From the President of the Alumni Association:
COVID was a life altering experience for all of us, destroying or changing much of our lives as we previously knew them. The Alumni Association was no exception. Two years ago there really didn’t seem to be much left functioning, and those of us who were running the shell that remained decided to take this opportunity to pretty much start over. Together with Dean Ismail we defined our goals, with emphasis on reconnecting alumni who have lost touch with the School and with each other. We restructured and greatly simplified the organization and rewrote the by-laws to reflect the changes. So, as the current President of the Alumni Association I present to you the new, improved, and hopefully more inviting and relevant Alumni Association.
The Association has a changed emphasis, expanding from its former emphasis on Philadelphia to local and regional events throughout the country where you can combine continuing education with spending time with other alumni from your local area. These community events are being organized and sponsored by Dean Ismail and faculty members of the Dental School. We are hoping that your community-based events will open up communication among alumni of all ages encouraging sharing ideas and experiences in a way we haven’t been doing until now.
Our attempt to create open communication among alumni cannot succeed without your help. If there is someone you have lost touch with, please notify us and we will help you find them. If there is someone you know who is not connected to the Alumni Association, please let us know and we will get in contact with them.
Another goal of our association is to engage the current students at the school to learn their ideas and aspirations and provide support in achieving them. We hope to do activities and projects that will benefit the most number of students while they are any the school.
We have a dedicated group of volunteers and paid staff, working hard to make our revamped Association a success. The current Board members are as follows: President, Ron Silverman; President-Elect, Michael Bydalek; Secretary, Tom Howley; Treasurer, Cynthia Jetter; Awards Chair, Alan Simkins; and Young Alumni Representative, Varun Solanki. We also have two full-time university employees in the Alumni office, David Leach and Diane Fosbenner who provide outstanding support to our organization. Our Board of Directors meets in Philadelphia three or four times a year to plan activities and programs. We would like your suggestions, and need your support and input. Feel free to contact me directly with any concerns or suggestions. We are building an alumni association that is relevant and helpful to all our graduates.
Ron Silverman DDS