Learn more about our past Gold Medal Awardees....

2017 Gold Medal Award Recipient:

John C. Kois, DMD

President Feder presenting the Gold Medal Award to Dr. Kois at the 81st Annual Awards Luncheon

2016 Gold Medal Award Recipient:

Carol G Summerhays, DDS

Dr. Summerhays graduated from the University of San Francisco with a B.S. in Biology and earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the Ostrow School of Dentistry at the University of Southern California in 1978. She attended dental school on a full scholarship through the Armed Forces Health Professions program.

Dr. Summerhays served four years on active duty in the Navy Dental Corps and 11 years of inactive duty rising to the rank of Lieutenant. She started full time private practice in 1982.

Some of her past positions include past president of the California Dental Association, Board member of The Dentists Insurance Company as well as the CDA Foundation. She has held positions with the Academy o

f General Dentistry and was a Board member for 10 years at the Pankey Institute. Dr. Summerhays served as the Thirteenth District trustee of the American Dental Association. ADA committee appointments include Compensation, Governance, Pension, and the FDI delegation. ADA trustee liaison appointments include the New Dentist Committee, the Council on Government Affairs, and the Council on Members Insurance and Retirement Programs. Dr. Summerhays served as an at-large member of the Strategic Planning Committee for four years with an additional two years as trustee, and as a national advisor to the ADA Institute for Diversity. She is a fellow of the American College of Dentistry, the International College of Dentistry, the Academy of Dentistry International, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. Additionally, she earned a Master in the  Academy of General Dentistry and the AGD LLSR Lifelong Learning and Service Recognition Award.

In San Diego, Dr. Summerhays was honored in 2010 by the Salvation Army as one of the “Women of Dedication—Portraits in Philanthropy” and by the Girl Scouts as one of “San Diego’s 10 Cool Women.” She and her husband of 32 years, Soames, have two sons, Giles and Bryce.

President Schafhauser presenting the Gold Medal Award to Dr. Summerhays at the 80th Annual Awards Luncheon

2015 Gold Medal Award Recipient:

Henry A Gremillion, DDS

Dr. Henry A. Gremillion is a 1977 graduate of Louisiana State University School of Dentistry. He maintained
a private general dental practice in Cottonport, Louisiana from 1977 to 1989. He then completed a two-year Fellowship in Craniofacial Pain and Dysfunction at the University of Florida College of     Dentistry under the mentorship of Dr. Parker E. Mahan.

While at the University of Florida College of Dentistry he served as director of the Parker E. Mahan  Facial Pain Center and directed a fellowship program in orofacial pain from 1992–2008 and was on  the active dental staff of Shands Teaching Hospital during that period. He also held the P.E. Mahan  Endowed Professor in Orofacial Pain in the Department of Orthodontics and held an affliate  appointment in the Department of Prosthodontics at the UFCD. He was honored as the University of  Florida Blue Key Distinguished Faculty in 2007. While at UFCD he was honored as   Teacher of the Year on multiple occasions.

Dr. Gremillion received the Florida Dental Association Faculty of the Year Award in 2002 and 2006. American College of Dentists Florida Sections presented him the Jose Medina Faculty Award in 2001 and 2007. He is the recipient of the 2008 Academy of General Dentistry’s Thaddeus V. Weclew Award for contributions to the art and science of dentistry. He received the Dawson Academy Career Service Award in February 2009 and the American Academy of Orofacial Pain Career Service Award in April 2010.

In October 2008 he was named Dean of Louisiana State University School of Dentistry and is the E.E. Jeansonne Endowed Professor of Lifelong Learning.

He serves or has served as a consultant in the field of temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain for the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, ADA Council on Dental Practice, and the Comprehensive Dentistry Program at UFCD. He also serves or has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, Journal of Craniomandibular Practice, and Journal of the Academy of General Dentistry. He has lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad and has authored/co-authored numerous scientific articles, abstracts, and book chapters. His research interests include temporomandibular disorders, bruxism, and psychosocial aspects of orofacial pain. His major clinical interest is the diagnosis and management of orofacial pain. 

