June 2009

In the last 6 weeks our Faculty continues to remain very active and I believe will need to slow down somewhat if only to catch our breath a bit before we prepare for the 2009/2010 academic year.

We continue to remain very active on all fronts - a few noteworthy events and accomplishments are as follows:

Congratulations to Professor Cara Tax on her promotion to Assistant Professor and joining our Faculty as a full-time tenure track member of the School of Dental Hygiene.

Congratulations to Professor Terry Mitchell as incoming President of the Dalhousie Faculty Association.

I would officially like to welcome Dr. John Lovas as the new Assistant Dean, Students.  I look forward to working with John and furthering our initiatives with students and student officers of the Faculty.

Last Tuesday we officially acknowledged the retirement of two outstanding members in this Faculty - Ms. Mary Wile of the Division of Oral Pathology and Dr. Joe Murphy, Assistant Dean, Students and member of the Department of Dental Clinical Sciences.  We extend our heart-felt appreciation for their contributions to the Faculty over the years and wish them happiness and good health as they begin the next chapter of their lives.

Congratulations are extended to Dr. Song Lee as he has accepted the position of Acting Chair of the Department of Applied Oral Sciences as Mark steps down for his sabbatical leave.

Congratulations to Dr. Mary McNally as Acting Assistant Dean, Research.
I look forward to working with both this coming year and thank you for agreeing to accept the responsibility of these very important positions.

Kudos to Dr. Robin Howell - his sabbatical leave has been approved by the Board of Governors for the period of July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010.

Congratulations to Dr. Phil Amys, Dr. Darrell West and Dr. Martin Gillis on their promotion to Assistant Professor in the Department of Dental Clinical Sciences.

I would like to officially welcome Dr. Ferne Kraglund who will join us on July 1st as our Public Health Dentist in the Department of Dental Clinical Sciences.  Ferne is a former student and part-time faculty member.

Dr. Daniel Boyd has accepted the position as our new Biomaterials Scientists.  David will join us March 1, 2010.

Special Kudos to Ms. Sandy Mansfield of the School of Biomedical Engineering as the recipient of the 2009 Rosemary Gill Award for outstanding service to students.
 
Mr. Bruce Friis, Dental Lab staff member, was awarded the Bachelor of Arts in English at May convocation. Ms. Lana Ein, Dental Lab staff member was awarded the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at May convocation.

Congratulations to Dr. David Precious- he received the Dr. Philip S. Christie Award of Distinguished Service (2009).  This award is given to a dentist to recognize outstanding service to the profession of dentistry, either for a single outstanding contribution for sustained serve for not less than 15 years.

Congratulations to Dr. Mark Filiaggi as “President Elect” for the Canadian Biomaterials Society at the May meeting.  His presidential term will start in May 2010.

Congratulations to Dr. Debora Matthews as the recipient of the Nova Scotia Dental Association Volunteer of the Year Award.  This annual award recognizes exemplary service in the line of internal volunteerism in NSDA Committees.

On the research side I would like to acknowledge Dr. Matthews on the feature article and cover story of the Halifax Magazine.  I agree with the headline on the cover,  “Researchers like Dr. Debora Matthews are making big breakthroughs in Halifax.”  In that same edition Dr. Joanne Clovis and Dr. Mary McNally are featured with Dr. Matthews as panelists discussing senior citizens and oral health care.  Well done!

Congratulations to Dr. Alister MacLeod, a former faculty member, as recipient of the Nova Scotia Dental Association Service Award.  This award is in recognition for outstanding non-dental related community service.

I also know there are many other outstanding contributions and I want you to know that as a Faculty how proud we are and are honored to have each of you as a member of our Faculty of Dentistry family.

I want to draw your attention to my memo on the “Wall Mural”.  I believe this is an opportunity for us to “Tell Our Story”.  Please contribute to the blog and give us your suggestions, images, ideas, etc.  Be a part of the “Faculty of Dentistry Family Story”.

In closing, I would like to give a plug for our New Outreach Clinic which will start in July.  This clinic is a creation of the efforts of Dr. Chris Lee and Dr. April Nason to reach out to a vulnerable population and provide emergency care and basic dental needs for our refugee population.  Operation Outreach will start on July 10th and hopefully provide this service on a monthly basis and with future funding, we hope to see this service expand.  I know it is a beginning and we have the right faculty to make this another Faculty of Dentistry Success Story.  Good luck Chris and April.

I wish everyone a safe and happy summer.  I look forward to 2009/2010 with continued enthusiasm and optimism.  Thank you!.