In this edition of the Explorer, we recognize, honor and thank the many people who give so generously of their time, energy and resources each year to make the UMKC School of Dentistry the very best that it can be. Over 1,300 alumni and friends supported our annual campaign this past year. Together, they contributed over $1.5 million to the School of Dentistry and Rinehart Foundation. Thank you, these gifts made it possible for the School of Dentistry to:

Two of our alumni in particular have my appreciation, Drs. Dan Blackwell and Don Thompson, for leading the Campaign for Orthodontic Excellence, raising to date nearly $600,000 in gifts and pledges to renovate and modernize the orthodontics clinic. Sixty-five of their orthodontic colleagues have already given generously and more gifts are expected. Congratulations on an outstanding effort.

Drs. James Dryden, Grant Merritt, James Kulild and Robert Altomare are to be congratulated as well for leading a successful campaign to launch an advanced education program in endodontics. 

The career achievements of Dr. Roger Rupp of Winfield, Kan. , honored in October by the UMKC Alumni Association as its Alumnus of the Year Award winner for 2002, deserve recognition. A past president of the Kansas Dental Association, Dr. Rupp was the visionary and driving force behind the creation of one of the most innovative dental hygiene programs in the nation — the distance education program at Colby, Kan. A true social entrepreneur, Dr. Rupp identified the need, brought together a broad-based coalition of partners to develop a solution, raised the money necessary to make it happen, and put together a team for implementation. It required intelligence, outstanding interpersonal and political skills, and above all persistence. Thankfully for the State of Kansas , Dr. Rupp has all three in abundance. We salute his achievement and note that it is merely one in a long list of career accomplishments. Congratulations, Roger.

I also want to honor a preeminent member of our faculty on the occasion of his retirement, Dr. Charles Madison Cobb, professor of periodontics. Dr. Cobb, who holds a Ph.D. in anatomy and histology from Georgetown University as well a D.D.S. and perio certificate from UMKC, joined our faculty full-time in 1979 after a very successful career in private practice. An award-winning teacher, a prolific scholar and author, an alumni leader and philanthropist, and a tireless volunteer and civic leader, Dr. Cobb has been an extraordinary presence on our faculty. He's received the Elmer Pierson Award for Teaching, the Alumnus of the Year Award and the University of Missouri Presidential Citation for Outstanding Alumni Service. Thank you and congratulations, Charles, on an exceptional career and a lifetime of service and achievement. You have made us proud.

Finally, I'm extending my thanks as well to the dedicated and talented faculty and staff of the UMKC School of Dentistry. I have spent the last 35 years of my life in academic dentistry and have traveled as president of the American Dental Education Association and vice chair of the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation all over the United States and Europe assessing dental schools. I am proud to say that to my knowledge there is nowhere on this planet a group of people so committed, so competent and so wonderful to work with as the faculty and staff of UMKC.

In the last edition of the Explorer I reported that the financial woes of the State of Missouri had created some serious hardships for the University of Missouri System and its constituent units. The School of Dentistry is no exception. To compensate for the loss of funds arising from this state of affairs, we have asked more of our faculty and staff than ever before. It has been difficult to do so, but we have had no choice.

I cannot adequately express my thanks for the way they have responded. Except simply to say, we have a truly remarkable group of people here and I am extremely proud to work with them.

Best wishes.

Michael J. Reed, B.D.S., Ph.D.

Explorer Fall 2002 Index