Award recipients, from left: Jay Dziwlik, MBA, Carmel, Ind.; Richard Jones, DDS, Munster, Ind.; Robert Kasberg Jr., PhD, Indianapolis; and Daniel Fridh, DDS, La Porte, Ind.
Honorees Include 2 Members of the IU Dental Alumni
Two northern Indiana dental
practitioners, the IU School of Dentistry’s dean of students, and an Indiana
Dental Association executive were recognized during the 67th annual
Fall Dental Alumni Conference of the IUSD Alumni Association, held on the IUPUI
campus September 24-25:
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS
Richard E. Jones,
DDS’75, M’78 Maxillofacial Prosthetics
Munster, Ind.
When Dr. Richard Jones was a new dental graduate enrolled in
IU’s master’s degree program in maxillofacial prosthetics in the 1970s, the
Complete Denture faculty took quick notice of the bright young man with the
professional demeanor who taught part time in the denture clinic as part of his
specialty training.
“He’s one to watch,” the seasoned professors opined about
their new colleague, clearly impressed.
Their instincts were spot on: Jones has been impressing the
dental community ever since with his capacity for leadership and his commitment
to both patient care and student education.
Jones pursued his undergraduate studies at Wabash College in
Crawfordsville, Ind., and IU Bloomington before entering IU’s dental program in
1971. He launched his private practice in prosthodontics and maxillofacial
prosthetics after completing his dental and prosthodontics degrees in 1975 and 1978,
respectively.
Every dentist knows that setting up and nurturing a new
practice is a time-consuming – often all-consuming – task, but that
didn’t prevent Jones from also seeking out a part-time teaching position as an
intramural instructor and lecturer in the Department of Dental Education on the
Indiana University Northwest campus in Gary. He devoted the next 24 years to
the students at IU Northwest, and also contributed for several years to IUSD’s
graduate prosthodontics program as an assistant professor. He served on the
American Dental Association’s prosthodontics test construction committee of the
Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.
One of Jones’ most important contributions to the profession
of dentistry in Indiana is his long association with the peer review process,
both at the regional and state levels. His primary interest, say his
colleagues, has always been in ensuring the quality and integrity of dentistry.
He is cited for his work in ensuring that peer review is a credible and expert
process. Jones chaired the Northwest Indiana Dental Society’s Peer Review
program for nearly a decade, and he has been chairing the Indiana Dental
Association’s since 1989. He has overseen production of two versions of the IDA
Peer Review Guidelines and instituted and directed annual training workshops.
Jones holds membership in a wide range of state, national,
and international prosthodontics groups. He is a past president of the Indiana
Section of the American College of Prosthodontists and executive councilor of
the Midwest Academy of Prosthodontics. He has served on the board of the
Federation of Prosthodontic Organizations, and as a member of the Cleft Palate
Team of Northwest Indiana.
Jones was also long active in the National Eagle Scout
Association, having presided as a troop scoutmaster in the 1990s.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Daniel W. Fridh (DDS’75)
La Porte, Ind.
In his final year of dental school, Daniel Fridh was the
type of stellar dental student who would occasionally be called upon to save
the day if an underclassman got in over his head, clinically speaking.
An IUSD staff member recalls being one of those patients
that turned into a “difficult case” for a new – and flustered – third-year dental
student . “Dan Fridh would be a good student to help with this,” said the
supervising faculty member, who determined that the treatment options were too
advanced for a student who was still green in the clinics. “Let’s see if Dan’s
available.”
Fridh was swamped and already had a full patient load, but
he responded to the request anyway. He saved a young woman’s tooth that was otherwise
destined for a premature departure. And that restored tooth functioned
beautifully for decades.
We’re quite sure that little has changed for Fridh since his
dental student days: He’s no doubt still swamped, as a successful practitioner
since 1978, and he’s still making time to help others.
In 2003, for example, Fridh met with officials from La Porte’s
Title I elementary schools to discuss ways to deliver dental care to more than
300 underprivileged children. He enlisted the services of the IU dental
school’s Seal Indiana program to annually provide exams and sealants to these
children, who receive follow-up care at a La Porte community dental clinic or
at one of several offices that have volunteered to treat the clinic’s overflow
patients. Thanks to Fridh’s leadership, say his colleagues, many children in La
Porte have enjoyed an improved quality of life by receiving dental care that
was not available to them from other sources.
Fridh also chaired the La Porte County/Michigan City Dental
Advisory Group for the La Porte County Dental Services program, whose goal is
to provide oral care to La Porte County’s low-income residents. He founded
Neutral Zone, a teen center in La Porte.
In addition to his IU bachelor’s (1972) and dental (1975)
degrees, Fridh completed a general practice residency at Keesler Air Force Base
in Mississippi and served as chief of dental operations at the Baudette AF
Station in Minnesota and Finley AF Base in North Dakota.
