School News

News from the IU School of Dentistry

It’s February, and that means we’re drawing near to May—May 16, 2026, to be exact—when graduating DDS students will gather at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis for the IU School of Dentistry’s graduate recognition celebration and IU Indianapolis commencement ceremonies at Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium.

It’s the middle of winter and Indiana University football is still playing—and winning—meaningful games. The Hoosiers secured their first bowl win since December 31, 1991, with a blowout win over the vaunted Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl, setting the stage for a Big Ten bash against Oregon in the Peach Bowl.

Twenty dental hygiene graduates and their supporters braved the winter weather on Saturday, December 13, 2025, to attend the Dental Hygiene Recognition Event at the IU Indianapolis Campus Center Theater. The event featured many notable speakers from IUSD, including, among others, Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch and Dental Hygiene Program Director Professor Twyla Rader.

Technology has grown at an exponential pace this century, with information technology (IT) in dentistry following suit. Indiana University School of Dentistry’s (IUSD) Office of Dental Informatics and Digital Health (ODIDH), led by Dr. Thankam Thyvalikakath, associate dean, keeps IUSD on the cutting edge. 

On Friday, November 7, 2025, more than 150 donors, students, faculty, and staff gathered at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Indianapolis to celebrate student achievement and present scholarships. During this year’s scholarship banquet, 62 students received $226,000 in support. Read about how powerful partnerships with alumni pave the way for student success and future philanthropy.

The IU School of Dentistry’s orthodontic clinic has officially entered a new era of excellence. With expanded capacity, state-of-the-art equipment, and design centered around collaboration and patient care, the newly renovated space reflects the school’s commitment to excellence in education and patient care. On Friday, October 17, 2025, nearly 70 guests celebrated this milestone with a ribbon-cutting celebration.

Indiana University School of Dentistry’s (IUSD) Office of Student Affairs and Admissions is here to help students before and after they’ve been accepted, through two units: (1) student affairs; (2) admissions and enrollment management.

From mentoring workshops to leadership insights, the last week’s IU School of Dentistry (IUSD) fall faculty conference and staff retreat brought faculty and staff together respectively for two days of learning, connection, and growth. Faculty explored active learning, mentoring, and evolving institutional processes, while staff engaged in leadership development, wellness strategies, and community service. Staff members were recognized for excellence. With a goal of organizational development, these activities reflect IUSD’s commitment to empowering its people and enriching its culture.

The new IUSD Student Leadership Board is uniting student organizations with the goals of amplifying voices, elevating student experiences, coordinating plans and implementation, and streamlining communication. Learn how this student-driven initiative is shaping community, collaboration, and opportunity for IUSD students.

Dr. Angela Ritchie was recently appointed the inaugural assistant dean for admissions and enrollment management with the IU School of Dentistry (IUSD), effective September 1, 2025. This newly created role reflects the school’s commitment to proactively address evolving enrollment trends and will provide strategic leadership in recruitment, analytics, retention, and admissions.

Drs. Anderson Hara, professor and director, Oral Health Research Institute (OHRI), and Grace Gomez Felix Gomez, assistant professor, dental public health and dental informatics, secured monumental grants earlier this year.

The year 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of IU School of Dentistry’s global service-learning (GSL) initiatives. Last week, 100-plus alumni gathered with faculty and staff to commemorate the occasion and share stories of compassion, care, and personal transformation.

IUSD staged its 147th Graduate Recognition Ceremony on May 17, 2025, at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis, honoring 180 graduates. The event featured all the traditional pomp and circumstance, but what set it apart was its focus on growth beyond technical skills and academia. It emphasized a deeper purpose—the why behind the work and the people the profession serves.

Monday, May 12, 2025, marked Indiana University Fort Wayne’s commencement ceremony, held at Allen County Memorial Coliseum Arena. IUFW’s Allied Dental Program graduated more than 50 students across Dental Assisting, Dental Hygiene, and Dental Technology. Yakelin Martinez was honored with the Outstanding Dental Materials Award.

