We are pleased to announce that for the first time ever, five clinical UBC Dentistry professors have received Professor Emeritus status. In the past, clinical faculty have not received this recognition.
This status is an honourable lifetime recognition of long service and contribution to the university.
Each year, faculties submit their Emeritus status recommendations to the Faculty Association. Once eligibility is confirmed, the UBC Vancouver Senate takes each name into consideration and makes a final decision.
During the February 2024 meeting, the Senate granted Emeritus status to the following UBC Dentistry clinical professors in the Oral Health Sciences Department.
Please join us in congratulating each of these new Emeritus professors!
Dr. Leandra Best
Dr. Leandra Best joined the Faculty as a part-time clinical instructor in 1999, was appointed as a clinical assistant professor in 2002 and promoted to clinical professor in 2014. She received multiple awards for teaching excellence and contributions to dental education, including the Killam Teaching Prize in 2006, the 3M-ESPE Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry National Teaching Award in 2007 and a nomination for a prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship in 2015.
As an educational leader, Dr. Best developed and implemented significant curriculum changes and created problem-based learning assessments for admissions and the DMD curriculum. She also developed dental applied learning experiences, which connect basic science learning to clinical practice.
Dr. Best demonstrates an outstanding commitment to service at UBC and beyond. She was the first and second year DMD program coordinator between 2003 and 2011 and served on numerous committees within the Faculty. In 2011, she was appointed associate dean, academic. Dr. Best was awarded a fellowship with the American College of Dentists in 2013 and the International College of Dentists in 2014.
Dr. Ingrid Emanuels
Ingrid Emanuels, DMD 1980, began her journey with the Faculty as a part-time clinical instructor in 2005 and was appointed as a clinical assistant professor in 2006. She was later promoted to clinical associate professor in 2013 and to clinical professor in 2018.
Dr. Emanuels has extensive teaching experience and is an exemplary instructor. She established and supervised a mentorship program where fourth year students were paired with second- and third-year students to help them develop psychomotor skills.
Dr. Emanuels also took on several administrative roles in the Faculty, including academic advisor, clinical advisor, faculty advisor, clinic liaison and acting director of student services. She is also a former director of the Summer Student Practitioner Program.
Dr. Mark Fogelman
Dr. Mark Fogelman joined the Faculty as a clinical assistant professor in 2005 and was promoted to clinical associate professor in 2013. He made significant contributions to the academic landscape of the Faculty and was actively involved in coordinating and teaching multiple non-specialty modules as part of the DMD program.
Dr. Fogelman played an instrumental role in creating, developing and teaching the Digital Dentistry Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacture/Ceramic Reconstruction content within Restorative Dentistry and Integrated General Practice IV. This pioneering initiative started as an elective in 2008 and has evolved to become an integrated part of the DMD education curriculum.
This initiative’s impact is evident in our Digital Dentistry lab, which is equipped with advanced scanners and mills for simulation learning and cutting-edge intraoral scanners and mills for patient care. This facility is a perfect example of Dr. Fogelman’s legacy, which has helped countless students in their educational journey and patients who have received same-day indirect ceramic restorations.
Dr. Karen Gardner
Karen Gardner, DMD 1992, joined the Faculty as a clinical instructor in 1996, was appointed as a full-time clinical assistant professor in 2001 and promoted to clinical professor in 2015.
During Dr. Gardner’s clinical professorship, she received a teaching excellence award in 2005 and the Universitas 21 Inaugural Award for Internationalization in 2012.
She was the module coordinator for Integrated General Practice III from 2017 to 2019. She took on administrative roles such as chair of the DMD admission interviews between 2013 and 2019 and director of the integrated care clinic from 2015 to 2017. Dr. Gardner received funding to develop and implement the International Peer Review project for dental students at UBC, the University of Birmingham, the University of Melbourne, Western University College of Dental Medicine, Pomona, California and the University of Hong Kong from 2008 to 2016.
Dr. James (Jim) Richardson
James Richardson, DMD 1984, joined the Faculty in 1987 as a clinical instructor. After taking a pause from teaching, he returned to campus in 1999 to take on the role of clinical group practice manager in the patient care clinic. Dr. Richardson mentored third- and fourth-year students in this role while teaching several clinical simulation courses.
In 2009, he was director of the third- and fourth-year clinical teaching program and director of integrated clinical care, where he incorporated several progressive assessment principles from the Master of Educational Technology program. He introduced a co-developed clinical assessment rubric, significantly enhancing formative feedback. The assessment transition occurred during a period of tremendous growth in the student body, with a 30 per cent increase in fourth-year class size in one year, which required Dr. Richardson to recruit and train over 30 new clinical instructors in 2010.
Dr. Richardson contributed to the development of multi-mini modules to enhance self-paced learning and instructor calibration. He developed an online instructor course for onboarding new clinical faculty and orientation lectures which became a requirement for all clinical instructors in the patient care clinic.
In 2015, Dr. Richardson developed the UBC Dentistry Community Access Fund, which provides dental treatment to patients who cannot afford to pay while simultaneously supporting student learning.