The 2025 Winner of the Esther Wilkins Lifetime Achievement Award Is Celebrated
Rebecca S. Wilder, RDH, MS, ICF-ACC, FAADH, a widely respected academician, author, and researcher to be honored at Dimensions’ Discovery EXPO.
Dimensions of Dental Hygiene, premier sponsor Colgate, and supporting sponsor Kettenbach are pleased to announce Rebecca S. Wilder, RDH, MS, ICF-ACC, FAADH, as the recipient of the 2025 Esther Wilkins Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wilder will be honored with a special cocktail reception on the evening of August 22 at the Hilton Anaheim Hotel in Anaheim, California, during the journal’s live event Dimensions’ Discovery EXPO. Her mentee and colleague Hadeel M. Ayoub, RDH, MSEd, PhD, MSDH, LDH, a senior research associate in Noblesville, Indiana, nominated Wilder. Former student, fellow educator, and longtime friend Jennifer Harmon, MS, RDH, a clinical associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Adams School of Dentistry, will introduce Wilder as the 2025 recipient.
With more than four decades of experience advancing the dental hygiene profession through education, research, mentorship, and leadership, Wilder is a passionate dental hygienist. She recently retired as the associate dean for professional development and faculty affairs at the UNC Adams School of Dentistry, where she supported faculty growth and promoted academic excellence. A former director of the Graduate Dental Hygiene Education Program at UNC, Wilder helped more than 120 students launch successful careers in academia, clinical practice, and industry. Under her leadership, the program became the first in the United States to accept international students, enabling dental hygienists from around the world to pursue advanced education and licensure.
Wilder has authored 90 peer-reviewed publications and 61 abstracts, and served as editor in chief of the Journal of Dental Hygiene from 2006 to 2020, shaping scholarship in the field. Her editorial contributions include co-editing the widely used textbook Dental Hygiene: Concepts, Cases, and Competencies and serving as a longtime member of Dimensions’ Editorial Advisory Board.
Her leadership extends to national and international organizations including the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, the American Dental Education Association, and the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). She is a past president of the IADR Oral Health Research Group and has played a key role in the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research and Practice. In 2019, Wilder expanded her expertise by earning a certificate in executive leadership coaching from Georgetown University.
Wilder also developed UNC’s formal mentoring program for faculty, earning national recognition. She has secured more than $2 million in grant funding and received multiple awards. Her enduring impact on dental hygiene is felt not only in classrooms and clinics, but also in the global community of professionals she has inspired and empowered.
Named after its inaugural recipient, the late dental hygiene leader Esther M. Wilkins, BS, RDH, DMD, the Esther Wilkins Lifetime Achievement Award is presented each year to recognize the distinguished career of an individual who has consistently contributed to the enrichment of the dental hygiene profession.
From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. July/August 2025;23(4):9.
