Clifton O. Dummett, D.D.S.

Dr. Clifton O. Dummett currently is Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California, School of Dentistry in Los Angeles, California. His teaching career in periodontics began at Meharry Medical College, School of Dentistry, where he ultimately became professor of periodontics. He became dean and director of dental education at age 28, establishing a record as the youngest dental dean in the United States.

Dr. Dummett's subsequent appointments include chief dental service and associate chief of staff for research and education, Veterans Administration Hospital, Tuskegee, Alabama; chief, dental service, Veterans Administration Research Hospital, Chicago, Illinois; associate project director and health center director of the University of Southern California South Central Multipurpose Health Services Center, Los Angeles, California; professor and chairman, Department of Community Dentistry and Public Health, and associate dean, School of Dentistry, University of Southern California.

Dr. Dummett was the first dentist to serve as associate chief of staff for research and education at one of the nation's VA hospitals, and the first dentist appointed health center director at one of the nation's OEO health centers.

In 1969, he became the first member of the dental faculty at the University of Southern California to be elected president of the International Association for Dental Research. In 1972, Dr. Dummett was one of the first three dentists in the nation and the first University of Southern California Health Sciences faculty member to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. He was appointed to the Institute's Council and served on the program membership and international health committees. He currently is a senior member of the institute.

Dr. Dummett is past president of the Los Angeles Dental Society, the American Academy of the History of Dentistry and the American Association of Dental Editors. He served two separate terms as chairman of dentistry, American Association for the Advancement of Science. A former editor and chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Dental Editors, he served 22 years as editor of the National Dental Association. In 1977, he was the only dentist appointed as a member of the U.S. President's Committee on National Health Insurance.

Contributor to more than 300 articles in dental, medical and health publications, Dr. Dummett is author of Growth and Development of the Negro in Dentistry in the United States, Community Dentistry and Contributions to New Directions.

With his wife, Lois, Dr. Dummett wrote The Hillenbrand Era: Organized Dentistry's Glanzperiode (sponsored by the American College of Dentists); Charles E. Bentley: A Model for all Times; Afro-Americans in Dentistry; Sequence and Consequence of Events; Dental Education at Meharry Medical College: Origin and Odyssey; Culture and Education in Dentistry at Northwestern University; and NDA II: The Story of America's Second National Dental Association.

Dr. Dummett was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the University of Southern California, School of Dentistry. Among many honors, he has received the Alfred C. Fones Gold Medal of the Connecticut State Dental Association and the Wm. J. Gies Award of the American College of Dentists. He is an honorary member (1969) of the American Dental Association, and holds honorary doctorates in science from Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania.