the membership flow sheets and Fellowship geographic distribution statistics.

Budget & Finance
Committee Report

The Academy’s fiscal year runs from 1 January to 31 December. Prior to that time, the Committee, usually chaired by the Academy’s President-elect, is responsible for drawing up the next year’s budget based a great deal on the prior year’s financial report. In that year, the committee quarterly reviews the budget against the expenses to make sure the Academy is living within its means. Since none of those involved are particularly experts, our own hired accounting firm monitors all the numbers as well, and translates them into the proper forms and reports required by the various governing units and Board members. This is Dan Jonker & Associates. They handle our internal number crunching almost on a daily basis.

But our Constitution also requires that an outside accounting firm, independent of our internal accountant, review all our books and assets to insure to all our Fellows that our not-for-profit corporation is being run according to law. This firm is John D. Kopczyk, Ltd., of downtown Chicago, composed of all CPAs. This is then required to be published to the public in the newspaper where the Academy’s Central Office is located and placed on file with the District Court of Clark County, Nevada.

From this running process, the Committee can then draft a reasonable budget based on the prior year’s financial report, and the current finances monitored quarterly by the officers of the Academy. Thus, the FY 2006 Budget was submitted to the Board, discussed, and adopted.

Foundation Report

This is a condensation from the written report by the outgoing President, Carl Lundgren, discussing the status of its activities and expenditures for the past year. The PFA Foundation’s voting Board of Trustees for this Private Foundation is made up entirely of the past Presidents of the Academy who serve without pay and determine where the grant money should go. In our case, that is to dental scholarships and dental grants. The mechanics of doing all this is performed by their elected Executive Director, who is paid as the only part-time employee of the Foundation.

IRS requires that such Private Foundations must spend at least 5% of the total Fair Market Value of their assets. In the case of our Foundation, with assets of $7 million, the Board must spend about $350,000 and pay IRS 1% of those earnings. That means that the Foundation’s Treasurer and Budget & Finance Committee must invest the assets to generate over the 5% return required to comply with the law. The penalty for not doing this is actually two-fold: one, is to pay higher taxes on the money that is not spent to meet the requirement, and two, having to dip into the principal assets to do so, thus reducing the amount that can be invested.

A reputable outside investing firm, Bank of America Investments, Inc., is employed to best place our funds where we are able to generate such revenue.

In the past years, our holdings have been earning about 7%, mostly in bonds. So there was not much worry about compliance with the government requirements. However, with the current lower interest rates this year that we have had to accept after the bonds are turned over or called in, compliance has now become an issue. Bank of America Investments has vested us in a Manager’s Blend of diversified equities, but as more of our bond investments are converted at their deadlines, we could be in trouble of being able to offer grants at the present rate, paying more in taxes, and losing some principal in a dropping market.