School of Dental Medicine
Overview
Since its founding in 1896, the School of Dental Medicine has evolved into one of the premier dental education and clinical facilities in the world. The school continues in its mission of providing superior dental education and training, as well as high-quality clinical services to the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the region.
A primary goal of the School of Dental Medicine is to offer superior learning opportunities to First Professional, Residency, and Dental Hygiene students, allowing School of Dental Medicine graduates to become nationally and internationally recognized leaders in the profession of dentistry.
In addition to outstanding classroom opportunities, the School of Dental Medicine is dedicated to research and advancing the science of dentistry. Research efforts within the school continue to expand, focusing on genetics, craniofacial anomalies, caries, periodontal disease, pharmacology and pain control, implantology, oral cancer and dentistry for immunosuppressed patients.
As an integral component of the University’s acclaimed health sciences programs, the school acts as a regional provider for many underserved populations including the treatment of people with special needs. The school is in the process of renovating a dedicated space for special needs patients which will increase our capacity to treat people with Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, autism, Parkinson’s Disease, and other mental or physiological impairments. It is often challenging to find a dentist who is able to provide the appropriate level of care for special needs patients, and the School of Dental Medicine is proud to provide this service to our community. The Center for Patients with Special Needs is slated to open in 2008.
But to accomplish this goal requires your participation. By directing your gift to an area or department that is most meaningful, you contribute to the advancement of our work and reputation in any number of areas.
Donor Profile
The Dr. Harold W. Posner Endowed Professorship
Like many men of his generation, military service was much on the mind of Harold Posner in the summer of 1941. The world was in the throes of war and Dr. Posner believed the best way he could serve his country was by pursuing his dream of becoming a dentist before joining the war effort. He was inspired to pursue dentistry by his guardian and uncle, Franklin B. Jaffe, DDS.
Motivated by his uncle, Dr. Posner sent out a handful of dental school applications and accepted the invitation to enroll in the University of Pittsburgh that fall.
Dr. Posner, a Jewish man from Queens, found the University of Pittsburgh to be welcoming and relatively unaffected by the racism that was gripping other parts of the country during the 1940s.
After graduating in 1944, Dr. Posner was able to serve his country as an Army dentist. Dr. Posner traveled throughout the European Theater until the end of World War II, and upon returning to the U.S. in December of 1945, he set up a small practice in New York. He quickly left to once again serve his country, this time at Andrews Air Force base during the Korean conflict.
Dr. Posner then settled into family life, marrying his wife Ilse within a year of being introduced by fellow Pitt graduate Dr. Ilse Jansen, ’42. He built a robust practice in Queens and worked there as a family dentist until his retirement in 1977.
After retiring, Dr. Posner and his wife relocated to Florida, where he had helped establish the Greenbriar Nursing Home nearly a decade earlier. “The nursing home turned out to be a great investment and we were able to sell it in 1982,” he recalls. “In all,” Dr. Posner says, “I’ve been fairly successful.”
His success has allowed him to give back to the University that provided his training so many years ago. Dr. Posner and his wife, Ilse F. Posner, have made a generous donation to the University of Pittsburgh in the form of a charitable remainder trust. Their gift will be used to create an endowed professorship in the School of Dental Medicine. The professorship will stand as a tribute to Franklin B. Jaffe, DDS, the man who raised him and inspired his passion for dentistry.
Contact Us
Paul B. Casey
University of Pittsburgh
School of Dental Medicine
Suite 440, Salk Hall
3501 Terrace Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261-1933
412-383-7544
pbc8@pitt.edu
Paul Casey is the Director of Development for the School of Dental Medicine. For the past five years, he has been working with alumni and friends of the school.