Grad Ortho Turns 50
October 2022
Schulich Dentistry's Graduate Orthodontics program celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. We welcomed back alumni and honoured guests over the October 14th weekend, for our first alumni meeting since 2018.Grad Ortho has the distinction of being the School's first specialty program, created in 1972 under the decanal leadership of Dr. Wesley Dunn with the assistance of founding Chair Dr. Stuart Hunter and Clinic Director Dr. David Way. Since then, the program has graduated over 160 orthodontists with the designation of "Master of Clinical Dentistry" (MCID) and is well known among orthodontic circles as a strong clinical program with a unique extended family-like culture. Our alumni are proudly spread across the globe, practicing nationally and internationally, in areas as far away as Africa and Australia.
Celebrations began on Thursday evening with an informal gathering at a favorite downtown pub, followed by the biennial Graduate Orthodontics Alumni Meeting at Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre on Friday October 14th. Attendees enjoyed hearing Dr. Shane Langley from the University of Alabama speak about "Treatment of Complex Orthodontic Cases using Esthetic and Efficient Solutions" and how he delivers a patient-centric focus while providing outstanding treatment outcomes in his own orthodontic practice.
After the CE event, the program hosted an alumni dinner and reception hosted by meeting organizers Drs. Kent Floreani and Robert Elliott. They heard Professor Emeritus and past Chair Dr. Antonios Mamandras share fascinating stories and little-known facts about the program, as he reminisced about his 25 years as Chair of the program. Vice Dean and Director Dr. Carlos Quiñonez also shared a few words with attendees, as he welcomed them back to Western and thanked them for their strong support of the program. The night finished off with some live entertainment from the local band HiLife, while old colleagues and friends caught up with each other.
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The alumni weekend continued into Saturday evening, when President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr. Alan Shepard, hosted top donors at Somerville House for a celebration dinner of the newly established Chair in Graduate Orthodontics, the first endowed chair of orthodontics in Canada.
Dr. Len Chumak, a key alumni leader along with Dr. Bruce Hill during the fundraising, spoke about the challenges and triumphs of the campaign, while Dr. Ali Tassi, current Interim Chair of the Program, spoke about the anticipated positive impact of the endowed Chair on the quality of the program.
Dr. Tassi summed it up, stating that “the profile of our program has just taken another leap forward, and the future looks very bright indeed.”
"It was a successful weekend all around for Graduate Orthodontics and its Alumni," Dr. Tassi said, "and was well worth the wait."
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