THE HISTORY OF IUSD’s
PERIODONTOLOGY PROGRAM
1940-Present
THE DEPARTMENT CHAIRPERSONS
DR. MAYNARD HINE
Dr. Hine was the first Chairperson of Periodontics, coming to IUSD in 1944. The Department which initially was established under the leadership of Dr. H. B. Morrow was now led by Dr. Hine and was a combined Department of Periodontics and Endodontics. It was also around this time that Dr. Hine was chosen to serve as the Dean of IUSD. He served as the Dean of the school from 1945-1968. In 1969, he became the first Chancellor of the newly formed IUPUI-Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Dr. Hine came from the University of Illinois, College of Dentistry, where he was associate professor and head of the Division of Oral Pathology. He received his Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree in the School of Dentistry at Illinois in 1930. Following graduation, he received the M.S. degree in Dental Pathology and Therapeutics. Following several years of private practice, Dr. Hine became a Rockefeller Fellow in Dentistry at the University of Rochester, School of Medicine. During his two years he conducted many important research projects and published a large portion of the 19 publications credited to his name. Having thus, he established an enviable background for his chosen fields of periodontia and pathology. Dr. Hine returned to Illinois in 1936 as an instructor. Since that time, he has advanced until he had been appointed head of the division of pathology. Dr. Hine was a member of various organizations. Despite his responsibilities and activities in many organizations and teaching, Dr. Hine has always found time to participate in state and local dental society meetings. In 1941 he served as Chairman of the Program Committee for the Illinois State Dental Society.
DR. HENRY M. SWENSON
Dr. Swenson was born in Long Island, New York. His pre-dental work was taken at Clemson College, and he entered the School of Dentistry at the University of Illinois from which he was graduated in 1942. Upon graduation Dr. Swenson was awarded a fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond. Where he received training in the teaching and research as well as theory courses in Dentistry. He spent half time in the instruction of crown and bridge prosthesis, pathology, and histology. Dr. Swenson performed forty autopsies which has given him invaluable knowledge and experience in anatomy and pathology. In July, after one year of post-graduate work at Virginia, he met Dr. Robert Derry who was on his way to taking up a position at IU’s Department of Prosthetics. Following Dr. Derry’s advice, Dr. Swenson started a dialog with IUSD Dean, Dr. William Crawford, and soon after he too was headed to IU to begin a part-time appointment as an instructor in Oral Diagnosis and Histopathology. Then he was appointed to the staff at the Indiana University School of Dentistry. One year after Dr. Swenson came onboard, his former faculty mentor from the University of Illinois, Dr. Maynard K. Hine, also joined the IUSD faculty. Dr. Hine shortly assumed the deanship, and both set out to build up a new department within the school, where it was taken out from under Operative Dentistry and developed into its own program. He was named chairman of the division of clinical periodontics in 1961. In the meantime, he also helped to establish the IUSD Dental Hygiene program in 1950. Among his many accolades, Dr. Swenson became a diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology in 1951. Despite his part-time status, he became a full professor at IUSD. Sensing a need in the region, he and two other gentlemen formed the Midwest Society of Periodontology in the 1960’s, and he served as one of its early presidents. He also organized and presided over the Indiana Society for Periodontists. Dr. Swenson was also president of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) from 1973 to 1974. He was installed as a fellow of the AAP in 1976 and won the academy’s Gold Medal in 1985 and Presidential Award in 1993.
DR. E. BRADY HANCOCK, CHAIRPERSON 1987-2007
Dr. Hancock completed his undergraduate education at the University of Illinois in Champaign (1959-1962). He then completed his dental training at UIC (1962-1967). He joined the IU Periodontics Program in 1972 training under Dr. O’Leary. He completed his Periodontics training in 1974. While in the Navy, he held academic appointments at the University of Oregon 1974-1975, University of Illinois 1977-1980, University of Maryland 1980-1984 and from 1983-1984 directing the Navy Dental Program at Bethesda. Dr. Hancock was recruited back to IUSD full-time in 1987 as the Department Chair of Periodontics. He subsequently also added Director of the Graduate Program to his credentials in 1989. Dr. Hancock served as the Graduate Program Director and Chairperson of the Department until 1993, when the Department was expanded to become the Department of Periodontics and Allied Dental Programs. This was a result of Dean Gilmore’s initiatives. Dr. Hancock also served as a Director of the American Board of Periodontology during his tenure as Chairperson of the Department. Dr. Hancock elevated the national stature of IUSD’s Periodontics program. Dr. Hancock received the AAP’s Outstanding Educator Award in 2011 for all his contributions to IUSD Periodontics and the specialty.
