uw dental alumni fun in the fall! - School of Dentistry

news
Class of ’12 receives degrees
at annual Hooding ceremony
Our School of Dentistry bestowed
Doctor of Dental Surgery degrees
on 63 students, its largest graduating
class in a generation, at the School’s
63rd annual commencement exercises
on June 2.
The numbers at the Hooding
ceremony at the UW’s Meany Hall
were swelled by the first graduating
cohort of seven students from
the Regional Initiatives in Dental
Dr. Russell “Rusty” Johnson,
Class of 2012 president,
receives congratulations from
Dr. Tim DeRouen, Interim Dean.
14 DentalAlumninews FALL 2012
Education (RIDE) program, which
began in 2008. RIDE students spend
their first year in Spokane studying
alongside medical and dental hygiene
students, return to Seattle for their
second and third years, and then
spend part of fourth year in extended
community clinical rotations in Eastern
Washington.
Dr. Robert H. Johnson of the
Department of Periodontics, the
keynote speaker, told students, “The
profession is not just about cleaning
and restoring teeth – it’s about treating
patients.” In a talk laced with
humor, he reflected on experiences
such as treating his mother as a dental
student and hearing her tell him,
“You should have gone into medicine.”
He also imparted several serious
admonitions:
“You can’t rest on today’s laurels.
Don’t let yourself get old and stale
like a crust of bread.”
“Protect the profession. Love it,
respect it, nurture it. …Will you
have failures and mistakes? Of course
you will. How you respond to those
Dr. Robert H. Johnson
failures and mistakes will define you
as a professional.”
“Don’t take yourself too seriously;
no one else does. … I’m convinced
that without laughter, there can be
no love.”
Dr. Johnson, who is retiring from
the School, stressed the need for
dentists to find balance in their lives,
urging students to take time to get
away from the minute details of the
operatory and appreciate life and na-
Grad ImaGes