
Thomas Evans Achievement Award
The Thomas Evans Achievement Award, Penn Dental Medicine Alumni Society’s highest award of recognition, honors alumni who have shown innovation, excellence and leadership in the profession of oral health care nationally and internationally.
2024 Cecile Feldman, C’80, D’84, GD’85, WG’85 |
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2023 Thomas R. Tempel, D’63 |
2022 Anne Koch, D’77 GD’93 |
2021 Myron Allukian, Jr., D’64 |
2020 Daniel Fine, D’65 |
2019 Peter D. Quinn, D’74, GD’78 |
2018 David Garber, GD’78, D’81 |
2017 Adam Stabholz, GD’78 |
2016 Robert J. Genco, GD’67, GR’67 |
2015 Robert Schattner, D’48 |
2014 Thomas Sollecito, D’89, GD’91 |
2006 Jay S. Seibert, D’53 |
2000 James L. Ackerman, D’60 |
1998 J. Daniel Subtelny, D’47 |
1997 Harold E. Boyer, D’52 GD’58 |
1994 D. Walter Cohen, C’47 D’50 |
1993 Morton Amsterdam, C’45 D’45 |
Alumni Award of Merit
The Alumni Award of Merit recognizes love for and loyalty to the School of Dental Medicine, excellence in the profession of dentistry, and community involvement. The award is given annually by the Penn Dental Medicine Alumni Society to those graduates who have maintained their ties with the School through their support of alumni activities, demonstrated leadership in the dental profession, and fostered and maintained the ideals that the School of Dental Medicine has stood for since its founding.
Maria Perno Goldie, a 1971 dental hygiene graduate of Penn Dental Medicine, has been a leader in advancing dental hygiene and oral health overall. A respected researcher, author, and speaker, she served as President of the International Federation of Dental Hygienists (2010-2013) and also led the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) as President (1997-98). Goldie is a graduate of the 2004-2006 fellowship of the California Health Care Foundation’s (CHCF) Health Care Leadership Program, administered by the Center for Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco. She is currently a member of The Oral Cancer Foundation Registered Dental Hygienist Advisory Board and part of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Dental Hygiene and the International Journal of Dental Hygiene.
Goldie has also served on the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Smoking Cessation Leadership Center and the National Women’s Health Resource Center (NWHRC), Women’s Health Advisory Council. She has been recognized with the University of Pennsylvania Dental Hygiene Alumni Achievement Award (1999), the Pfizer/ADHA Award for Excellence in Dental Hygiene (2003), and the ADHA Alfred C. Fones Award from (2011), and was the first recipient of the Ann Battrell Visionary Legacy Award in 2024. She also was awarded the inaugural Distinction in Service Award from the International Federation of Dental Hygienists in 2016 and received an ADHA Presidential Citation in 2018.
Dr. Nipul Tanna, Associate Professor of Clinical Orthodontics at Penn Dental Medicine, has been part of the Penn Dental Medicine community since earning his DMD here in 1990, after which he went on to complete an Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency (1992), the combined Orthodontics/Periodontics program (2010), and MS in Oral Biology (2011). He joined the Penn Dental Medicine faculty in 1994, teaching as part of the Department of Preventive & Restorative Sciences through 2005 and then as part of the Department of Orthodontics (2013 – present). He is a board-certified diplomate in both orthodontics and periodontics.
Along with teaching at the predoctoral and postdoctoral levels, he has held numerous leadership roles, including serving as Associate Chair of the Department of Orthodontics (2022-2024), Program Director of the combined Orthodontics/Periodontics graduate dental education program (2011-present), and Clinical Co-Director, Department of Orthodontics (2020 – present). He has also been a practicing orthodontics and periodontics clinician in the Penn Dental Family Practice since 2010 and was a general dental care provider in the School’s practice from 1992-2010. Among active membership in a wide variety professional and scientific societies, he is a Board Member of the Academy of Osseointegration Foundation Continuing Education Oversight Committee and a Council Member of the College of Diplomates of The American Board of Orthodontics.