DR. VANCHIT JOHN, CHAIRPERSON 2007-PRESENT
Dr. John completed his dental training at the Madras Dental College in Madras, India in 1987. In 1988, he joined the graduate program in Periodontics at the Madras Dental College completing his residency in 1990. In 1992, he joined the Periodontics Program at IUSD and completed his training in 1995. From 1995-1996 he was a Research Fellow at Eli Lily Labs in Indianapolis, IN. In 1996, he joined the Advanced Standing Program and completed requirements for the American DDS program in 1998. Dr. Vanchit John was then recruited to become the Pre-Doctoral Director in 1999. Dr. John was appointed to the position of Chairperson of the Department in 2007 following the retirement of Dr. Hancock. He was also the Pre-Doctoral Director until 2012. Dr. John is a Past President of the AAP Foundation, Past President of the Indianapolis District Dental Society and Past Head of the AAP’s Education Committee. His was also a delegate of the of the Indianapolis District Dental Society to the Indiana Dental Association, and the Indiana Dental Association to the ADA House of Delegates. In 2021, Dr. John was named the Senior Interim Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity. He was in this role until April 2022.
FIRST FEMALE PERIODONTIST AT IUSD
DR. EDITH DAVIS
Hired in 1945, Dr. Edith Davis was the first woman to serve on the faculty after the Indiana Dental College became the Indiana University School of Dentistry. Besides that, Dr. Davis was also one of the few female periodontists in the country at the outset of her career and was very likely IU’s first faculty member to have received an advanced education specifically in the field of periodontics. After graduating from the Indiana Dental College in 1912, she practiced in Jamestown, Ind., for three years before obtaining advanced periodontics training in Chicago and then setting up practice in Indianapolis. Dr. Davis was a popular teacher who served on the IU faculty for more than two decades. Dr. Davis practiced for 65 years before retiring in 1977, at the age of 87.
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM AND GRADUATE PROGRAM DIRECTORS
DR. NILES HANSEN
Dr. Niles Hansen was brought on as Director of Graduate Periodontics by Dr. Swenson. At that time lectures for the Graduate students consisted of sitting in on Dr. Swenson’s lectures to the undergraduates. Dr. Hansen supervised the Graduate students’ clinical work. Our first graduate student completed the 2-year program in 1959.
DR. DONALD NEWELL, GRADUATE PROGRAM DIRECTOR (1994-2002)
Dr. Newell completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois in Champaign from 1952-1954. He completed his dental training at UIC from 1954-1958. He went on to complete his graduate training at UIC as well in 1964. His master’s degree was in Oral Histology with a periodontal certificate. From 1964-1980 he served in different capacities in the US Army. From 1980-1988 he was Assistant Professor at the University of Texas in San Antonio. Dr. Donald Newell was recruited to come to IUSD in 1989 from the University of Texas at San Antonio. In 1994, Dr. Newell became the Director of Graduate Periodontics. Dr. Newell stayed in the role of Graduate Program Director until 2003 when Dr. Steven Blanchard took over the graduate program. Dr. Newell was the consummate educator, patient and deliberate in his teaching. He was a world authority on the management of furcation involvements. He was a fount of knowledge and always willing to help a resident. Dr. Newell stayed on as full-time faculty until 2007 and then had an adjunct appointment until 2015
DR. STEVEN BLANCHARD, GRADUATE PROGRAM DIRECTOR (2003-2021)
Dr. Blanchard completed his undergraduate training at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1973-1976. His dental training was done at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan 1976-1980. His periodontal training was done at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Graduate School in Biomedical Sciences, San Antonio, Texas 1986-1989. He also completed U.S. Air Force General Practice Residency, USAF Medical Center Scott Air Force Base, Illinois 1980-1981. Dr. Blanchard came to IUSD in 2002 following his career in the Air Force. Following a year as Assistant Graduate Program Director, he took over as the Graduate Program Director in 2003. Dr. Blanchard has brought a wealth of knowledge to the Department as an outcome of his service in the Air Force and as a Director of the American Board of Periodontology. Dr. Blanchard stepped down as the Graduate Program Director in 2021. Dr. Blanchard retired in June 2023.
