Distinguished Alumnus Award
Requirements
Both dental and dental hygiene graduates of the WVU School of Dentistry are eligible for this award.
Recipients must be current, active members of the School of Dentistry Alumni Association.
Outstanding service acceptable for consideration of this award includes reputation and formal recognition attained by the nominee within professional, political and public groups.
Deadline for nomination is December.
Eligibility
Eligibility will usually require some history in at least two of the three areas listed below:
- Election or appointment to positions in state or national groups (requiring major responsibilities), honorary memberships in state or national groups, the American College of Dentistry, and/or the International College of Dentists.
- Recipient of awards for service and contributions to professional and public areas.
- Scholarly development and attainment by advanced and honorary degrees, advancement to senior ranks in academic appointments, multiple professional presentations of scientific merit, and/or multiple publications in professional journals.
Nomination and Election Procedures
- Criteria given above should be printed periodically in the Alumni Bulletin.
- Nominations should be delivered to the Secretary‑Treasurer.
- Nominations will be reviewed by the awards committee.
- Nominations will be returned by the committee to the Board of Governors with recommendations.
- Final approval for the award is made by the Board of Governors.
- The Secretary will confirm “special requirements” before completing arrangements.
History of recipients
- Norton P. Smith ‘77 May 3, 1985
- Nathaniel Kennedy ‘61 May 2, 1986
- Jimelle Farris Rumburg ‘75H May 1, 1987
- Frank Stevens ‘62 April 29, 1988
- A. Ed Skidmore ‘66 April 27, 1990
- Sam V. Holroyd ‘61 April 26, 1991
- Christina DeBiase ‘77H April 28, 1995
- David A. Whiston ‘65 April 26, 1996
- David T. Puderbaugh ‘64 April 25, 1997
- Edward E. Herschaft ‘70 May 1, 1998
- Errol Reese ‘63 May 1, 1998
- Gary Hartwell ‘66 April 30, 1999
- David Myers ‘65 April 30, 1999
- Everett Bowling ‘75 April 28, 2000
- James E. Valentine ‘75 April 28, 2000
- Carol Spear ‘69H April 27, 2001
- James J. Caveney ‘68 April 27, 2001
- Brad W. Neville ’77 May 3, 2002
- David C. Fogarty ’68 May 2, 2003
- John M Wright, Jr. ’73 May 2, 2003
- Robert S. Raynes ’73 April 30, 2004
- William R. McCutcheon ‘63 April 22, 2005
- Robert L. Wanker ’70 April 28, 2006
- Ronald D. Jackson ’72 April 21, 2007
- David C. Funderburk ‘73 April 21, 2007
- Robert H. Hornbrook ’68 April 25, 2008
- Charles L. Smith ’83 April 25, 2008
- Clara M. Spatafore ’84 April 24, 2009
- Harold H. Reed ’70 April 23, 2010
- Michael D. Medovic ‘80 April 23, 2010
- Shelia S. Price '86 April 29, 2011
- David H. Walker '71 April 29, 2011
- Gregory Lacy ’77 April 26, 2012
- Richard D. Smith ’77 April 26, 2012
- Cathryn Frere '72H April 26, 2012
- Louise Veselicky ’88 April 26, 2013
- David Edwards ’73 April 26, 2013
- Daniel Joseph ’78 April 26, 2013
- Jay Dyer ’69 April 25, 2014
- James Courrier ’70 April 24, 2015
- H. Richard Marshall ’70 April 24, 2015
- Stephen Pachuta ’81 April 24, 2015
- James Szarko ’76 April 22, 2016
- Dawn Ann Dean ’92 MSDH April 28, 2017
- Michael Meador ’77 April 28, 2017
- C. Richard Gerber’83 April 27, 2018
- Laura Aliff ‘82H April 27, 2018
- Mark Kilcollin ’74 April 26, 2019
- Melissa Suann Gaydos ’88H April 26, 2019
- Dawn Yost '78H April 26, 2019
- Larry Keith Hildebrand '80, '84 April 2020
(Due to COVID-19 restrictions, award given virtually in April 2021) - David Bridgeman '80 April 2021 (given virtually)
- Michelle Klenk '85 March 25, 2022
- Amy Funk '97 March 25, 2022
- Les Bakos '75 March 25, 2022
- Bill Queen '74 March 25, 2022
- Tom Leslie '80 March 25, 2022
- John B. Wilfong '62, April 21, 2023
- Susan K. Morgan '77 H, '88 DDS, April 21, 2023
- Karen Avey '84 H, April 21, 2023
- Mark Byron '81, '94, April 21, 2023