Each spring semester, IUSD gathers to celebrate extraordinary students from all of that year’s graduating classes. This year’s Honors and Awards banquet, held at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on April 11, 2025, divvied out more than 65 awards, honors, and recognitions.

The fourth floor of the IU Indianapolis Campus Center transformed into a cornucopia of dental knowledge and achievements for IUSD’s 33rd Annual Research Day on April 10, 2025. Following a year with record-high awards, there’s no shortage of impactful research conducted within the halls of IUSD.

On April 8th Ty and Sara Campbell were recognized as IUSD’s 2025 Spirit of Philanthropy recipients. Established in 1989, the IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award recognizes individuals and organizations dedicated to supporting the IU Indianapolis campus and who generously contribute and provide volunteer leadership to enhance opportunities for students, faculty, and staff at IU Indianapolis.

Dr. Kenneth (DDS’75, Endo’78) and Beverly Spolnik have donated a large gift that will enable the renovation and construction of a dental school commons, a gathering space in the former Clinics A, B, C clinics overlooking Michigan Street.

Rishma Shah, DDS, MS, PhD, has been named the third recipient of the Joseph R. and Louise Ada Jarabak Professorship. The purpose of the professorship is to enhance and further orthodontic education, to stimulate research in anatomy and physiology and function of the stomatognathic system, to continue research in TMJ disorders, and to stimulate and encourage continued development of orthodontic teachers.

Drs. Jeffrey A. Dean and James E. Jones are retiring at the end of the semester. Together, they amassed 80 years as pediatric dentists, teachers, and scholars.

The Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) is pleased to announce that Dr. Nigel Shaun Matthews, BDS, FDS, MBBS, FRCS (OMFS), has been appointed to the inaugural Dr. Charles E. Tomich Endowed Professorship in Graduate Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

The School of Dentistry has long been synonymous with victory at the annual campus regatta. Ever since the Kavity Killas took second place in the then single-category IUPUI Regatta in 2010, the dental school has placed a team on the winner’s podium every regatta. Last year, our teams set a new high-water mark when they took first place in each of the race’s main team categories (men’s, women’s and co-ed). This year, dental school teams swept the podium in the women’s and co-ed categories, placing first, second, and third in each! Another IUSD team rounded out the men’s podium with a solid bronze.

Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) has lost a faculty member known for his tireless compassion, empathy, and integrity, with the passing of Dr. Michael Sovanich on Aug. 29, 2024. Dr. Sovanich was clinical assistant professor, a clinic director, and founding director of the IUSD Emergency Clinic.

Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) has been selected to host a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence during the 2024-2025 academic year. The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board selected Dr. Mauricio Escoffié Ramírez, an expert in dental public health at the Autonomous University of Yucatán in Mexico, for the Fulbright award.

Dr. Kenneth Spolnik (DDS’75, Endo’78) retired after more than half a century in the dental field and an entire career at IUSD, where he began as a D1 in 1971.

Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch today announced the promotion of Dr. Lisa Lang to the position of executive associate dean. Dr. Lang served as interim dean while Dean Murdoch-Kinch was interim chancellor of IUPUI — now IU Indianapolis — from June 2023 to February 2024.

This month IU School of Dentistry honored the 145th anniversary of Indiana’s only dental school. Faculty, staff, and students gathered for camaraderie, cake, and celebratory remarks by Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch, who touched on IUSD’s venerable past, present, and future.

Indiana University School of Dentistry is pleased to announce Dr. Scott Conley has been appointed to serve as the new program director of Graduate Orthodontics, effective June 1, 2024. After ten years of exemplary service as program director for Graduate Orthodontics, Dr. Kelton Stewart is transitioning to a more active role as assistant dean of faculty development.

On Sunday, May 12, 2024, Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch conferred diplomas to 172 graduates of the Doctor of Dental Surgery, Dental Hygiene, Dental Assisting, and post-graduate specialty programs at the dental school recognition ceremony.

As they approach the finish line of their dental school journey, IUSD recognized outstanding student achievements at the annual honors and awards ceremony. This year’s occasion was held April 26, 2024, at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Indianapolis.

