Dr. Kenneth Spolnik (DDS’75, Endo’78) retired after more than half a century in the dental field and an entire career at IUSD beginning as a D1 in 1971.
After earning his DDS in 1975, Dr. Spolnik continued his training in IUSD’s endodontics graduate program, while serving as a classroom and laboratory instructor for DDS students. After completing his MSD in endodontics in 1978, he spent the next 46 years as an IUSD faculty member. The first 31 years he was adjunct faculty while he operated his private practice. Then in 2009, he flipped his schedule, working full-time at the dental school and one day a week in private practice. He became chairperson of the Department of Endodontics the same year, serving until his retirement.
During those 46 years, Dr. Spolnik taught 160 of the 182 residents in Graduate Endodontics, reviewed over 2,100 resident applications, participated in 121 research projects, delivered 125 presentations on endodontics, served on 90 graduate student research and advisory committees, prevailed through five CODA accreditation site visits, and helped design and raise money for a new Department of Endodontics clinic and administrative space.
Dr. Spolnik was honored with the Samuel S. Patterson Professorship of Endodontics in 2010, was a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society, received the Award for Dedication and Teaching Excellence presented by his graduate students, and earned the 2024 IUSD Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching.
Perhaps his greatest recognition has come from the peers, faculty, and students he mentored. Endodontics alumni shared lovely remarks about Dr. Spolnik at his retirement reception on July 20, 2024, at the Columbia Club in downtown Indianapolis.
In his remarks at the reception, 1974 endodontics graduate Dr. William Ray Adams said, “What you all have seen and felt from Dr. Spolnik was faith in action.”
Dr. Glen Karunanayake, Endodontics interim chair, remarked that, “Dr. Spolnik has dedicated his professional life to the betterment of peoples’ lives — patients, students, and colleagues alike. My first impression of him was his warmth and skill at listening. He could rapidly process information and offer wise reflections when needed. For someone who has achieved so much, he remains humble, modest, and never overinflated. I’d like to blow his trumpet for him: He is among the best endodontists in the world, a highly skilled educator, a popular and highly successful chairperson, and one of the kindest people I have known. On behalf of the Endodontics Department, I wish him a healthy, peaceful and joyful retirement.”
Dr. Sharaschandra Govindool, new Endodontics graduate program director, said, “Professor Spolnik is a person who can recognize the potential in anyone and build their knowledge and skills to his benchmark with kindness, grace, and, more so, with immense confidence-building abilities. “It is not who they come in as but what you make out of them,” is the motto every alumnus of the department says about Professor Spolnik, and one I will emulate. Personally, I have been touched by his concern for my career and his unconditional support rendered to help me become a Diplomate of American Endodontic Board, even before I was became faculty at IUSD.”
Adjunct Professor Charles Hine (DDS’01, Endo’04), said, “Dr. Spolnik has been a fixture in the graduate endodontic program since the day he finished his residency. He had an exemplary career in both private practice and dental education, and is the example of who we should all strive to be. He unselfishly gave back to a profession that gives us so much. Thank you, Dr. Spolnik!”
View photos from the events at the IUSD Facebook Page.