M. Franklin Dolwick, DMD, PhD, was named the winner of the 2021 William J. Gies Award for Innovation-Dental Educator by the ADEAGies Foundation. He is a professor in the University of Florida (UF) Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS), director of hospital dentistry for UF Health, and the Academy One Hundred Eminent Scholar Professor.
“I am delighted that Dr. Dolwick received the Gies Award, a fitting honor given his dedication to dental education throughout his career. He is immensely deserving, and we are incredibly fortunate to have him as part of our college,” said A. Isabel Garcia, DDS, MPH, dean of the UF College of Dentistry.
Named after William J. Gies, PhD, the annual ADEAGies Awards for Vision, Innovation and Achievement honor individuals and organizations that exemplify the highest standards in oral health and dental education, research, and leadership, according to the ADEAGies Foundation.
“Through their extraordinary contributions, our Gies Awardees are moving the needle forward in dental education and oral health,” said Marsha Pyle, DDS, MEd, president of the ADEAGies Foundation. “The Gies Awards honor future-ready initiatives that advance dental education and elevate the dental profession.”
Dolwick held the Parker E. Mahan Facial Pain Endowed Professorship from 2013 to 2019. Also, he served as the chair and associate chair of OMFS for 23 years during four separate tours and directed the OMFS residency program twice for a total of eight years.
“Dr. Dolwick is a man of impeccable ethics and professionalism. These are only matched by his tremendous compassion and humanity. He is often the last hope for patients from all over the US seeking his help for intractable pain or failed TMJ treatment. Many of these patients are debilitated, hopeless, and unable to work or function normally,” Garcia said.
The culture of compassion and caring that Dolwick has created is known across his specialty and attracts an exemplary cohort of young men and women who are considered “Dolwick’s academic children,” Garcia said.
Dolwick has mentored, inspired, and helped not just dental students and oral surgery residents and fellows but also school students struggling academically, which often leads to lifelong mentoring and friendships, UF said.
Also, Dolwick is known nationally and internationally as a pioneer in the development of TMJ, arthography, and surgical procedures for TMJ internal derangement, UF said.
Dolwick began his career as a dental educator in the US Air Force in 1979 as assistant chair and director of residency training in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
After his military service, Dolwick joined the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he became an associate professor with tenure in 1983. In 1994, he became the director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Programs at the UF College of Dentistry (UFCD) and UF Health Science Center in Jacksonville.
Dolwick earned his dental degree at the University of Kentucky and his doctorate and certification in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from the Medical College of Virginia.
Over his 35 years of service to dental education, UF said, Dolwick has been a consistent leader in educating the next generation of oral and maxillofacial surgeons, dental students, and fellows. His extensive surgical experience has played an invaluable role in educating and training residents and predoctoral dental students, UF said.
Since the start of his teaching career, Dolwick has graduated 94 residents, with another 18 in the middle of their training, for a total of 112. His commitment to teaching includes countless dental students, UF said, whom he has taught in the classroom and through the college’s Student Oral Surgery Dental Center since joining UFCD in 1984.
In addition, Dolwick has completed extensive, pioneering research on temporomandibular joint disorders and surgical procedures, UF said, publishing consistently since 1976 with 79 peer-reviewed publications.
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