2024 Joy Abt, D’94 Betty Peebles, DH’59 |
2023 Howard P. Fraiman, D’911, GD’93, GD’94 Gail Schupak, D’83 |
2022 Charlene Jennings Fenster, DH’75 Frank Smithgall, C’79 D’83 |
2021 Muralidhar Mupparapu, D’96 Scott DeRossi, D’95 GD’97 |
2020 Tony Saito, D’95 Eric Stoopler, D’99, GD’02 |
2019 Peter Greco, D’79, GD’84 Najeed Saleh, D’94 |
2018 Lee Carrasco, GD’02 Heywood Kotch, D’77 Farideh Madani, GD’78, GD’80, D’84 Margrit Maggio, D’87 |
2017 Harold Baumgarten, D’77, GD’82 Robert Summers, C’61, D’65, GD’67 |
2016 Jeffrey S. Ingber, GD’71, GD’72 Ann Eshenaur Spolarich, DH’82 |
2015 Olivia Sheridan, D’90, GD’92 Robert Vanarsdall, Jr., GD’72 |
2014 David Shen, D’79, GD’81 David Tarica, D’83 |
2013 Bernie Kurek, D’73 Tara Sexton, D’88 |
2012 Lawrence M. Levin, D’87, GD’92 Louis I. Rossman, D’75, GD’77 |
2011 William W.M. Cheung, D’81, GD’82 |
2010 Joseph Foote, Jr. D’74, GD’80 Thomas Sollecito, D’89, GD’91 |
2009 Gerald Barrack, D’59 Adi A. Garfunkel, GD’74 Marshall J. Goldin, C’60, D’64 Heber T. Graver, D’56, GR’72 Adam Stabholz, GD’78 |
2008 Marc Ackerman, D’98 Leonard Cole, GD’57 Rowland Hutchinson, GD’58 |
2007 Stephen Brown, GD’69 Cecile A. Feldman, C’80 D’84 GD’85 WG’85 John C. Kois, D’77 Arnold B. Porges, D’59 Burton Rosan, D’57 GD’62 Harvey M. Rosen, D’71 M’73 FEL’79 Jonathan A. Ship, C’80 D’84 |
2006 Alan M. Atlas, D’86 H. Leslie Levine, GD’57 Karl A. Rose, GD’80 Neil L. Starr, GD’79 |
2005 Lawrence B. Caplin, D’90 Daniel B. Green, D’60 Louis F. Rose, GD’70 Edward F. Rossomando, D’64 Carl L. Tinkelman, D’65 Robert J. Tisot, GD’70 |
2004 Martin S. Greenberg, GD’68 Edward P. Henefer, D’54 Anna Kornbrot, D’79 GD’82 |
2003 J. Henry O’Hern, Jr., D’53 GD’55 Lewis E. Proffitt, D’73 WG’80 Robert I. Schattner, D’48 |
2002 Joseph R. Greenberg, D’72 GD’76 Louis H. Guernsey, D’47 GD’56 Robert J. Seltzer, D’72 GD’76 James S. Skinner, D’47 GD’48 |
2001 Peter Berthold, D’83 Laurence G. Chacker, D’85 Michael David Yasner, C’79 D’83 GD’84 GD’86 |
2000 Martin D. Levin, D’72 GD’74 Lawrence W. Loveland, D’55 |
1999 Kenneth C. Fieldston, D’74 Robert E. Weiner, C’72 D’79 |
1998 H. Martin Deranian, D’47 Jacob Harris, C’55 D’58 GD’60 Tom M. Limoli, C’46 D’48 |
1997 Edwin C. Horne, D’52 William J. McDonnel, C’53 D’57 Barry D. Wagenberg, D’72 |
1996 Vincent A. Callery, D’56 GD’59 Kenneth Allen Fetter, C’72 D’76 Jerome A. Urken, C’45 D’46 |
1995 Philip S. Caplan, D’60 Stephen F. Goodman, D’60 Lawrence Kessler, C’66 D’70 Reuben E. V. Miller, Jr., D’52 |
1994 Noah Chivian, D’59 Bal K. Goyal, D’81 GD’81 Max A. Listgarten, Professor Emeritus of Periodontics |
1993 Leonard Abrams, GD’59 Peter D. Quinn, D’74 GD’78 Mark B. Snyder, D’74 GD’77 Thomas O. Sweet, D’53 Thomas R. Tempel, D’63 |
1992 Robert J. Collins, D’71 Gershon A. Stern, C’52 D’54 J. David Stine, D’63 |
1991 Brendan J. Boylan, D’55 GD’57 George Feldman, D’49 Sig L. Seigel, D’55 |
1990 I. B. Bender, D’30 Joseph E. Gian-Grasso, C’67 D’71 Arthur B. Hattler, D’55 GD’57 John T. Ziegler, D’55 | 1989 Michael E. Fritz, D’63 GD’65 GR’67 Robert J. Genco, GR’67 Edwin R. McDevitt, Jr., C’50 D’53 |
1988 Robert W. Baker, Sr., D’52 H. Russell Bernd, Jr., D’53 Edwin H. Smith, Jr., C’38 D’40 George G. Stewart, D’44 |
