Dental Hygienist Receives Gies Award, Dental Educator

Amy E. Coplen, RDH, MS, received the William J. Gies Award for Vision, Innovation and Achievement, Dental Educator, on March 19, 2018, during the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Coplen is the co-associate dean of interprofessional education and the codirector of the program in interprofessional practice, education, and research at the Pacific University School of Dental Hygiene Studies in Forest Grove, Oregon. She has been with Pacific University since 2009, and worked previously at the University of Michigan, School of Dentistry in Ann Arbor as an instructional designer in its Dental Informatics Department, where she developed online patient simulations for genetics education. Coplen also has clinical experience. Presenting nationally across the United States, she is a member of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, ADEA, and Sigma Phi Alpha, the National Dental Hygiene Honor Society. Coplen was honored for her creative approach to teaching and her leadership in assessing the need for public health-oriented oral health.

The Gies Awards—named for scientist, educator, innovator, visionary, and pioneer William J. Gies, PhD—recognize significant contributions to oral health and dental education.

Nine other Gies Awards were given at the meeting. They are:

• Alpha Omega-Henry Schein Cares Holocaust Survivors Oral Health Program, Gies Award for Achievement
• Canise Y. Bean, DMD, MPH, the Ohio State
• David W. Chambers, EdM, MBA, PhD, University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, Gies Award for Achievement—Dental Educator
• Jack Gerrow, DDS, MS, MEd, Cert Pros, The National Dental Examining Board of Canada, Gies Award for Innovation—Dental Educator
• Lorne Golub, DMD, MSc, Honorary MD, Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine, Gies Award for Innovation—Dental Educator
• Louisiana State University Health New Orleans School of Dentistry, Gies Award for Vision—Academic Dental Institution
• University of Florida Gainesville College of Dentistry in Comprehensive Training Program in Oral Biology, Gies Award for Achievement—Academic Dental Institution
• University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, Center for Patients with Special Needs, Gies Award for Innovation—Academic Dental Institution
• Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry/Virginia Dental Association Foundation, Gies Award for Vision

From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. April 2018;16(4):13.