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  • Christiansen Professorship in Orthodontics awarded to Dr. Sylvia Frazier-Bowers

Christiansen Professorship in Orthodontics awarded to Dr. Sylvia Frazier-Bowers

By: Leslie Flowers

Wednesday, October 09, 2024

Drs. Richard L. Christiansen, Sylvia Frazier-Bowers, and Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch  Photo by Drew Lees

Dr. Sylvia Frazier-Bowers, DDS, PhD, has been appointed the inaugural Dr. Richard L. and Nancy M. Christiansen Professor of Orthodontics at the Indiana University School of Dentistry.

 “With this endowed professorship, Dr. Christiansen’s legacy and dedication to excellence in global collaboration in research, education, and leadership in academic dentistry will live on in perpetuity in the great work that Dr. Frazier-Bowers and the IU School of Dentistry orthodontic faculty who follow her will accomplish with this support,” said Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch.

Dr. Frazier-Bowers, the inaugural Christiansen Professor, is a leader in academic dentistry. She will use this professorship to continue her national and international studies in craniofacial biology, specifically focusing on eruption failure studies, a field in which she has become a world authority. Dr. Frazier-Bowers also plans to use the professorship to enrich mentoring opportunities for students, residents, and faculty.

Dr. Frazier-Bowers joined IUSD in 2022 as professor of orthodontics and oral facial genetics, associate dean of student affairs and admissions, and chief diversity officer. She oversees all student services and advances inclusive excellence across IUSD’s mission. She earned a PhD in genetics and molecular biology, a certificate in orthodontics from the Adams School of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"This honor is more to me than a recognition of my accomplishments,” said Dr. Frazier-Bowers. “It is a reflection of the incredible mentors, colleagues, and students I have had, and still have, the privilege of working with. Most importantly, being recognized in this way reminds me of the many opportunities for me to ‘pay it forward’ through mentoring the next generation of faculty in academic dentistry and in orthodontics.”

Dr. Richard Christiansen embarked on his dental career at the University of Iowa, where he earned his DDS in 1959. Subsequently, he pursued advanced specialty education in orthodontics at Indiana University (IU), drawn by its exceptional faculty. He shared that after graduation in 1964, he was enthusiastic about using his IU orthodontics training to help his patients enhance their self-image and overall well-being.

Over his 60-year career, Dr. Christiansen has excelled as a prominent researcher, collaborator, and dental school leader. His career began at the National Institute of Dental Research, now known as the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at NIH, where he was program officer of the developmental biology and oral facial anomalies program. Committed to dental research ethics, he led the development of guidelines for how universities and the NIH should report, investigate, and review suspected acts of research misconduct.

From the NIH, he joined the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, serving as dean from 1982 to 1987. He advanced relationships with international dental schools, promoting his belief that U.S. dentists, educators, and researchers should develop fellowship and cooperation with colleagues in different countries. In 1985, he established the International Union of Schools of Oral Health.

Although Dr. Christiansen has lived in many places and met many people throughout his successful career, he said his time at IU remains close to his heart. In gratitude for his IUSD education, Dr. Christiansen and his wife Nancy established the Richard L. and Nancy M. Christiansen Professorship in Orthodontics at IU to ensure enduring excellence in dental research, education and international collaboration and to advance global oral health. Alongside this generous professorship, Dr. Christiansen also established a lectureship series in orthodontics for IU in 2009.

“Congratulations, Dr. Sylvia Frazier-Bowers, upon your appointment to the Richard L. and Nancy M. Christiansen Professorship,” said Dr. Christiansen. “I look forward to your fostering of both basic and clinical research related to craniofacial development, normal and abnormal, and to your development of new directions in exciting human health research!”

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