Students Honor Samuelson with Hunt Award
Allen Samuelson, DDS ’92, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Dental Ecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry, received the school’s most prestigious teaching award, the Richard F. Hunt, Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence in Pre-doctoral Teaching, at the annual Spurgeon Banquet at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center April 15, 2003.
Recipients of the Hunt award are nominated and selected by students. Nominees are identified for their ability to foster intellect, demonstrate competence and perspective in all aspects of dentistry, show respect for patients and students during all interactions, exhibit exemplary preparation for classroom and clinic instruction and provide appropriate and timely feedback.
The award is sponsored by the Loblolly Dental Study Club through an endowed fund the club established with the Dental Foundation of North Carolina Inc. The award is given in memory of Dr. Richard F. Hunt, a member of the Class of 1955 who died in South America in a plane crash in 1968. Hunt’s son Richard, a 1989 graduate of the school, practices dentistry with his wife Amy in Rocky Mount , N.C. The award has a cash award of $1,500.
In presenting the award, Dean John Stamm read excerpts from the student nominations. The students stated that “Dr. Samuelson is an excellent teacher and an exceptional clinician. He plays a vital role on our faculty; his goal is to make students feel comfortable rendering treatment. His ability to teach and communicate with students is uncanny. He treats all people he comes into contact with the greatest respect. He is humble, calm, caring and conscientious. His door is always open for students needing advice or help, or even just to talk.”
Samuelson is an attending in the Special Care/Geriatric Clinic and also attends at UNC Hospitals. He received his BA from North Carolina State University in 1986 and his DDS from the UNC School of Dentistry in 1992. He subsequently completed a two year general practice residency at UNC Hospitals in 1994 and a one year internship in oral and maxillofacial surgery in 1995. He joined the School of Dentistry faculty full-time in October 1996.
He currently has received his fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry and is also a fellow in the American Academy of Hospital Dentistry. He is a member of the NC Dental Society, Academy of General Dentistry and the ADA . At the School of Dentistry he lectures and teaches clinically. He does operating room and sedation procedures at UNC Hospitals. He also is an instructor for the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program and the General Practice Residency program, and co-directs the Clinical Geriatric Dentistry Clinical rotation.