1987 Myron Allukian Jr., D’64 James E. Kennedy, D’62 Samuel Seltzer, C’35 D’37 George A. Zurkow, C’37 D’39 |
1986 George Georgieff, GD’62 Saul Kamen, D’40 Jay S. Seibert, D’53 Poul H. J. Simonsen, D’19 |
1985 Stanley E. Goodman, D’58 Charles H. Kremer, D’24 Seymour Oliet, D’53 Arnold S. Weisgold, GD’65 |
1984 Laurence B. Brody, C’52 D’56 Frances B. Glenn, D’56 Charles R. Jerge, D’58 GR’61 Stanford E. Kane, C’53 D’56 Irving M. Rothstein, C’38 D’41 Arthur J. Sachsel, D’50 Anthony A. Vito, D’53 GD’66 |
1983 Clement C. Alpert, C’32 D’34 Reuben Feltman, D’30 Emanuel H. Malamed, C’41 D’43 James A. Tatoian, Jr., D’64 GD’65 |
1982 James A. English, D’36 G’48 Robert L. Heinze, D’23 Max Oppenheim, D’37 Robert D. Schweitzer, D’55 Jonathan A. Tenzer, D’66 GD’69 |
1981 Kenneth C. Fordham, D’53 |
1980 Harry B. Binder, D’34 Robert E. DeRevere, D’45 Morton E. Melman, C’43 D’44 Allan S. Shaw, C’56 D’59 GD’61 |
1979 Morton Crossman, D’29 Jacob Lewin-Epstein, D’44 Paul E. Farrell, D’51 George Kuttas, D’51 |
1978 D. Walter Cohen, C’47 D’50 Wilbur D. Johnston, C’31 D’33 Claude S. LaDow, Jr., D’42 GD’48 Milton Leof, C’27 D’28 |
1977 Irving E. Gruber, D’41 Paul H. Keyes, C’39 D’41 H. Milton Rode, D’33 |
1976 I. Lawrence Kerr, C’37 D’39 Barnet M. Levy, C’38 D’42 |
1975 Harrison M. Berry, Jr., D’43 GD’52 Ned B. Williams, D’38 |
1974 Louis J. Calisti, D’49 John P. Hellwege, C’56 D’59 Seymour J. Kreshover, D’38 H’67 |
1973 Donald S. Mayes, D’58 |
1972 Charles P. Egoville, D’35 Joseph V. Masino, C’31 D’33 |
1971 Norman R. Haig, D’19 Adrian R. Kristeller, D’24 Joseph P. Marnell, D’43 |
1970 H. Vernon Lapp, D’27 Francis F. E. Morse, D’45 |
1969 Morton Amsterdam, C’45 D’45 William C. Hudson, D’17 William C. Hudson, Jr., D’45 |
1968 Marvin M. Alderman, D’42 Pincus Coleman, D’23 Ford W. Stevens, D’32 |
1967 Abram Cohen, D’23 Geneva E. Groth, D’19 |
1966 Robert H. Ivy, D’01 M’07 Hebert Kabnick, D’26 James W. Lee, D’42 |
1965 H. Jay Ginns, C’29 D’33 Jacob A. Salzmann, D’23 |
1964 Louis I. Grossman, D’23 H’78 John H. Stine, D’34 |
1963 Victor H. Frank, D’21 Albert Goho, D’22 Reuben E. V. Miller, D’18 |
1962 Ellis Finkelman, C’32 D’34 William B. Smith, Jr., D’38 |
1961 Ralph S. Voorhees, Jr., D’24 GD’51 |
1960 Theodor Blum, D’09 Mary W. Kolb, Executive Secretary, Dental Alumni Society Leon Levy, D’15 H’73 |
1959 Lester W. Burket, C’29 D’32 H’78 Hamilton B. G. Robinson, C’32 D’34 |
1958 Thomas M. Meloy, Jr., D’32 |
1957 Charles H. Patton, D’19 |
1956 Malcolm W. Carr, D’22 |
1955 Bernhard W. Weinberger, D’08 |
1954 Paul E. Bomberger, D’15 James R. Cameron, D’14 Arthur E. Corby, D’17 Harry A. Mesjian, D’21 |
1953 James E. Aiguer, D’17 Leroy M. Ennis, D’16 Thomas P. Fox, D’26 Zachary T. Jackaway, D’98 Isidor S. Ravdin, Vice President of Medical Affairs, University of Pennsylvania |
1952 Herbert K. Cooper, D’19 |
1951 Morton J. Loeb, D’09 |
1950 Emerson R. Sausser, D’03 |
1949 Wilson Zerfing, D’94 |
1948 George A. Coleman, D’13 |
1947 William A. Allwood, D’97 |
1946 Clarence C. Bastian, D’17 |
1945 Edward C. Stillwell, D’10 |
1944 Henry Rainey, Secretary of the Thomas W. Evans Museum and Dental Institute and Recorder of the School |
