Howard University College of Dentistry at 140 Years:
Mission, Legacy, and Promise
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Four decades ago, the College of Dentistry celebrated its 100th anniversary with the publication of its history from 1881 to 1981 in a booklet entitled “A Century of Progress.” During these years, the College has been fortunate to have had five trailblazing indefatigable deans—Jeanne C. Sinkford, Robert S. Knight, Charles F. Sanders Jr., Leo E. Rouse, Dexter Woods, and Andrea D. Jackson. Their leadership has been supported by dedicated staff and administrators who have been crucial in guiding the dental school to stay true to its mission: to provide exemplary education, service, and research that promotes patient-centered, collaborative care and advocacy to eliminate health disparities. This book, Howard Forward—the College of Dentistry—140 Years: Its Mission, Legacy, and Promise, highlights the progressive journey that stands on the legacy of preceding deans. It emphasizes stellar advancement; faculty and staff development; dental hygiene, pre, and postdoctoral programs; academic achievements; research; alumni relations; and other community outreach programs that continue to make the dental school a unique oral health academic resource network within a forty-mile radius of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Under the leadership of Andrea D. Jackson, DDS, MS, FACP, FACD, FICD, current Dean, the College of Dentistry celebrated its 140th Anniversary by hosting an inaugural virtual “Health Equity Symposium: Improving Health Outcomes Through Collaborative Thinking and Action” in 2021. In honor of the 2022 Oral Health Month, -- The Past, Present, and Future of Oral Health, distinguished national oral health leaders addressed the scientific basis for the interrelationship of oral and systemic health and how it disproportionately affects minority and poor Americans. In addition, a fireside chat and book signing with the authors (Shelia S. Price, DDS, Ed.D., MA; Jeanne C. Sinkford, DDS, Ph.D. and Marilyn P. Woolfolk, M.S. DDS, MPH) of Undaunted Trailblazers: Minority Women Leaders for Oral Health. This book is a collection of 31 inspiring stories of triumph and achievement. The Howard University College of Dentistry continues to collaborate with the Howard University Health Sciences Enterprise, which consists of the College of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Health Sciences, the Howard University Hospital, the Faculty Practice Plan, the Student Health Center, the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library, and several specialty institutes and centers. The decision to create the book came from the discovery of historic resources in Moorland Spingarn and Louis Stokes libraries that document the value of HUCD to the dental profession and the dental health of minorities in America. The book is a “Howard University College of Dentistry” testimony. Still, it is an essential oral health history to be remembered since African Americans were not admitted to most dental schools in the United States! The authors are pleased that after two years of meetings, research, retrieval of archival materials, review of oral histories, and delving deep into the heart and soul of the dental school, this book will serve not only to inform but generate discussion pertinent to the continued growth and development of the Howard University College of Dentistry.
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Founded in 1881, Howard University College of Dentistry (HUCD) was one of the first United States dental schools to admit women equally as men. Now, HUCD celebrates one-hundred-and-forty years of educating minority dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists who practice in fifty states in America and fifty-three foreign countries. Howard University College of Dentistry 140 Years: Mission, Legacy, and Promise is an inspiring and informative look into the history of Howard University’s dental school and its mission to educate minority dental professionals who offer their skills to marginalized groups across the United States. It highlights how bleak the provision of black dental care was in the United States after the Civil War and how the HUCD has risen to meet a myriad of challenges for over a century. After two years of meetings, research, retrieval of archival materials, review of oral histories, and delving deep into the heart and soul of the dental school, three authors with close ties to HUCD share the college’s story with pride. The College of Dentistry’s mission, legacy, and promise still continue—Howard Forward!