Dentistry professor, former dean recognized with honorary degree
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Professor John W. Stamm has been awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Dentistry from King’s College London. Stamm is a professor in the Department of Dental Ecology at the UNC School of Dentistry and is an adjunct professor of epidemiology in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
The honorary degree was conferred in a ceremony in London in early November at an event chaired by the Marquess of Douro and Principal Sir Richard Trainor.
Honorary degrees are conferred by King’s College London on those of conspicuous merit as demonstrated by their outstanding contributions. In addition to his academic work in oral disease risk assessment, Stamm was recognized as “a truly international figure in dentistry, with enormous standing and influence, whose pursuit of excellence and promotion of advances in dental education and oral and dental science underpin his outstanding contribution to dentistry.”
During his 27 years at the UNC School of Dentistry, Stamm served as dean from 1989-2004 and as interim dean from 2010-11. During that time, continuing effort was devoted to strengthening the school’s brand as a global leader in dental education and research. Under Stamm’s watch, the school constructed a new clinical teaching facility, Tarrson Hall, and started the planning and fundraising process for the new Dental Sciences Building that will open in the spring of 2012.
In addition, Stamm oversaw establishment of the school’s first two Ph.D. programs and led the school through two successful accreditation processes and two highly successful capital campaigns. During his tenure, the number of dentistry’s endowed professorships rose from one to 14, and student scholarship/fellowship funds grew significantly. Stamm also pressed for strategic investments in the information technology infrastructure that enabled an electronic curriculum, an electronic patient record system and a centrally located digital clinical imaging system.
Stamm is a graduate of the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto. From 1971 to 1984, he served on the full-time faculty at McGill University in Montreal.
UNC-Chapel Hill and King’s College London have developed a wide-ranging strategic alliance that combines the strengths of two global academic research institutions. An alliance was initially signed in 2006 between UNC College of Arts and Sciences and King’s School of Humanities and School of Social Science and Public Policy, and it continues to grow and include additional disciplines campus-wide. The alliance offers opportunities for student exchange, faculty exchange and research collaboration.