DR. YUSUKE HAMADA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR GRADUATE PROGRAM (2020-2022)
Dr. Hamada completed his dental training at the Kyushu Dental University in 2006. From 2006-2007 he was a Resident at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Kyushyu Dental University Hospital. From 2007-2008 he completed a Fellowship at the Department of General Anesthesiology in Fukui University Medical Hospital in Japan. From 2012- 2015 he was a Resident in the Department of Periodontology. He was full-time faculty member in the Department of Periodontology from 2016-2022. In 2022, he left to join the UCLA School of Dentistry as the Graduate Program Director of Periodontology
DR. MONICA GIBSON, DIRECTOR GRADUATE PROGRAM (2023-PRESENT)
Dr. Gibson joined the Department in August 2023 and took over the role of Graduate Program Director from Dr. John who served as the Interim Program Director from July 2022-August 2023. Dr. Gibson previously served as an Associate Professor and the Co-Director of the Periodontology Graduate Program at the University of Alberta, School of Dentistry. Her dental degree is from India followed by a PhD as well as post-doctoral training in Biomedical Sciences at Texas A and M Health Sciences Center, Baylor College of Dentistry and then completing her Periodontics residency and Master of Science from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada and serve as a board examiner for the Royal College of Dentists of Canada (RCDC). Dr. Gibson is a tenured Associate Professor.
THE INDIANAPOLIS VA PERIODONTICS RESIDENCY
The VA Periodontics Residency program enrolled its first resident (Dr. Robert Sharp) in 1974. With a few exceptions, there has been one resident in each of the forty classes. Prior to about 2000, having completed a general practice residency was a requirement for admission to the program. Upon satisfactory completion, graduates receive a Certificate of Proficiency from the VA, and most have earned an MSD from IU concurrently. As is expected of a residency program, most graduates go into private solo or group practice. A few have gone into teaching or government service, and many teach part time at dental schools. Two, Dr's. Koehler and Roy, have private practices in Indianapolis, while Dr. Gabrek has a practice in Ft. Wayne. The other residents have scattered widely, from Florida (Dr's. Beverly, Fernandez, Markey, Petroski, Porter, and Van House), to Alaska (Dr. Matthews), and from Massachusetts (Dr. Witzenberger) to Hawaii (Dr. Holguin). Two of the early residents have retired.
THE PRE-DOCTORAL PROGRAM
The Pre-Doctoral Program owes a lot to Dr. Swenson for all the attention he bestowed on making pre-doctoral periodontal education a priority. Dr. Swenson recruited other faculty colleagues to help run the pre-doctoral program. They included Dr. Robert Detamore and Dr. John Williams. Both Dr. Williams and Dr. Detamore were actively involved with the pre-doctoral program in the 1970's and 1980's.
DR. JOHN E. WILLIAMS
DR. ROBERT DETAMORE
THE PRE-DOCTORAL DIRECTORS
DR. KEN KANESHIRO, PRE-DOCTORAL DIRECTOR 1983-1993
In 1983, Dr. O’Leary recruited Dr. Ken Kaneshiro to come and take over the Pre-Doctoral Program. Dr. Kaneshiro had completed a full career in the Navy prior to coming to IUSD. Dr. Kaneshiro was always a very enthusiastic educator and one who had a lot of energy. He was a student advocate and very easy to get along with. Dr. Kaneshiro stayed on until 1993.
DR. JON GRAY, PRE-DOCTORAL DIRECTOR 1993-1998
Upon his retirement from the Navy, Dr. Jon Gray was recruited to become Pre-Doctoral Director. Dr. Gray stayed in this role until 1998. Dr. Gray was actively involved with IUSD’s problem-based curriculum (PBL). He was integral in making sure that the pre-doctoral changed to meet the school’s changing curriculum. In 1998, Dr. Gray left to the University of Florida at Gainesville to become the Graduate Program Director.
DR. VANCHIT JOHN, PRE-DOCTORAL DIRECTOR, 1999-2012
Dr. John completed his dental training at the Madras Dental College in Madras, India in 1987. In 1988 he joined the graduate program in Periodontics at the Madras Dental College completing his residency in 1990. In 1992 he joined the Periodontics Program at IUSD and completed his training in 1995. From 1995-1996 he was a Research Fellow at Eli Lily Lab in Indianapolis, IN. In 1996 he joined the Advanced Standing Program and completed requirements for the American DDS program in 1998. Following Dr. Gray’s departure, Dr. Vanchit John was recruited to become the Pre-Doctoral Director in 1999. He was the Pre-Doctoral Director until 2012.
DR. DANIEL SHIN, PRE-DOCTORAL DIRECTOR 2012-PRESENT
Dr. Shin completed his undergraduate training at Johns Hopkins University Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Baltimore, Maryland. He completed his dental training at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, School of Dental Medicine in Buffalo, New York in 2006. He joined the Periodontics Residency program at IUSD in 2006 and completed his training in September 2009. In 2012, Dr. Daniel Shin was recruited to become the Pre-Doctoral Director. Our pre-doctoral program is doing very well primarily due to the non-stop efforts of Dr. Shin. We are well equipped to meet the future under the leadership of Dr. Shin along with the other faculty.