2020 ACD Annual Meeting
2020 ACD Awards
William John Gies Award
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n 1939, the leaders of the American College of Dentists sought the means to recognize exceptional efforts and accomplishments by its fellows. This recognition became the William John Gies Award, named in honor of the man who shaped the profession through his untiring efforts. The Board of Regents recognizes fellows who have made truly unique and exceptional contributions to advancing the profession and its service to society. This is the highest honor of the American College of Dentists. This year there are two honorees. The first award is presented to Dr. Jeanne Craig Sinkford. Jeanne C. Sinkford, dean emeritus of the Howard University College of Dentistry, is a distinguished administrator, educator, researcher, lecturer, and clinician. She broke race and gender barriers in her rise to the top of her profession. She graduated first in her class at Howard University and became the first woman to serve as dean of an American dental school. Committed to community service and social responsibility, Dr. Sinkford has reached out and responded in full to the demands of her profession,
Journal of the American College of Dentists
striving to meet the needs of her patients and students as well as those of various dental research associations and government and community groups devoted to dental education and study. Dr. Sinkford has been widely praised for her efforts to recruit women and minority students to the dental profession and has a long, wellestablished reputation as a disciplined educator, administrator, clinician, and community advocate. Dr. Sinkford was appointed associate dean at Howard College of Dentistry in 1967. She became the first female dean of any dental school in the nation in 1975 when she was appointed dean of Howard University College of Dentistry. After 16 years of distinguished service in that position, Dr. Sinkford retired in 1991. From 1992 to 2011, Dr. Sinkford was responsible for diversity programming and initiatives at the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). Under her leadership, ADEA created numerous opportunities for the advancement of women and underrepresented minorities. She holds many honorary degrees and many distinguished awards, including Alumni Achievement Awards from Northwestern University and Howard University in 1970 and 1976, one of the first Candace Awards from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1982, the 1984 Award of Merit from the American Fund for Dental Health, the 2007 Trailblazer Award from the National
Dental Association, and the 2010 Fauchard Gold Medal. In 2015, Dr. Sinkford received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Dental Association. Thereafter she was presented with the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award by the Friends of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. This award honors an individual who has demonstrated a longstanding dedication to fostering health through oral and craniofacial research. In 2015, Dr. Sinkford became a senior scholar-in-residence with ADEA, her work focusing on recruitment and promoting growth of minority and female students and faculty. She also initiated international women’s leadership programming for women’s health and oral health of the world population. Dr. Sinkford shows no signs of slowing down and she continues to work for our profession, serving on numerous committees, advisory boards, and councils of national significance and she regularly publishes in peer-reviewed literature. She is legend, and so very many of us are the beneficiaries of her unique brand of advocacy.
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