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MEDIA> PRESS RELEASES> AAOMS recognizes award winners during Annual Meeting

AAOMS recognizes award winners during Annual Meeting

October 11, 2022

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) honored nearly 40 award recipients for their accomplishments in education, research, advocacy and humanitarianism at the association’s 104th Annual Meeting, Scientific Sessions and Exhibition. 

The awards presentation was held during the Opening Ceremony of the event – the largest gathering of oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the country – in September. 

AAOMS dedicated its Annual Meeting posthumously to J. Thomas Soliday, DDS, of Gettysburg, Penn., speaker of the Association’s House of Delegates from 1995 to 2002. His honors included the 2013 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and the 1999 AAOMS Humanitarian Award for Fellows and Members, along with various state and national leadership awards. Soliday served nearly 20 years as parliamentarian for the Maryland State Dental Association and 10 years as speaker of the American Dental Association House of Delegates (2002-2012). 

Mark E. Wong, DDS, FACS, of Houston, Texas, received the Robert V. Walker Distinguished Service Award recognizing significant contributions to the oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) specialty. He is professor, chair and program director of the Katz Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston. His career includes serving as president of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the American Academy of Craniomaxillofacial Surgeons and the International Board for the Certification of Specialists in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.  

Other AAOMS award winners are: 

  • Clinical Research Award – Peter D. Waite, DDS, MD, FACS, of Irondale, Ala. 
  • Committee Person of the Year Award – Deepak G. Krishnan, DDS, FACS, of Cincinnati, Ohio.  
  • Daniel M. Laskin Award for an Outstanding Predoctoral Educator – John R. Evans, DDS, of Duvall, Wash. 
  • Donald B. Osbon Award for an Outstanding Educator – Eric R. Carlson, DMD, MD, EdM, FACS, of Knoxville, Tenn. 
  • Faculty Educator Development Awards – Brian P. Ford, DMD, MD, FACS, of Blue Bell, Pa.; Brian E. Kinard, DMD, MD, of Vestavia, Ala.; and Chi Tonglien Viet, DDS, MD, PhD, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.  
  • Honorary Fellowship – Carmen Hupp, of Nashville, Tenn.; and John J. Schaefer III, MD, of Mount Pleasant, S.C.  
  • Humanitarian Awards for Fellows and Members – Robert H. Lewis Jr., DDS, of Rogers, Ark., and David E. Frost, DDS, MS, of Chapel Hill, N.C. 
  • John F. Freihaut Political Activist Award – Jeffrey H. Wallen, DDS, of Myrtle Beach, S.C. 
  • Outstanding Legislator of the Year Award – U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Tom Rice (R-S.C.) 
  • Presidential Achievement Award – Ronald L. Tankersley, of Newport News, Va., and Steven R. Nelson, DDS, MS, of Greenwood Village, Colo.  
  • Resident Scientific Awards – Caitlyn M. McGue, DDS, of Loma Linda, Calif.; Timothy W. Neal, DDS, of Dallas, Texas; and Sruthi Satishchandran, DMD, of Atlanta, Ga.  
  • Special Honorary Fellowship – Cyrus J. Kerawala, BDS, FDSRCS, MBBS, FRCS, president of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons; Alejandro Martinez, DDS, president of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons; and Gunaseelan Rajan, BDS, MBBS, PhD, DSc, FDSRCS, president of the Asian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.  
  • William J. Gies Foundation Award – Jasjit K. Dillon, MBBS, DDS, FDSRCS, FACS, of Bellevue, Wash. 

OMS Foundation awards also were announced. In alliance with AAOMS, the Foundation strives to enhance patient care quality and safety through advancing innovation in OMS research and education: 

  • OMS Foundation Torch Award – William C. Passolt, CPA, of Mundelein, Ill.  
  • OMS Foundation Research Recognition Award – Thomas B. Dodson, DMD, MPH, FACS, of Seattle, Wash. 
  • OMS Foundation Gerald E. Hanson Outstanding Service Award – Thomas Williams, DDS, MD, FACS, of Dubuque, Iowa.  
  • OMS Foundation Daniel M. Laskin Award – “Safety of Outpatient Procedural Sedation Administered by Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons: The Mayo Clinic Experience in 17,634 Sedations (2004 to 2019),” Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, by Kevin Arce, DMD, MD, FACS; Kyle S. Ettinger, DDS, MD; William J. Fillmore, DMD, MD; Benjamin T. Heggestad, DDS, MD; John M. Nathan, DDS, MD; James M. Van Ess, DDS, MD; Christopher F. Viozzi, DDS, MD; and Steven J. Wiemer, DDS, MD, all of Rochester, Minn.