ALUMNI OF THE YEAR
AlumnI OF THE YEAR 2009
Melanie Gullett, DDS '83 & George Maranon, DDS '83
Melanie and George graduated as classmates from the UCLA School of Dentistry in 1983. They became active in the Alumni Association ten years later when Ann Beech asked them to plan their class reunion.
Members of the Alumni Board for more than 10 years, each of them served as president for three years. In addition, for several years Melanie co-chaired the Apollonians with Dr. Robert Wolcott.
In the meantime, Melanie and George married and developed individual practices. Melanie established a private practice in Santa Monica. George, an oral surgeon, has been practicing in Tarzana for the past 13 years. He is also very active in the California Dental Association and local politics.
The couple has been very active in the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts with their sons Bryan and Casey and served in various leadership capacities. They recently ended their scouting careers on a high point when Casey became an Eagle Scout.
Now empty nesters, Melanie and George live in Brentwood, high up in the Santa Monica Mountains, where they have remodeled, re-landscaped and are continuing to build their dream home.
A few years ago, Melanie sold her practice and retired. She now helps George with the management of his practice and is assisting with the supervision of the construction of his new office in Encino.
A breast cancer survivor of two years, Melanie has been working to raise awareness and funds for its cure. She feels that she has a blessed life and stays in touch with many of her classmates.
Melanie and George will continue to plan class reunions and to live “happily ever after.”
Alumnus of the Year Archive
Carol Bibb, DDS Class of 1978
Dr. Carol Bibb has been a member of the UCLA School of Dentistry faculty since her graduation. She initially served in a part-time capacity and has been here full-time since she was appointed direcor of the UCLA Dental Center in 1999.
Currently, Carol serves as Associate Dean for Student Affairs, a position in which she is a strong student advocate, referred to by the appreciative students as their “dental school mom.” In addition to fulfilling her administrative responsibilities, Carol continues to teach several courses, including dental anatomy and oral embryology, and she shares her expertise and passion for teaching by mentoring students interested in careers in dental education.
Carol and her husband John are still outdoor enthusiasts as described in the 1978 yearbook and, as she puts it, “we’re still playing after all these years.”
William Morgan, DDS Class of 1973
Dr. William Morgan is a member of the dental school faculty and has taught full- or part-time since his graduation in 1973. He also has been a member of the Faculty Group Dental Practice for the past 10 years.
Bill is currently the Dental Alumni Association's President-Elect. In addition, he serves on the School's Student Performance Committee and was a member of the Admissions Committee for 11 years. Our students have selected him as Faculty Member of the Year four times, and he has received several other teaching awards. Outside UCLA, Bill serves his church in various teaching and leadership positions.
Between them, Dr. Morgan and his wife, Teresa, have five children and six grandchildren and are expecting two more later in 2007.
Alan L. Felsenfeld, DDS Class of 1974
Dr. Alan L. Felsenfeld is a professor of clinical oral and maxillofacial surgery and Director of Clinical Affairs in oral and maxillofacial surgery at UCLA. In addition he is a part-time attending surgeon at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He received his DDS from UCLA in 1974 and did a residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He practiced in the San Gabriel Valley for eighteen years before entering into a full-time academic career. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, as well as a Fellow in General Anesthesia of the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology.
Dr. Felsenfeld has been active in organized dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery. He is presently chair of the Committee on Residency, Education and Training of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, as well as an examiner for the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He serves on the executive committee of the California Dental Association in his capacity as editor of the Journal of the California Dental Association.
Naomi L. Ellison, DDS Class of 1981
Dr. Naomi L. Bement has been chosen by the Board of Directors to be this year's Alumnus of the Year. Naomi received a DDS degree from UCLA in 1981 and a Certificate in General Practice Residency from the V.A. Hospital at Wadsworth in 1982.
Dr. Bement plays an active role at UCLA as Chair of the Dental School Board of Counselors, Member of the Foundation Board, and Founding & present Board Member of Women and Philanthropy.
She also has served in numerous capacities for the California Dental Association, including as a two-term member of the Council on Communications, long-term member of CalDPac, and as a member & chair of the Council on Legislation. She currently serves on the mirror boards of The Dental Insurance Company and 1201 Financial & Insurance Services, Inc.
