ROSEMONT, Ill. – Mark A. Egbert, DDS, FACS, was introduced as the 2023-24 President of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) during its recent Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif.
With AAOMS’s other officers and Board of Trustees, Egbert assumes leadership of the professional organization representing more than 9,000 oral and maxillofacial surgeons. Egbert of Kenmore, Wash., previously served as AAOMS President-Elect, Vice President and District VI Trustee as well as a Delegate to the AAOMS House for 14 years.
“Today, I am filled with gratitude. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons has a rich past and a bright future,” Egbert said during his Inaugural Address at the House of Delegates’ third session. “As an Association, we hold high expectations, a commitment to others over self, and both an opportunity and an obligation to positively influence the future of our profession.”
Egbert continues to practice at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and he was Chief of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery there for over 20 years. Previously, he spent 14 years as Chief of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Harborview Medical Center, the only Level I trauma center in Seattle. He is an Associate Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Washington and has an adjunct appointment in the Division of Plastic Surgery in the UW School of Medicine.
In addition, Egbert served eight years as an examiner with the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS). He also was President of the Western Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the Washington State Society of OMS as well as a Director on the OMS Foundation Board. For his efforts, the International College of Dentists welcomed Egbert as a new fellow at its USA Section Annual Meeting, Convocation and Fiesta in 2022.
Egbert succeeds Paul J. Schwartz, DMD, who will serve as Immediate Past President. Other 2023-24 officers elected by the House of Delegates are President-Elect J. David Morrison, DMD; Vice President Robert S. Clark, DMD; Treasurer Jeffrey H. Wallen, DDS; and Speaker of the House Steven R. Nelson, DDS, MS.
Morrison, of Loveland, Ohio, is Assistant Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio. He has served as AAOMS Vice President, District IV Trustee and Caucus Chair and president of the Ohio Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the Cincinnati Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. In addition, Morrison has been a member of the AAOMS House of Delegates for more than 20 years, the Chair of the Commission on Professional Conduct, and a member of multiple AAOMS committees. He previously served as a Director on the OMS Foundation Board and was a partner at Oral and Facial Surgery Associates in Cincinnati for more than 28 years.
Clark, of Lexington, Ky., served as AAOMS treasurer for four years and District III Trustee for four years. He is a past President of the Kentucky Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and a Diplomate and examiner for ABOMS. Clark is a founding partner and board member of OMS360 in Cumming, Ga., and a partner with the Kentucky Center for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Lexington.
In addition to training as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Wallen, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., received formal business education at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He served five years as a Dental Officer in the U.S. Air Force, and started a private practice in Myrtle Beach, where he has worked the past 27 years. He is President of the Southeastern Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Alternate Delegate and Secretary of the District III Caucus and a member of the Committee on Public and Professional Communications. He is past President of the South Carolina Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, past Chair of OMSPAC and has served on Committee on Governmental Affairs.
Nelson, of Denver, Colo., was elected to his 22nd term as Speaker of the House and received AAOMS’s Presidential Achievement Award in 2022. He is a member of the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Center team and practices in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Nelson & Wells Associates in Denver. Dr. Nelson is active in the American Dental Association (ADA), formerly serving as Vice Chairman of the Council on Access Prevention and Inter-Professional Relations. He served on the board of the Colorado Dental Association and was involved with numerous committees of the Metropolitan Denver Dental Society. In addition, he was elected by his peers as a Fellow in the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. Dr. Nelson served for many years as President for the Colorado Dental Lifeline Network where he remains an active volunteer.
Additionally, Edward J. Miller, DMD, was elected to the Board of Trustees and will serve District I’s northeastern states. Trustees W. Frederick Stephens, DDS, District VI, and Debra M. Sacco, DMD, MD, District III were re-elected to two-year terms.
Miller, of Hartsdale, N.Y., practices full-scope oral and maxillofacial surgery in the NEIOS Group and is an active oral and maxillofacial attending at the Mount Sinai Hospitals in New York as well as the New York Harbor VA Medical Center. He also is a Clinical Instructor at the New York University College of Dentistry. Miller has served on the Examination Committee for the ABOMS and the AAOMS Committee on Practice Management and Professional Staff Development and is a facilitator for the Office-Based Emergency Airway Management course, a national simulation program. He is Past President of the New York State Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the New York County Dental Society and a Board of Governors member of the Ninth District Dental Association. He also chairs the New York Section of the Dental Lifeline Network/Donated Dental Services.
Other AAOMS Trustees are Martin E. Eichner, DDS, District II; Gregory M. Ness, DDS, FACS, District IV; and Charles A. Crago, DMD, MD, FACS, District V.
