Notable achievements in the College of Dentistry since 1982

1982—The Special Care Clinic opens to treat patients with medical or physical disabilities or other special needs.

1985—The college is one of eight U.S. dental schools to receive National Institutes of Health funding for its Dentist-Scientist Program. In 1990, it will be one of five U.S. dental schools to have its program renewed and the funding will be renewed again in 1996.

1985—The college becomes one of the first institutions in the United States to perform dental implant procedures.

1985—The world’s first oral health program is established in the college.

1986—The college creates the Center for Dental Clinical Studies to run clinical research testing of dental products from commercial manufacturers.

1991—A $2.2 million grant from the National Institute of Dental Research funds the college’s Clinical Core Center for Oral Health Research, the only center of its kind in the United States that focuses on geriatric patients and other patients at high risk for oral disease.

1996—The college’s student research program makes the college one of 14 schools to win the prestigious American Association of Dental Schools/William J. Gies Research Scholarship Award.

1998—The college’s Simulation Clinic is completed. The clinic has 80 modules for predoctoral training and continuing education, a technique laboratory, and a 40-seat electronic classroom.

1998—The American Dental Association honors the college’s Geriatric Mobile Unit with its top award for geriatric health care.

2000—The college receives a $2 million estate gift from B.F. Dewel, a 1925 graduate and former clinical instructor. It is used to create the first College of Dentistry endowed chair.

2001—The Hospital Dentistry Institute (an academic unit of the College of Dentistry) in University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics moves to a new 15,000-square-foot space. It provides dental care in oral and maxillofacial surgery, maxillofacial prosthetics, and orthodontics.

2001—The college’s Advanced Education in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Program becomes one of the first two accredited programs in the United States.

2002—The college establishes the UI Training Program in Oral Health Research after receiving a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. The grant will support training opportunities for predoctoral and postdoctoral students as well as junior and mid-level faculty.

2005—The college’s Muscatine Pediatric Dentistry Clinic opens with a grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust. Staffed by faculty members and senior dental students, the clinic treats children up to age 12 from Muscatine and Louisa counties in Iowa.

2006—During the University of Iowa Foundation’s “Good. Better. Best. Iowa” fund-raising campaign, the college raises $22 million for projects to “enhance education, strengthen research, and ultimately advance the dental profession.” During the campaign, 12 professorships are created, including an outright gift for a professorship and a future $2.5 million bequest from Dr. Bob Williams, 1973 graduate, and his wife, Jeri.

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