ATSU-ASDOH Dean Jack Dillenberg to retire June 2017
Posted: August 2, 2016
A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) inaugural Dean Jack Dillenberg, DDS, MPH, has announced his plan to retire, effective June 30, 2017, at which time he will have completed 16 years of dedicated service to ATSU. Under Dean Dillenberg’s leadership, ATSU-ASDOH has grown to be a national leader in dental education.
“I have been blessed to have assembled and serve with a truly talented team who has created and maintains Arizona’s first dental school as well as the nation’s first public health-oriented dental school,” said Dean Dillenberg. “The selection of students with significant community service, followed by extensive clinical training and community health center-based experiences, a certificate in public health, and a flourishing dual DMD-MPH program, are all integral components of the ASDOH educational model that I’ve been privileged to help establish.”
ATSU-ASDOH has been recognized for its academic and clinical excellence by the federal government through two HRSA grants totaling more than $3 million. As well, private philanthropic foundations like Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the Sundt Foundation, and Thunderbird Charities, have supported the School’s educational and community outreach endeavors. In 2014, ATSU-ASDOH received the distinguished William J. Gies Award for Outstanding Innovation — Academic Dental Institution from the American Dental Education Association and ADEAGies Foundation.
In 2007, Dean Dillenberg was inducted into the International College of Dentists. In 2012, he received the Arizona Medical Association’s Humanitarian Award, and Fresh Start Women’s Foundation of Arizona named him East Valley Man of the Year. In 2014, the United Arab Emirates International Dental Conference named him Personality of the Year, and most recently in July 2016, he was presented with the American Academy of Developmental Medicine’s Dr. Robert E. Cooke Lifetime Achievement Award.
“ATSU has been very fortunate to have Dr. Dillenberg as part of our family,” said ATSU President Craig Phelps, DO, ’84. “During his tenure as inaugural dean, Dr. Dillenberg led ASDOH to international acclaim and success. We are truly grateful for his service and remarkable accomplishments.”