Young Alumni Award of Merit
The Young Alumni Award of Merit recognizes Penn Dental Medicine alumni one to 15 years from graduation who have maintained their ties with the School through their support of alumni activities, demonstrated leadership in the dental profession, and fostered and maintained the ideals that the School of Dental Medicine has stood for since its founding.
Dr. Katherine France, Assistant Professor of Oral Medicine at Penn Dental Medicine, earned her DMD at Penn Dental in 2016 along with a Masters of Bioethics. She continued on to earn her graduate dental education certificate in Oral Medicine here as well in 2018, after which she joined the School’s faculty in the Department of Oral Medicine. Since joining the faculty, she has been recognized by students with the Earle Bank Hoyt Award for Excellence in Teaching, receiving it in 2023 and 2024.
A Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine, France is currently Director of the Penn Dental Medicine Oral Medicine Clinic and Co-Director of the Personalized Care/Radiology/ Oral Medicine Honors Program. She is also a practicing clinician within the Penn Dental Family Practice and an attending in oral medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Active in Professional and Scientific Societies, France served as Reviewer (2020 – 2024) of the World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII and Assistant Reviewer (2017-2019) and is currently Chair (2020-present) of the American Academy of Oral Medicine Membership Committee.
At Penn Dental Medicine, France is Vice President (2023-2025) of the Alumni Society and Chair (2023-2025) of its Nominations Committee. She is also faculty advisor (2022-present) of the Philadelphia Oral Cancer Walk and 5K, organized by Penn Dental Medicine students.
Dr. Roopali Kulkarni, Assistant Professor of Oral Medicine at Penn Dental Medicine, is a 2019 graduate of Penn Dental Medicine, also earning a Master of Public Health. She pursued postgraduate training in oral medicine here as well, graduating in 2021, after which she joined the School’s faculty in the Department of Oral Medicine. She currently serves as the Assistant Director (2022-present) of Penn Dental Medicine’s postgraduate oral medicine program and is on the medical staff (2021-present) in the Division of Oral Medicine at Penn Medicine. Since joining, she received the Earle Bank Hoyt award for dedication and excellence in teaching in 2022.
Kulkarni is widely engaged in scholarly activity and organized dentistry at the local, state and national levels. Among many different roles, she is currently serving as an Assistant Reviewer (2023-present) in the World Workshop on Oral Medicine IX, national media spokesperson (2021-present) of the American Dental Association, Chair-Elect (2025-present) of the Oral Diagnosis and Oral Medicine Section and Member-at-Large (2025-present) of the Council of Faculties of the American Dental Education Association, and President-Elect (2025-present) of the Philadelphia County Dental Society. She was also a 2024 American Dental Association “10 Under 10” award recipient.
