Nov. 13, 2019
MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin’s only dental school will celebrate a major milestone this weekend. Marquette University School of Dentistry will host a celebration on Saturday, Nov. 16, to mark its 125th anniversary.
The Dental School opened its doors on Sept. 26, 1894, with an enrollment of 30 when it began as part of the Milwaukee Medical College inside Trinity Hospital at Wells and 9th Streets. Five years later, the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons began enrolling dental students — the schools merged and joined Marquette University on Feb. 1, 1913.
“In celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Marquette University School of Dentistry, we are honoring all those who have come before us and built the Dental School into the institution it is today,” said Dean William K. Lobb, D.D.S., M.S., M.P.H. “Our school has seen many changes and endured trying times, but throughout the years our mission to prepare dentists to provide exceptional care and service to others has remained unchanged.”
In the years that followed, the school would move twice more, opening its current state-of-the-art facility in 2002. To date, Marquette has educated nearly 10,000 dentists through its patient-centered curriculum.
“We have been fortunate to build a modern facility to take us into the future and have introduced a redesigned curriculum that reaffirmed our leadership in dental education,” Lobb said. “Throughout this time, our Catholic, Jesuit-inspired commitment to serving others has only grown stronger and expanded to even more people in need.”
In addition to providing extensive dental education and training to students from Wisconsin and beyond, Marquette also provides over $15 million of dental services to Milwaukee community annually, while reaching 60 or more of the 72 counties in the state through its clinics and events such as the Wisconsin Dental Association’s Give Kids a Smile Day. The school serves over 27,000 patients through 108,000 visits per year. It is one of the state’s largest dental Medicaid provider as over 40 percent of patients served are living below the poverty line.
Media interested in interviewing Dean Lobb and touring the Dental School should contact Kevin Conway, associate director of university communication, at kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.
Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of University Relations. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.
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