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UM Dental School Receives the William J. Gies Award
for Vision

Presented by the ADEAGies Foundation

February 11, 2008—The ADEAGies Foundation will honor the University of Maryland Dental School for outstanding vision at the Gies Awards celebration to be held on March 29, 2008, in Dallas, Texas, in conjunction with the 85^th ADEA Annual Session.  The William J. Gies Awards for Vision, Innovation, and Achievement recognize contributions to and support of global oral health and education initiatives.

The Dental School was nominated for the award by Richard Ranney, DDS, MS, Professor Emeritus and former dean of the school. The nomination documents traced the history of the school from its original inception in 1840 as the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery through the present era. Specifically, Ranney states: “Complementing the Dental School’s consistent leadership vision, the building departed substantially from conventional architecture for dental educational facilities, bringing another new vision of an environment for dental education, research and the provision of care.” 

Current dean Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, will accept the award in March on behalf of the school. “This is a great honor for our institution. More than 150 years ago we had the vision to formalize dental education, and that visionary spirit still motivates us today,” says Stohler.

This year marks the inaugural award program, named after William J. Gies, a pioneer in dental education.  The 2008 honorees were selected by a distinguished panel of judges consisting of the ADEAGies Foundation Board of Trustees. For a complete listing of Gies Award winners, visit www.adeagiesfoundation.org.

University of Maryland Dental School

The University of Maryland Dental School is the direct descendant of the world's first dental college, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. The School's mission is to improve the quality of life in Maryland through education, research and service related to health, with special emphasis on improving dental, oral and craniofacial health through comprehensive education, research and service programs. The Dental School is Maryland's predominant provider of comprehensive and emergency oral health services for individuals of all ages, including the underserved and disadvantaged. Each year, more than 46,000 persons receive treatment at on-site clinics. In addition, the School is the largest provider of oral health care to persons living with HIV disease and Medicaid-eligible children in Maryland.

About The William J. Gies Foundation: The William J. Gies (pronounced guys) Foundation was established in 1950 by colleagues and admirers of Dr. Gies with seed funds raised by the American College of Dentists. It was a private foundation and the first U.S. foundation to support dental education and scholarship. In 2002, it joined with the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) to form ADEAGies Foundation, a public foundation.

About William J. Gies and the Gies Report: William Gies was a Columbia University biochemistry professor interested in dental education, science, and clinical applications. In 1926, as part of a series of studies on U.S. professional education funded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Dr. Gies published a landmark report that established the importance of dentistry as a healing science and an essential component of higher education in the health professions. The Gies Report, Dental Education in the United States and Canada, took five years to research and write. It consists of 250 pages of text and more than 400 pages of appendices, including lengthy descriptions and evaluations of the existing dental schools, each of which Dr. Gies visited. Since the Gies Report, there have been many other reports on dental education in the context of health professions education. However, Dental Education in the United States and Canada remains to this day the most relevant survey of dental education and critical issues within the field.

About ADEA: The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is the leading national organization for dental education. Its members include all U.S. and Canadian dental schools and many advanced dental education programs, allied dental education programs, corporations, faculty, and students. The mission of ADEA is to lead individuals and institutions of the dental education community to address contemporary issues influencing education, research, and the delivery of oral health care for the health of the public. ADEA’s activities encompass a wide range of research, advocacy, faculty development, meetings, and communications like the esteemed Journal of Dental Education, as well as the dental school admissions services AADSAS and PASS.