2024 Evan Eisler, D’15 |
2023 Kari Hexem, D’15 |
2022 Brian Ford, D’09 M’12 GD’15 Steven Wang, D’09 M’12 GD’15 |
2021 Stefani Cheung, C’08 D’11 |
2020 Maria Velasco, D’10 GED’10 |
2019 Mark Koup, D’04 Mana Mozaffarian, D’06 |
Penn Alumni Award of Merit
The Penn Alumni Award of Merit, the highest award presented by Penn Alumni, is given in recognition of outstanding service to the University of Pennsylvania and selected by the Awards and Resolutions Committee of the Penn Alumni Board of Directors. Listed below are recipients who graduated from Penn Dental Medicine.
2019 William W.M.Cheung, D’81 GD’82 |
1997 Morton Amsterdam, C’43 D’45 |
1994 Joseph E. Gian-Grasso, C’67 D’71 |
1993 Abram Cohen, D’23 D. Walter Cohen, C’47 D’50 |
1980 William K. Conrad, D’30 Thomas H. Newmann, C’53 D’55 |
1976 Allan S. Shaw, C’56 D’59 GD’61 |
1975 John P. Hellwege, C’56 D’59 |
1971 Victor H. Frank, D’21 Leon Levy, D’15 H’73 |
1968 James W. Lee, D’42 |
1963 Louis I. Grossman, D’23 H’78 |
1960 Albert Goho, D’22 |
1959 Charles H. Patton, D’19 |
1958 Edward C. Stillwell, D’10 |
1957 LeRoy M. Ennis, D’16 |
1954 Thomas P. Fox, D’26 |
1953 Joseph T. Appleton, D’14 |
1951 Alan G. Brodie, D’19 |
1950 George A. Coleman, D’13 |
1949 William M. Hollenback, D’08 |
1948 Arthur E. Corby, D’17 Robert H. Ivy, D’01 M’07 |
1946 Clay A. Boland, D’26 |
1945 Zachary T. Jackaway, D’98 |
1943 Mark D. Littig, D’94 |
1941 Oborn G. L. Lewis, D’04 |
Charlotte Sullivan Lifetime Achievement Award
The Charlotte J. Sullivan Lifetime Achievement Award, established by the Alumni Society Executive Board in 2024 and previously given by the Penn Dental Hygiene Alumni Association, recognizes Penn Dental Medicine dental hygiene graduates for extraordinarily meritorious contributions advancing the dental hygiene discipline. The award is named in honor of the inaugural director of Penn Dental Medicine’s Oral Hygiene program, founded in 1921. The award is conferred only when the Board feels there is a dental hygienist who should be so honored.
Lisa Solden Schildhorn, a 1975 dental hygiene graduate of Penn Dental Medicine, has worked with various professional and community organizations to enhance and advocate for oral health as an essential part of general health. Her many professional roles throughout her 50-year career have included clinician, educator, practice manager, business owner, entrepreneur, organizational development consultant, and community health advocate.
After practicing clinically, teaching Penn dental hygiene students, and managing one of the School’s practices, Schildhorn took the leap as an entrepreneur in 1981, establishing Dental Power of Delaware Valley, Inc. Over 21 years, she expanded Dental Power into a premier dental search firm in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, assisting dental professionals in obtaining temporary and direct-hire employment. After transitioning Dental Power to new leadership in 2002, Schildhorn began her consulting firm, LLC Dental Team Consultants, working with various organizations on educational programs and workshops, leadership training, grant writing, coalition capacity building, and stakeholder engagement. As part of her consulting activities, she worked with the team to establish and build capacity for the Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health, serving on the Board of Directors for 10 years. Schildhorn’s non-profit activities include having served on the Board of Directors of Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Susan G Komen Race for the Cure, Heath Federation Early Head Start, and Kids Smiles, where she was President from 2005 to 2009.
When interviewed for RDH magazine in 2013 and asked for her advice to others, she said, “Believe in your strengths. Find the parts you love to do, and that creates the energy you need to succeed in life. I’m just doing what I love.”