The Pierre Fauchard Academy is pleased to add Dr. Henry Gremillion to the list of distinguished recipients of the Gold Medal Award.

2014 Gold Medal Award Recipient: 

Dr. Connie M. Verhagen

Dr.Verhagen graduated from the University of Michigan with her DDS degree in 1986 and also completed her Masters of Science in Pediatric Dentistry in 1988 at the University of Michigan.  

Dr. Verhagen Co-chaired Michigan’s first Mission of Mercy (MOM) event in Saginaw in 2013 and was a Lead for the 2014 MOM event in Big Rapids. She is a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists. Dr. Verhagen served on the American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs, which led her to author numerous articles on amalgam in wastewater, the utilization of separators in the dental office and guides for hazardous waste.  She has testified before the US Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the US Small Business Administration and the US House of Representative on matters relating to ergonomic standards, OSHA regulations, and regulatory reforms.  She also lectures on these topics at local and state dental meetings as well as American Dental Association meetings bringing clarity to regulatory rules and helping dentists navigate the complicated world of government regulation.

2013 Gold Medal Award Recipient:

Dr. Peter E. Dawson

Dr. Dawson is known all over the world for contributions in the field of occlusion and restorative dentistry and for his concepts on diagnosis and treatment of TM disorders. He is the author of the all-time best selling dental textbook, Evaluation, Diagnosis and Treatment of Occlusal Problems, which is published in 13 languages.  Peter E. Dawson, DDS, a graduate of Emory University, has been referred to as “Dentistry’s contemporary iconic legend”.

Dr. Dawson’s CV is formidable.  He is the founder of the “Concept of Complete Dentistry Seminar Series” as well as the Dawson Academy, a renowned training center that has provided continuing dental education courses for dental professionals for more than 30 years.  Dr. Dawson has lectured extensively worldwide as a featured clinician, served as a visiting professor at universities and presided as president of three national dental academies. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the American Prosthodontic Society Gold Medal for Lifetime Contributions to Prosthetic Dentistry, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Emory University, the Thomas P. Hinman Distinguished Service Medal, the Christian Dental Associations President’s Heritage Award and the Academy of General Dentistry’s most prestigious honor, the Thaddeus V. Weclew Award for dedication to education and commitment to comprehensive dental care. 

Dr. Dawson is a true servant leader; his inspirational, unselfish contributions to dentistry are exceptional.  His mission to teach dentists the foundational principles and associated procedures needed to solve patients’ problems predictably has remained the same over the last 50 years as he has motivated countless general dentists helping them to be better “physicians of the masticatory system” and see incredible results in their own practices.  A compilation of Dr. Dawson’s lifelong passions can be observed in his formation of the Dawson Foundation in partnership with the Christian Dental Association to support dental education and dental outreach programs worldwide to help the less fortunate. Dr. Dawson stresses the importance of integrity, excellence and predicable results in patient care and his passion is encouraging health professionals to lead balanced lives.

2012 Gold Medal Award Recipient:

Dr. Terry Tanaka

Terry T. Tanaka, DDS, graduated from the University of Southern California, School of Dentistry in 1962 and has been a Clinical Professor at USC in Graduate Prosthodontics for over 35 years. He is a member of the Pacific Coast Society of Prosthodontics, and as a Diplomat of the American Board of Orofacial Pain he maintained a prosthodontic and orofacial pain practice for over 45 years and served as an Examiner for the California State Board of Dental Examiners for 10 years. Active as an educator and researcher, his educational DVDs are used in over 85 dental schools and graduate surgery programs in the US and abroad. He donates all of his speaker honoraria to a Non-Profit Foundation for education and charitable endeavors. In 1983 he helped found one of the largest humanitarian teams in the USA to treat the indigent children of Mexico with cleft lip and palate deformities with the help of Pierre Fauchard Foundation Grants. He continues to support other teams in the USA, Central America, Laos and Tibet, and has been a grateful member of the Pierre Fauchard Academy since the 1960s. 

All Past Recipients