Helen Holland Establishes Holland Award in Prosthodontic Dentistry

Mrs. Helen Holland recently donated $50,000 to the Dental Foundation of North Carolina (DFNC) to establish the Dr. Murry Holland and Mrs. Helen H. Holland Award in Prosthodontic Dentistry. The award will honor her late husband, Murry and will benefit prosthodontics students. Dr. Holland passed away in June 2005.

“Murry passed away in June 2005, and over the past couple of years I kept having thoughts that I would like to do something to honor him in some way,” said Mrs. Holland. “This seemed “just right.” He enjoyed his profession very much and always considered it to be a privilege and honor to be in the third graduating UNC dental class and remain here for 17 years with the faculty. It was important to me and I am happy to honor him in this way.”

Each year, the Holland Award will be presented to the D.D.S. student who best exemplifies Dr. Holland’s professionalism and proficient skill in prosthodontics and aesthetic dentistry. Award selection will be based on excellence in the classroom, laboratory and/or clinics. School faculty members will nominate students and a faculty committee will select the recipient.

“The Department of Prosthodontics is grateful for the support that Mrs. Holland is generously providing our students in memory of her husband,” said Dr. Thomas Ziemiecki, interim chair of the Department of Prosthodontics. “It is a wonderful way to honor her husband’s love for dentistry while supporting the next generation of prosthodontists.”

Dr. Holland was a 1956 D.D.S. graduate of the UNC School of Dentistry, after which he joined the faculty in the school’s Fixed Prosthodontics Department. In 1973, he retired from teaching and opened a dental practice in Chapel Hill. Mrs. Holland resides in Chapel Hill.