ANN ARBOR — With the end of a two-year, multi-million dollar renovation program to facilities in the Kellogg Building, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry caps 125 years of leadership in dental education and research at an anniversary celebration Sept. 8.

It will highlight the School’s pioneering roles in such areas as orthodontics and pediatric dentistry and will recognize three distinguished alumni – Dr. Robert W. Browne, Dr. Kenneth A. Easlick, and Dr. Samuel D. Harris – with the naming of facilities in their honor. Renovations to the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity Student Forum will also be celebrated.

When the College of Dental Surgery was founded in 1875, U-M was the first state supported university to offer an educational program to aspiring dentists. Training was largely technical. Graduate dental education programs did not exist. However, as dentistry has become an increasingly specialized and scientific profession during the past 125 years, the U-M School of Dentistry has made major research contributions and led the way in setting educational standards.

The Kellogg Building retains old doors, lighting fixtures, handrails and flooring at the Fletcher Street lobby entrance, but a new state-of-the-art lecture hall offers Internet connections for portable computers and a huge whiteboard that can display up to three, eight-foot projected images. A futuristic new glass-domed atrium, which can seat up to 225 people for banquets or other special events, also houses an expanded Gordon H. Sindecuse Dental Museum, named in honor of one of the School’s most generous benefactors.

The $13 million of renovations include three facilities named for distinguished alumni.

The Robert W. Browne Orthodontics Wing honors a 1952 dental school graduate. Dr. Browne practiced in Kalamazoo until 1957 when he returned to the U-M to earn his master’s degree in orthodontics. For the next 20 years he practiced in Grand Rapids. In 1962, he and Dr. Robert Richards, another School of Dentistry graduate, created Care Corporation which specialized in long-term care for the elderly. Later, it expanded into recreation and real estate, became a publicly held company, and was recognized as one of the 10 best managed companies in Michigan.

The orthodontics wing named for Dr. Browne has 34 chairs in an open clinic setting; new x-ray facilities, offices, conference rooms, and patient waiting room; offers expanded business and consultation areas; and an updated teaching laboratory.

The Kenneth A. Easlick Pediatric Dentistry Clinic recognizes an educator considered by many to be the father of pediatric dentistry. A 1928 dental school graduate, Dr. Easlick developed the School’s first teaching program in children’s dentistry. Eight years later, he received his master’s degree and developed the first graduate program in dental public health in the United States. In 1941, he was appointed to the faculty of the School of Public Health. In 1961, he became the first chairman of the Department of Health Development before retiring in 1963.

Dr. Easlick served as editor of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry until 1974 and contributed hundreds of articles to dental and dental health publications. He was the first to receive U-M’s Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award. In 1973, he was named Pedodontic Great by the American Society of Dentistry for Children. Dr. Easlick was 86 when he died in December 1979.

The pediatric dentistry clinic has 22 chairs in a semi-open clinic setting. The clinic also has two quiet rooms for children with special needs, a graduate studies seminar room, and clinical outcomes research facilities.

The Samuel D. Harris Children’s Dental Unit honors a dentist who has dedicated his professional and personal life to helping children. After emigrating to Canada from Kiev, Dr. Harris earned his dental degree from the U-M in 1924. The following year, he opened a private practice in pediatric dentistry in Detroit and practiced there until he retired in 1980.

In 1927, he helped found the American Society of Dentistry for Children. Six years later, he published the first issue of the Review of Dentistry for Children and served as its editor for 10 years.

In 1998, Dr. Harris received the highest honor the American Dental Association can bestow – the Distinguished Service Award. Last year, he was named one of “25 Dental Visionaries” by the American Student Dental Association. Recently, Dr. Harris helped establish an endowed collegiate professorship at the U-M School of Dentistry.

The Harris Children’s Dental Unit includes 10 chairs within the Kenneth A. Easlick Pediatric Dentistry Clinic; facilities for consultation among parents, doctors, and patients; clinics; and instrument storage areas.

On the ground floor of the dental building, the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity Student Forum gives students a place to relax or study and is also the site of many social and educational gatherings. Facilities have been improved and new telecommunications equipment has been installed.

Other building improvements include more spacious continuing dental education offices, improved registration facilities, and new offices and conference rooms. A major lecture room that seats up to 94 allows students and faculty to connect portable computers to the World Wide Web.

“This has truly been a banner year marked by a confluence of events,” said U-M School of Dentistry Dean William Kotowicz. “For 125 years, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry has been considered a pioneer and, to this day, we continue to be recognized by our peers in the oral health care profession as truly ‘the leaders and best.’ Our history, our new and improved facilities, our programs, faculty, students and staff have all set the stage for an exciting future,” he added.

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction train future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. More information is available on the Web at http://www.dent.umich.edu

U-M School of Dentistry Timeline:

1875 -The state legislature establishes a College of Dental Surgery at the

University of Michigan. The first class was 20 students, taught by 3 faculty members.

1880 -The first two women graduate from the College of Dental Surgery.

1890 -The College of Dental Surgery becomes the first dental school to provide

graduate dental education.

1910 -Dr. Russell Bunting begins research on the cause and control of caries

(cavities).

1921 -Dental hygiene curriculum established. First Master of Science degree

conferred.

1922 -U-M becomes the first dental school to offer graduate training in

orthodontics leading to a Master of Science degree.

1927 -Name of School changed to The School of Dentistry from The College of

Dental Surgery.

1938 -W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the School develop plans to construct a

building specifically for postgraduate dental instruction. Construction begins the following year.

1938 -Dr. Kenneth Easlick develops the nation’s first graduate program in dental

public health.

1945 -School of Dentistry collaborates with city officials in Grand Rapids to

launch a water fluoridation program that ushers in one of the most successful public health projects in history.

1957 -Plans announced to build a new dental building to be linked to the Kellogg

Building.

1965 -School investigators make first orthodontic field expedition to ancient

Nubia (Egypt).

1966 -Ground broken for construction of new dental building. The project is the

largest building contract in U-M history, approximately $17.3 million.

1967 -Dental Research Institute established. It’s one of five in the nation funded

by the National Institute of Dental Research.

1971 -School of Dentistry building on North University Ave. formally dedicated.

1972 -School begins summer dental community outreach clinics in Adrian and

Stockbridge Michigan.

1973 -Summer migrant dental clinic begins in Traverse City area.

1976 -School researchers receive international recognition for discovering a

3,000 year-old Royal Egyptian mummy (Queen Tiy, circa 1397-1360 B.C.). School of Dentistry lab tests confirm her identity.

1977 -School recognized by Student National Dental Association for having the

highest enrollment of black students.

1991 -Black Dentistry in the 21st Century conference takes place at the School

of Dentistry.

1995 -School, American Dental Association, Michigan Dental Association, and

City of Grand Rapids conduct International Fluoridation Symposium marking the 50th anniversary of water fluoridation.

1998 -Kellogg Building renovations begin.

1999 -School expands annual Table Clinic, a half-day event, to a full-day event

celebrating research at the School and renames the program Research Table Clinic Day.

1999 -School awards first two doctorates (in oral health sciences).

2000 -School of Dentistry is the first in the nation to host the Scientific Frontiers

in Clinical Dentistry program. The two-day event attracts more than 1,500 dentists from across the country.

2000 -School announces five new community partnerships to provide oral health

care services to the underserved across Michigan.