The dental school came together to celebrate our research achievements at the 32nd Annual Research Day on April 10, 2024, at the IU Indianapolis (IUI) Campus Center. Sixty-five students, faculty, and staff members presented 94 research projects. For the second year, researchers from the IU-Fort Wayne Dental Hygiene Program also shared their innovative research.

At the IU Indianapolis  Elite 50 awards ceremony this week, DDS/PhD student Katie Chester was confused why she was not seated with nor called on in alphabetical order with the other honorees. After the presenters announced 40 of the 50 graduate students, it dawned on this bright, promising DDS researcher that she had been selected -- out of 8,000 graduate students at IU Indianapolis (IUI) -- among the top 10.  

Team Clinic returns to create practice-ready graduates. The aim of  IUSD’s educational program is to develop independent graduates who can be entrusted to provide competent, compassionate care for diverse patients in different practice settings and situations.

Dr. Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch (at right) returned to IUSD as dean. She had been serving as IU interim chancellor since June 2023. She comes back to IUSD as Dr. Latha Ramchand begins her term as inaugural chancellor of IU Indianapolis today.

For the second time in five years, research by an IUSD Pediatric Dentistry graduate student made the cover of the Journal of the American Dental Association. Dr. Hannah Jackson (Peds’23), above,  was lead author of “Topical fluoride impact in future restorative dental procedures: A claim study,” published in the October 2023 Journal of the American Dental Association, with faculty co-authors Drs. Juan Yepes, Allison Scully, LaQuia Vinson, James Jones, and Gerardo Maupomé.

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) of the National Institutes of Health has awarded Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) researchers one of the largest federal grants in the school’s history.

The future is bright for IUSD’s Class of 2023! Indiana’s dental school graduated 186 DDS, advanced graduate, dental hygiene, and dental assisting students on May 13, 2023, at the 145th graduation ceremony in the Murat Theatre at Old National Centre, Indianapolis. 

IUSD honored graduating DDS and Dental Hygiene students who excelled academically, clinically, and through service to the school and community at the annual student awards program, held April 28, 2023, at Scottish Rite Cathedral.

Congratulations to our student researchers and their faculty mentors who showcased their work at IUSD’s 31st Annual Research Day on April 10, 2023. This year marked the highest number of poster presentations – 123 – in the history of Research Day, including contributions from dental hygiene students at the Fort Wayne campus, said Dr. Gabe Chu, associate dean of Research.

Dr. Vinicius Dutra has developed a virtual reality (VR) radiology training for oral health providers, designed to address both the high cost of radiology training and the low interest of many dental students in radiology.

A new exhibit highlighting 145 years of women's history at IUSD was unveiled today on Main Street for Women's History Month. 

Beginning Feb. 1, 2023, new patients in Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) comprehensive care clinics can manage their information and appointments using the school’s new online patient portal.

Some follow paths. A few blaze trails. Then there is Dr. Arden Christen (Oral Diag/Oral Med’65), who died Dec. 30, 2022.

Congratulations and THANK YOU to the following faculty and staff for the special milestone years of service. Dean Murdoch-Kinch recognized these long-term members of the IUSD family at her Town Hall meeting on Nov. 30, 2023.

Dr. Chandler Walker, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Comprehensive Care at Indiana University School of Dentistry, was awarded a three-year, $1.1 million grant package from Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Inc. (NDR) for stem-cell research and to study pathological changes related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  

Faculty emeritus Dr. Melvin Lund was honored Oct. 22, 2022, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Gold Foil Operators, in Indianapolis. His peers, students, and family members celebrated his 100th birthday and his lifetime achievements.

For the first time since 2019, IUSD held Research Day’s poster presentations in person, with the remainder of the program presented online. Students presented 93 posters of their research conducted under the mentorship of their faculty.

Dr. Charles Willis Gish (DDS’49, MSD’60), professor emeritus, Pediatric Dentistry, passed away on Jan. 24, 2022. Dr. Gish was known for his outstanding work in public health, academia, and clinical dental research.

Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) is pleased to announce the launch of a new Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Institute on the IUPUI campus! Perhaps the first of its kind in the United States, the TMJ Institute is a multidisciplinary, collaborative, clinic designed to support the treatment of patients with chronic or challenging dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint.

IUSD is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Angeles Martínez Mier as Associate Dean for Global Engagement, effective Nov. 1, 2021. In this role, Dr. Martínez Mier will support students, faculty, and staff to become engaged global citizens.

IUSD honors the faculty and staff who celebrated milestone anniversaries in 2021.Our faculty and staff are the heart and soul of the dental school. We are so grateful for your service to our students and the oral health profession. This year we recognize three employees who have been with IU for 40 years! 

As dental professionals, we must be educated about the relevant impacts of dentistry on the environment. We owe it to our patients and fellow human beings to take care of this amazing planet we live on by being conscious, informed practitioners.

Indiana University School of Dentistry’s (IUSD) 29th annual Research Day was a great triumph! The hybrid virtual event, held April 12, 2021, featured almost 70 poster presentations, remarks from Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch and research updates from Dr. Tien-Min Gabriel Chu, associate dean for research. Dr. Marcelo Araujo, DDS, MS, PhD, CEO ADA Science & Research Institute, foundation and chief science officer, American Dental Association, served as keynote speaker.

Each year, IUPUI honors 50 graduate and professional students who demonstrate excellence beyond the classroom in areas such as campus leadership, scholarly work, and community engagement. IUPUI will recognize these exceptional students at a virtual awards ceremony at 6 pm, April 6, 2021.

The keynote speaker for this year's Indiana University School of Dentistry Research Day is Dr. Marcelo Araujo, DDS, MS, PhD. Dr. Araujo is Chief Science Officer for the American Dental Association and Chief Executive Officer of the ADA Science & Research Institute. His keynote presentation will be "The use of scientific strategy to support health policy and clinical practice."

Dr. George Stookey, professor emeritus, has been awarded the IU Bicentennial Medal. Dr. Stookey received all of his education at Indiana University, including a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1957, MSD in preventive dentistry in 1962, and PhD in dental sciences in 1971. He began his career in an IUSD lab in the 1950s, earning one dollar an hour testing the fluoride formulation that became the active ingredient in Crest® toothpaste. 

Every year the Indiana University School of Dentistry Alumni Association recognizes a select group of dental professionals for their contributions to the school and their achievements in the field of dentistry. Help us celebrate this year's honorees!

The one-year anniversary of my appointment as the 10th dean of Indiana University School of Dentistry, and first woman in the position, arrived faster than I could have imagined.

The COVID-19 pandemic has asked much from the Class of 2020 in terms of quick-thinking action and adaptability. These qualities were again on display as the School of Dentistry was forced to forgo our traditional, in-person commencement ceremony, and instead honor this year’s graduates with an online recognition event.

This year, the 28th Annual Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) Research Day looked a little different than usual. Due to public health issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Research Day was forced to forgo the customary in-person poster judging and presentation sessions; instead shifting to an online format that saw researchers presenting and judges deliberating over virtual conferences and video chats.

Each year, IUPUI selects 50 graduate and professional students who embody the qualities that make IUPUI exceptional – students who demonstrate excellence beyond the classroom – in areas such as campus leadership, scholarly work, and community engagement. This year IUPUI selected five IU School of Dentistry (IUSD) students  to be among the Elite 50!

The free Give Kids A Smile event will be held from 9:30 am to 1 pm at the IU School of Dentistry on the IUPUI campus at 1121 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, Ind., 46202. Dental school faculty and students will provide free dental screenings, fluoride treatments, and preventive oral health care. Children also will receive goodie bags with a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and oral hygiene instructions. Face painting, coloring, and games will entertain families as well.

As we celebrate our dental school’s rich 140-year history, I look forward to co-creating our vision of the dental school in 2020 and beyond, to be the best dental school in the world,  and putting our plan in action to get us there.

Held when students transition from the classroom segment of their education, to beginning to provide care to patients in our school clinics, our student dentists pledged their commitment to the profession of dentistry and the patients they will serve at our annual White Coat Ceremony.

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