Honorary Alumni
The honorary alumni awards are presented to individuals who are not graduates of Penn Dental Medicine but have demonstrated a strong commitment to Penn Dental Medicine through their service to and involvement with the School.
Susan Scwartz, Director of Career Services, has spent her entire career and graduate school (earning her MSEd in 1975) at the University of Pennsylvania, pursuing her interest in higher education. She worked in undergraduate admissions and at the School of Nursing as Associate Director of Admissions and Student Affairs before joining Penn Dental Medicine in 2000 as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. At the same time (2006-2014), Schwartz was engaged with undergraduate students as Associate Faculty Director in Fisher Hassenfeld College House at Penn, a shared role with her husband, Dr. Sandy Schwartz, who was the Director. She served as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs until spring 2019 when she moved into her current position, establishing a Career Services Division in the Student Affairs Office. The objective of the Division is to help students explore and plan for next steps after dental school as well as long-term professional goals. Services include career advising, CV and personal statement review, mock interviews, and a variety of professional development programming. Among key programs of the Division is a six-part Selective series utilizing the wisdom and experience of dental alumni, and a two-day Career Fair with private, federal, and community-based dental practices, GPR and AEGD programs, and representation from all postgraduate programs at Penn Dental Medicine. Schwartz also works with the School’s Office of Institutional Advancement to help students connect with Penn Dental Medicine alumni for mentoring and shadowing opportunities. Schwartz notes that the resources of the Career Services Division are available to alumni at any point in their dental careers. She was also recognized with honorary membership in Penn Dental Medicine OKU ETA Chapter in 2010.
2024 Nathan Kobrin (posthumously) David Swiecinski |
2023 Syngcuk Kim |
2022 Joseph Fiorellini |
2021 Kenneth Kent |
2020 Marianne Contino |
2019 Markus Blatz |
2018 Joan Gluch Dennis F. Kinane Irving M. Shapiro |
2017 Beverly Crawford Gary H. Cohen Benjamin Hammond |
2015 Elliot Hersh |
2014 Arthur Kurperstein |
2013 Corky Cacas |
2011 Uri Hangorsky |
2010 Arthur Steinberg |
Dental Hygiene Alumni Special Achievement Award
The Dental Hygiene Alumni Special Achievement Award, given annually up until 2020 by the Penn Dental Medicine Dental Hygiene Alumni Association, recognizes the outstanding contributions of Dental Hygiene alumni to the growth and development of the profession of dental hygiene.
2020 Ann Robyn Watson, DH’69 |
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2019 Karen Combs Flickinger, DH’58 Elisabeth McClellan Peebles, DH’59 |
2018 Ann Sproule Hunnicutt, DH’53 |
2017 JoAnn Rigolizzo Gurenlian, GRD’ 91 |
2016 Kathleen S. McAdoo, DH ’84 |
2015 Charlene Jennings Fenster, DH’75 |
2014 Rosalie C. Di Ferdinand, DH’85 |
2013 Judith Nist, DH’69 |
2012 Cynthia Staman Kleiman, DH’77 |
2011 Judith Zack Bendit, DH’81 Samuel L. Yankell DH’81 |
2010 Beverly Bizup Hawkins, DH’75 |
2009 Joan I. Gluch, GR’92 Linda B. Moore, DH’63 |
2008 Betty Brussel Shamas, DH’63 |
2007 Sandra L. Mellinger, DH’82 |
2005 Lisa Solden Schildhorn, DH’75 |
2004 Jaclyn M. Gleber, DH’74 |
2003 Suzanne Linn Dietz, DH’59, ED’59 |
2002 Ann Eshenaur Spolarich, DH’82, GED’99 |
2001 Patricia Anne Cohen, DH’71 |
2000 R. Roberta Throne, DH’39, GED’67 |
1999 Maria Perno Goldie, DH’71 |
1998 Allene G. Donoho, DH’58 |
1997 Kathleen E. Morr, DH’60 |
1996 Robin S. Holmes, DH’75 |
1995 Eleanor H. Mily, DH’45 |
1994 Nancy “Chris” Roy Lange Miller, DH’54, ED’54 |
1993 Anne S. Follweiler, DH’58, G’65 |