AEGD Celebrates 30 Years with Graduation Dinner and Alumni Reunion

On Friday, June 23, 2017, the Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) Program, Postgraduate Operative and Esthetic Program (PGOE) and Digital Dentistry Program at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) held their final Graduation Dinner on the Charles River Campus of Boston University. The following week, on Friday, June 30, 2017, AEGD alumni and guests gathered in the Trustee Ballroom of the Rafik B. Hariri Building for the AEGD Alumni Reunion and celebration of the 30^th year of the program. Dr. John I. Cassis PROS 86 DMD 88 Clinical Professor and Director of the Dental Health Center and Advanced Education in General Dentistry Program, and Dr. Dan Nathanson Professor and Chair of the Department of Restorative Sciences & Biomaterials hosted the events.

At the Graduation Dinner, faculty, graduates, friends, and family came together in the Student Village of BU. Dean and Mrs. Jeffrey W. Hutter were in attendance, as was Dr. Bing Liu DScD 99 DMD 03, President of the GSDM Alumni Association Board and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of General Dentistry.

Prior to dinner, Dr. Cassis delivered the opening remarks as host, welcomed the guests, and introduced Dean Hutter, who congratulated the residents on their achievements, praised Drs. Nathanson and Cassis and the faculty for graduating another class of excellent dentists.  Dr. Cassis then introduced Dr. Liu, who welcomed the graduates to the GSDM alumni family; and Dr. Nathanson, who spoke about the Operative and Esthetic Program graduates.

After dinner, Dr. Cassis announced the names of the graduates of the 2017 AEGD and PGOE programs. Graduates of the AEGD program include:

• Drs. Sulafah Abdulrahman Abdulqawi Bin Shihon; Arielle Brooke Curtis; Janna Danielle Feldman; Jitendra Jethwani; Luri Lee; Yoon Jae Lee; Matthew David Mara; Jeffrey Nelson Pan; Hasti Sabbaghan; Grecia Corina Sucre Velazquez; Tsuyoshi Tanaka; and Haris Yu.
• Graduates of the PGOE program include: Drs. Laila Saleh Al Deeb; Mai Zohair M Almarzouki;  Khalid Salman K Almulhim; Nisreen Nabiel M Hassan; Wid Saleh S Jastaneiah; Hetaf Sameer Redwan; and Abeer Khaled M Tashkandi.
• The lone Digital Dentistry Program graduate was Dr.  Samar Hatem M Abuzinadah.

In addition, the following awards were presented: The recipient of the AEGD Clinical Excellence Award was Dr. Grecia Corina Sucre Velazquez. This award is given to one AEGD graduate who best exemplifies excellence in character and clinical proficiency.

Four awards for Clinical Proficiency were also presented throughout the evening. Dr. Jeffrey Pan received the AEGD Award for Clinical Proficiency in the field of General Dentistry; Dr. Samar Abuzindah was the Award for Clinical Proficiency in Digital Dentistry honoree; and Drs. Wid Jastaneiah and Abeer Tashkandi won the Award for Clinical Proficiency in the field of Operative & Esthetic Dentistry.

The following week, the GSDM community gathered to celebrate 30 years of success for the AEGD program.  Many alumni, faculty, staff, and friends reminisced about their time in the program, and had the opportunity to catch up with old friends.

Dean and Mrs. Hutter were again in attendance, as the Dean thanked Drs. Janet Peters, founding Director of the AEGD program, Dr. Nathanson and Dr. Cassis, along with all the faculty and staff for their dedication over the past 30 years to the AEGD program, that lead to its resounding success.

Drs. Cassis and Nathanson then each delivered their respective speeches for the evening.

Following the cocktail hour, dinner, and speeches, guests were treated to a video presentation, which included a photo slideshow, as well as interviews with AEGD alumni and faculty who reflected on AEGD and their experiences at GSDM. All guests were also given a gift bag, with a Boston University branded thumb drive, and a stainless steel AEGD coffee thermos.

A few people were instrumental in the organization of the AEGD celebration; Dr. Cassis, Director of the AEGD program, Ms. Stacey McNamee, Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving, Ms. Amanda Warren, Director of Meetings & Events, and Mrs. Dianne Dougherty, Administrative Assistant for Events.

Photos from the Alumni Reception and Graduation Dinner can be found on Flickr.