GSDM Installs Inaugural Professor for Dr. Donald F. Booth Professorship in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Pushkar Mehra DMD 95 OMFS 99, chair and professor of oral & maxillofacial surgery, was installed in January 2025 as the inaugural professor for the GSDM Donald F. Booth Professorship in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.
The Donald F. Booth Professorship in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery is the fourth named professorship at GSDM, joining the Anthony A. Gianelly Professorship in Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics, the Herbert Schilder Professorship in Endodontics, and the Spencer N. Frankl Professorship in Dental Medicine. During the official professorship installation dinner in December 2024, Dean Cataldo Leone expressed his delight in installing Mehra as the inaugural holder of GSDM’s newest professorship.
“Esteemed, named professorships such as these help the school attract and retain talented faculty—like Dr. Pushkar Mehra—giving them additional resources and flexibility they need to excel in education, research, and clinical practice,” Leone said. “In turn, these talented faculty help us recruit exceptional students and residents, who themselves go on to accomplish great things.”
The Donald F. Booth Professorship in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery is named after Dr. Donald F. Booth, professor and chair emeritus of oral & maxillofacial surgery. Booth was joined by 51 other donors—alumni, former residents, and friends—who contributed to an over-a-decade-long fundraising effort to raise an endowed fund of $2.5 million. The spendable income of the fund will be used annually towards research and department support.
“The Donald Booth Professorship is unique in that the endowment was not created through a gift from a single donor, but by generous contributions from 52 donors in all,” Leone said. “Dr. Booth was instrumental in bringing together this group of donors, and on behalf of the entire school community, I thank him and all of you for making the original idea become a wonderful reality.”
Mehra said he has viewed Booth a teacher and mentor for over 25 years—and is honored to continue to benefit from Booth’s generosity as the first endowed chair in his name. He now looks forward to enriching the department of oral & maxillofacial surgery in the spirit of Booth’s legacy.
‘The generosity of all donors who contributed will enable us to invest within our future and continue to fulfill the mission of preparing our residents and faculty to be leaders of tomorrow,” Mehra said. “The fund gives us the ability to continue investing in research, scholarship, and teaching, and it ensures continued progress with a pursuit for excellence.”