Fridh has been a strong supporter of the IUSD Alumni
Association board of directors, having served two consecutive terms
(2001-2007). He is a member of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, a fellow of the International
College of Dentists, and a past president of the Northwest Indiana and La Porte
County dental societies. He holds mastership in the Academy of General
Dentistry.
HONORARY ALUMNUS
Robert H. Kasberg, Jr.
Assistant Dean for Student
Affairs
Indiana University School of
Dentistry
By continually striving to increase the diversity of the
student body at Indiana University School of Dentistry, administrator Dr.
Robert Kasberg enriches the lives of all IUSD students as well as the faculty
and staff. We are proud to welcome him as an honorary member of the IUSD Alumni
Association.
He is cited by his nominator for his recruitment efforts to
increase African American and Latino enrollment at the school – enrollment
enhancements that will also have a direct and lasting positive effect on the
underserved populations of Indiana.
Kasberg joined the dental school as director of admissions
in 2002, after having served for six years as assistant dean of the IUPUI Graduate Office. He has
gained experience as a research associate, academic counselor, and lecturer
within the IU system, and was formerly associated with the IU Center on
Philanthropy and the IUPUI Undergraduate Education Center, Department of
Anthropology, and Steering Committee for the Center on Southeast Asia.
He was promoted to assistant dean for Student Affairs at the
dental school in 2005.
After graduating with highest distinction from IUPUI with a
bachelor’s degree in anthropology in 1987, Kasberg earned a Master of Philosophy
degree (1989) and PhD degree (1994) in anthropology from Yale University, where
he was also a teaching fellow.
The Philippines was one of the nations where Kasberg was
stationed as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy in the 1970s, and his ties
with the country remained strong long afterwards. He served as a community
organizer and health worker on the Philippine island of Mindoro for the U.S.
Peace Corps after finishing his navy duty, and as a Peace Corps project
director in Manila. For his doctoral field research he studied ethnomedicine of
the Western Hanunoo, a group of people living on Mindoro. He was a consultant
to the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development and an honorary
researcher for the Philippine National Museum.
Kasberg has acquired a number of grants throughout his
career, including 1996 grants for student Summer Research Opportunities and
Minority Achievement Scholarships that were both renewed annually for several
years, and a Fulbright grant. In 2002, he received a Bridges to the Doctorate
grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Student interaction with Kasberg during the dental school
application process sets the tone for their perception of positive future
dental school experiences – experiences that translate into loyal alumni, says
his nominator. Kasberg is described as “innovative, progressive, and totally
dedicated to the success of all students at IUSD.”
Indiana University couldn’t agree more.
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
Jay T. Dziwlik
Assistant Executive Director
Indiana Dental Association
He’s employed by the Indiana Dental Association, but Jay
Dziwlik is as much a part of the fabric of the IU School of Dentistry as any
faculty or staff member: As often as we see him on the job at IUSD, we suspect
that he has made it his goal to personally welcome every single IUSD student
into organized dentistry – even those who plan to leave Indiana.
All students, no matter where they’re going to settle
down, have a lot to learn from Dziwlik. He understands that organized dentistry
offers every dentist a good deal more than simply a list of excellent
membership benefits: He has a keen perception of the fundamental importance of
individual dentists finding a place for themselves among a community of
dentists, and of practitioners finding their own voices on healthcare issues of
the day – and using those voices in groups where they will be heard.
For a man who spends much of his time introducing himself to
new people, Jay has a better-than-average icebreaker: Nearly everyone is
baffled by the pronunciation of his last name. For the record, it’s “jeev’-lick”
– and we know from experience that this good-natured gentleman won’t mind if
you have to ask him how to say it more than once.
Dziwlik acquired his exceptional service and public
relations skills by working in a variety of managerial positions in fine hotels
in Chicago and Indianapolis during the first years of his career. He joined the
IDA as director of membership in 2000, the same year he began teaching classes
in business management at his alma mater, Indiana Wesleyan University (MBA’97),
in Marion. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management
from Iowa State University (1988). He earned Certified Association Executive
designation in 2004.
As the IDA’s dental school liaison, Dziwlik greets IU’s new
dental students (at the annual White Coat ceremony), congratulates IU’s
departing graduates (at commencement), and remains highly engaged with the
dental classes in the four years between those two major events through such
programs as the IDA Mentor dinner, ADA Success class, continuing education
courses, Oral Health Policy Forum – even the school’s annual picnic.
He has also helped the IDA boost its membership by working
within local chapters of the association, and he plays a major role in the
production of the IDA’s annual sessions. Both dental students and dentists
alike have benefited from projects Dziwlik has developed on ethics and
jurisprudence training, web conferencing, leadership development, and career
network assistance.
In 2005, Dziwlik received the Indiana Society of Association
Executives’ Outstanding Staff of the Year award.