Lawrence I. Goldblatt, D.DS., M.S.D. Dean, IU School of Dentistry Biographical Summary

Dr. Lawrence I. Goldblatt received his undergraduate and dental education at Georgetown University. He was awarded the Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1968, graduating cum laude and attaining membership in Omicron Kappa Upsilon honor dental society.

After dental school he completed three years of active duty as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps, serving aboard the U.S.S. Tidewater and with the U.S. Naval Dental Clinic in Norfolk, Va. During the first year of active duty, he also completed a rotating dental internship at the U.S. Naval Hospital in St. Albans, New York.

Dr. Goldblatt was then accepted for graduate study at Indiana University. He enrolled in 1971 in the oral pathology residency program, where he trained under the mentorship of one of the world’s foremost pioneers in the specialty, Dr. William G. Shafer. After earning a Master of Science in Dentistry degree in 1973, Dr. Goldblatt accepted a faculty appointment as an assistant professor of oral pathology in his mentor’s department.

For the next two decades Dr. Goldblatt fulfilled a wide variety of teaching and administrative posts on the IU faculty. He gained valuable insights into the diverse needs of the student population by accepting teaching assignments that exposed him to students enrolled at every level of education from dental assisting to advanced specialty programs. He played a key role on the IU Oral Pathology Biopsy Service (now the Oral Pathology Group), helping to maintain its international reputation for excellence.

Dr. Goldblatt was promoted to associate professor at IU in 1977, a year after he earned Diplomate status in the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, and to professor in 1982. In 1988, he was named the dental school’s Associate Dean for Graduate and Postgraduate Education. He assumed responsibilities for yet another demanding administrative role as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in 1990, after having served as Acting Associate Dean over this division for one year.

On January 1, 1994, Dr. Goldblatt, accepted the deanship at Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry. He returned to Indiana University three years later to fill the top administrative appointment in dentistry. He was named Dean of the IU School of Dentistry on January 1, 1997.

Throughout his career, Dr. Goldblatt’s principal research interests have been in the ultrastructure of oral disease and oral precancerous lesions; he has published a number of papers on these and other topics in peer-reviewed journals.

From 1971 to 1989, Dr. Goldblatt served in the Dental Corps of the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of Commander. He has been active in a variety of professional organizations at the local and national levels, including the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, the American and International Associations for Dental Research, the American Dental Education Association, and the American Dental Association.

Dr. Goldblatt is a fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists. He is a past Vice President for Deans of the American Dental Education Association, past president of the Supreme Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon, past commissioner on the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, and past commissioner and chair of the ADA Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.

Since returning to IU, Dr. Goldblatt has guided the school through two successful accreditation site visits from the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation. The Commission’s final reports, issued in 2000 and 2007, cited no recommendations for any of the school’s programs, and commendations in several areas.

He has promoted strong ties and a close working relationship with the IU School of Dentistry Alumni Association, participating as an ad hoc member of the association’s board of directors and collaborating with the school’s graduates on many types of events. Dr. Goldblatt has also spearheaded efforts that have led to a much stronger foundation for the fundraising program; since his return in 1997, giving to the school has increased more than three-fold. In 2004, IUSD alumnus Dale Lentz (DDS’67) and his wife, Phyllis Lentz, donated an estate gift of $1.2 million to the dental school – the largest gift in the school’s history.

Dr. Goldblatt has more clearly defined the IU dental school’s role within the community at large, helping two off-site dental clinics that were established by IU in nearby neighborhoods flourish and also naming a director of Community Dentistry, whose goal is to bring the community’s needs into greater focus within the dental school’s curriculum.

Working extensively with the school’s faculty, staff, and students, Dean Goldblatt oversaw the implementation of long-term efforts to restructure the entire DDS curriculum at IU. Now known as the Indiana Model of dental education, the curriculum engages students in a multifaceted program designed to enhance critical-thinking skills through small-group learning environments, to develop life-long learning habits that will serve graduates throughout their professional lives, to emphasize the commitment each dental professional has to the community at large, and to underscore the importance of applying evidence-based science to the pursuit of knowledge. In the spring of 2001, the first dental students to have been enrolled in the new curriculum for all four years of study received their Doctor of Dental Surgery degrees.

Last updated January 2008