Dimensions Board Member Receives Prestigious Alumni Award

Ann Eshenaur Spolarich, RDH, PhD—Dimensions of Dental Hygiene Editorial Advisory Board member and renowned physiologist—was recently honored by her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, with the Penn Dental Medicine Alumni Society 2016 Alumni Award of Merit. The award was presented at the university in May. The Alumni Award of Merit is presented to an individual who demonstrates love and loyalty to Penn Dental Medicine, as well as excellence in the profession of dentistry and community involvement. Spolarich—a 1982 dental hygiene alumna—is the first dental hygiene graduate to receive the award since it was first presented in 1944.

Since graduating from Penn Dental Medicine, Spolarich has become a leader in the profession. She is a professor and the director of research at the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, A.T. Still University, in Mesa. She also serves as the university’s course director of clinical medicine and pharmacology. Dedicated to research, Spolarich is the associate director of the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research & Practice and works as an independent research and educational consultant, recognized for her expertise in the areas of pharmacology and the care of medically complex patients. Her many previous awards include two from the American Dental Hygienists’ Association for advancing the art and science of the profession and the Dental Hygiene Alumni Achievement Award and the Charlotte Sullivan Award from Penn.

From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. July 2016;14(07):16.