John A. Yagiela, DDS Class of 1971
Dr. John A. Yagiela has been selected as the UCLA School of Dentistry's Alumnus of the Year for 2004. Dr. Yagiela currently serves as Professor and Chair of the School's Division of Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences and as Director of the Dental Anesthesiology Residency program.
An internationally recognized authority on pain and anxiety control for dentistry, Dr. Yagiela will be honored for his leadership and service to the School of Dentistry and to the dental profession during the School's Alumni Day, which will be held on Saturday, April 17, in conjunction with the California Dental Association's Spring Scientific Conference in Anaheim.
Russell Webb, DDS Class of 1978
Dr. Russell I. Webb (DDS '78, Certificate in Oral Surgery '81) has been selected as the UCLA School of Dentistry's Alumnus of the Year for 2003. Dr. Webb, who was a bronze medallist in Water Polo at the 1972 Olympic Games, currently serves as Vice Chair of the School's Board of Counselors and as Vice President of the California Dental Association.
Dr. Webb will be honored for his outstanding leadership and service to the UCLA School of Dentistry, the profession of Dentistry, and the community at a Luncheon during the School's Alumni Day, which will be held on Saturday, April 26, in conjunction with the California Dental Association's Spring Scientific Conference in Anaheim.
Honorary Alumnus of the YEAR 2009
Harold Hargis, DMD
Dr. Harold Hargis officially retired from the dental school in 1994, though you’d never know it judging by the schedule he keeps. Four days each week, predoctoral students and residents alike have come to expect his presence and to rely on the expert clinical direction he provides at the UCLA Dental Center in Westwood and the Wilson-Jennings-Bloomfield UCLA Venice Dental Center.
Growing up the son of a coal miner in West Virginia during the Great Depression, young Harold Hargis admired two things about his local dentist: 1) the man wore a necktie, and 2) he was popular; he always had a line of people trailing down his front steps waiting to see him. All during his childhood, Dr. Hargis kept his desire to be a dentist to himself, yet held onto his goal. He served as a Navy minesweeper in the Pacific during WWII, played football and wrestled at Howard University, then opted for a second military career in the Army performing surgeries in several countries in Europe.
It was during his time as an Army Colonel that Dr. Hargis was selected to study with Professor Hugo Obwegeser of Switzerland, then a pioneering oral surgeon, and became a pioneer himself. Dr. Hargis is well known around the world for inventing and perfecting new surgical instruments and is credited with coining the term “orthognathic surgery” to describe the now reliable and routine procedure that straightens the jaw. By the time Dr. Hargis joined the UCLA School of Dentistry faculty in 1972, he was a highly sought-after oral surgeon in both military and academic circles.
In 2006, the California Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons recognized Dr. Hargis’ lifelong contributions to the specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery, describing him as an "educator, inventor, innovator and an oral and maxillofacial surgeon of international reputation and unmatched skill."
Honorary Alumnus of the Year Archive
Donald Fisher, DDS
Dr. Donald Fisher began his career at UCLA’s fledgling dental school in the 1960s. He made valuable contributions to the new curriculum, and received the only teaching award given by the first class of dental students. Since that time, Dr. Fisher has outlasted several UC presidents, three UCLA Chancellors, 12 UCLA dental deans, and eight US presidents, and has seen 40 additional dental classes graduate. In fact, Dr. Fisher is the only faculty member in the history of the UCLA School of Dentistry who has taught every DDS graduate. He has left an impact on the School and the profession that will last for years to come.
John Campbell, PhD
John H. Campbell received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1964. Following postdoctoral studies at the Institut Pasteur, Paris and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Canberra, Australia, Dr. Campbell joined the faculty of the Department of Anatomy of the School of Medicine at UCLA.
He has served as a visiting scientist and professor at the Division of Plant Industry, CSIRO, the Research School of Biological Sciences at the Australian National University, the Mathematics Institute of Oxford University, and was the first Robert Wesson Scholar on Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at the Hoover Institute. He is currently an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Sciences. Dr. Campbell has made an enormous contribution to the education of dental students during his career at UCLA.
