The School of Dentistry at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans has been selected as the inaugural academic dental institution recipient of the William J. Gies Award for Outstanding Innovation. The award will be presented by the ADEAGies Foundation at a black-tie celebration on March 29, 2008 in conjunction with the 85th American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Annual Session at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas. Named after William J. Gies, a pioneer in dental education, the William J. Gies Awards for Vision, Innovation, and Achievement recognize contributions to and support of global oral health and education initiatives.
The LSUHSC School of Dentistry is being honored for its innovation in rebuilding dental education in the State of Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, a critically important endeavor as the LSUHSC School of Dentistry is the only dental school in the state. Flooding caused by the failure of federally built levees inundated the dental school’s New Orleans campus for weeks, necessitating its relocation to Baton Rouge. With help from the national dental community and Louisiana State University, LSUHSC dental faculty, staff and students rebuilt a dental school almost from scratch in old former research buildings next to a cow pasture on LSU’s South Campus. Facilities included two state-of-the-art teaching clinics, an oral surgery suite, as well as lecture rooms and laboratories. Classes resumed mere weeks after the disaster for students in the DDS, dental hygiene and dental laboratory technology programs, along with clinical rotations, so students and residents graduated on schedule, on time.
The Gies Awards are presented by the ADEAGies Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Dental Education Association. For more than 50 years, the ADEAGies Foundation has enhanced the oral health of the public through programs that support dental education, research, leadership, and recognition. For a complete listing of Gies Award winners, visit www.adeagiesfoundation.org.
About the School of Dentistry at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans:
One of LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans’ six health professions schools, the School of Dentistry is Louisiana’s only dental school. It educates about 75% of the dental professionals practicing in the state and is home to the state’s only research center for oral health – The Center of Excellence in Oral & Craniofacial Biology. The dental school is a primary provider of continuing education and forensic dental services to police and emergency personnel in Louisiana and Mississippi, including heading up the Dental DMORT Unit which processed more than 1,000 victims of the flooding following Katrina. Additional information and important phone numbers are available at the LSUHSC School of Dentistry website at www.lsusd.lsuhsc.edu.
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 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.