Access the Retrospective Issue
Testimonial Excerpts
There are times in one’s life that you can be so tunnel-minded that you can miss the moment. Those are the times when others will support you and guide you by removing your blinders and expanding your vision to see the path to enlightenment.
Many of us are fortunate enough to be where we are today because of just those circumstances; we were able to leverage the guidance and generosity of our teachers and mentors. There is not a day in my professional and personal life that I do not feel the influence of my experience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine graduate program of Periodontics and Periodontal Prosthesis. There, under the watchful guidance of men and women who were truly titans in the profession, I was not only taught how to diagnose and treat the challenges of dentistry but how to diagnose and treat the challenges of life.
Jonathan Richter, DDS, FAGD
Penn Periodontal Prosthesis Class of ‘92
In 1977, Dr. Morton Amsterdam was presented with the Alpha Omega Achievement Medal, awarded to individuals or organizations that are outstanding for their contributions to dentistry or its allied professions. I am the current International President of the Alpha Omega International Dental Society, but I was lucky to have been a dental student at the University of Pennsylvania from 1979 until 1983 and the first woman president of the Beta chapter of Alpha Omega. I was able to invite Dr. Amsterdam to several of our student events, and he, along with our Dean, Dr. D. Walter Cohen, a 1973 Alpha Omega Achievement Medal awardee, graciously accepted. Little did we know as dental students that we were in the midst of giants. Dr. Amsterdam and Dr. Cohen started the Periodontal Prosthesis program at Penn Dental in 1957 and generations of students have subsequently learned from professors whom they trained in the art and science of dentistry. We had no idea how lucky we were. Of course, now we do—and we appreciate our amazing education.
Gail Schupak, DMD
Penn Dental Class of ’83
International President,
Alpha Omega Dental Society