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The Academy’s Executive Committee, now named the Management Team, held their Board Meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn in Palm Springs, California, last March. In attendance were Academy President Michael Perpich, Immediate Past President Kevin Roach, President-elect Howard Mark, Vice President William Winspear, Secretary General Richard Kozal, Editor James Brophy, and Accountant Dan Jonkers.

The Meeting opened with all officers present participating in the Invocation. President Michael Perpich noted that he and President-elect Howard Mark had been working with our Webmaster Mark Stanley to improve the Web site and all our communications within the Academy in general. President Perpich had also reported attending the Georgia Section Leadership Conference, and he assisted in inducting 10 new Fellows into membership.

Secretary General Richard Kozal reported that the Central Office sent out 29 Dentist of the Year plaques in 2004. Two “outgoing” Section Chair plaques have been processed, and the 2005 dues notices have been mailed out. The Office also mailed out 54 letters to dental school deans for the Academy Senior Leadership Certificate and for the Foundation’s Scholarship Award to junior dental students. Updated membership rosters, Life Members, and the 2004 delinquent members list have been mailed to all Section Chairs. The Membership Directory is on the Web site, updated routinely, and can be printed out by Section. The Management Team continues to hold their quarterly conference calls in conjunction with the Budget & Finance Committee to keep the Academy in good financial condition. All the necessary paperwork has been filed with the State of Nevada to act as a foreign corporation in that State.

Life Member letters have been mailed out in response to such requests, which usually come in after the members receive their dues notices. The members must request Life Membership and indicate whether they wish to subscribe to Dental World and/or contribute to the Foundation. Foundation contributions were forwarded to the Foundation last February with the remaining amount to be sent before the end of the year.

Our Secretary General, in representing us at the Chicago MidWinter Meeting and attending the Illinois Section Luncheon, met with David Norris of the Howe and Hutton Law firm to complete our final corporate museum documents with IRS. This status will allow for donations to the museum by individuals to be tax-deductible.

The Meeting with the Illinois Section Chair produced a schedule for the coming year’s activities.

Secretary General Richard Kozal, as Treasurer, reported paying the Elsevier bill for our publications for 2004. He also noted that our 2005 Foundation contributions have exceeded those of 2004. All new Fellows inducted have been processed to date. The Academy has no outstanding invoices to be paid. The bank statements and financial report were included in the meeting packet for officer review.

Our accountant Dan Jonkers, of Dan Jonkers & Associates, reported that the Academy is financially sound. He was very impressed that the Board was able to achieve that success in only two years. He went over all the line item assets and liabilities of the Academy contained in the meeting packet with the Management Team and answered their questions.

The Academy’s Management Team Board Meeting cont'd

continued from above....

Foundation President Carl Lundgren’s report to the Academy Management Team was reviewed and they are doing very well in negotiating the vast investment swings of the economy.

The 2005-2006 Nominations Committee Report from Chairman Kevin Roach, the Academy’s Immediate Past President, was approved with Michael Perpich automatically becoming our Immediate Past President, Howard Mark becoming President, William Winspear to become President-elect, and International Trustee James Englander of Wisconsin to be nominated for Academy Vice President. International Trustees nominated were for Region 4, former Indiana Section Chair Ray Maddox; for Region 7, replacing the late Bernardo Levit, Mexico Section Chair Ernesto Acuna; and for Region 9, renominating Trustee Mamoru Sakuda of Osaka, Japan.

The Management Team went over the Academy publications with Editor James Brophy. Together they designed a new focus for the coming years in the direction of the publications, particularly Dental World.

The Awards Committee Report by Chairman James Englander was approved. Dr. George Zarb will receive the Elmer S. Best Award during the FDI/PFA Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, this August. The PFA Gold Medal was approved for Dr. Dushanka Kleinman. Honorary Fellowship for Dr. Malvin Ring was nominated by Foundation Executive Director Fred Halik. The Distinguished Service Citation for Dr. Jeremiah Lowney of Connecticut was nominated by Academy President-elect Howard Mark and Section Chair William MacDonnell. The Dental Trade and Industry Award of Recognition for the G.C. Corporation, President and CEO Makoto Nakao was nominated by Trustee Mamoru Sakuda. The nominees from the Committee were accepted by the Management Team.

The Hall of Fame formal Installation of two additional dental profession leaders will take place at the Paris venue at the Conseil de l’Ordre des Chirurgiens Dentistes headquarters on June 15th with the PFA Academy leadership in attendance.

The Meeting then addressed updating the Strategic Plan authored by Chairman Howard Mark.

President Michael Perpich demonstrates the new Web site to the Management Team—Howard Mark, Kevin Roach, William Winspear, and Richard Kozal

The Regional Trustee and Section Chair reports submitted were reviewed.

The Section Chair Caucus at the October Meeting was designed to also have a working lunch with the attending Chairs and the Academy Board and Officers.

Housing and activity scheduling for the 2005 October Meeting were discussed. We hope to be scheduled at the ADA HQ Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia. Also considered were the different dates and arrangements for the situation in attending the 2006 ADA Meeting in Las Vegas. The Secretary General will host a museum tour. The 2006 Interim Meeting of the Management Team was scheduled for April in Anaheim, California, to coincide with the California Dental Society’s Annual Scientific Session and our Southern California PFA meeting.

The updated Web site is being worked on with the input of new ideas and technology. Particularly of interest was the availability to have the site translated in other languages. President Perpich has been especially concerned with modernizing it on the cutting edge of technology.

The Management Team then held individual reviews with the Secretary General and with the Editor to go over future policy directions in exchange of ideas and problems they faced in their positions.

The General Robert B. Shira Memorial Dental Clinic

Dr. Robert B. Shira, the late President of the PFA Foundation, was honored by the military service in having the Fort Polk (Louisiana) Dental Clinic named after him. Fort Polk was opened as a military facility in the 1960s, and the dental clinic was opened in the 1980s. As a rule, the dental clinics are assigned numbers, but the Department of the Army chose to honor this great man by naming a dental clinic after him. Major General Joseph Webb, Jr, the Deputy Surgeon General and Chief of the Army Dental Corps, officiated.

From the Office of Congressman Charlie Norwood…

Just a thought about States cutting back on dental Medicaid, that I pose this question to you. How many illegal immigrants are receiving services from your State’s Medicaid Program? If we quit furnishing services to people who should not be in this country, would the States still have to gut programs for American citizens? I mention this partly because the mandate to pass the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, in its final form, the Senate eliminated key provisions on illegal immigration that would have strengthened our national security and enforced our laws. For example, illegal terrorists obtained 63 driver’s licenses.

We are again pursuing our four bills to give you some relief from OSHA. You may review them at our web site: www.house.gov/norwood. This year, we will have help in the Senate. Georgia’s junior Senator Johnny Isakson, an original cosponsor in the last Congress, is now Chairman of the Senate Committee that has the same jurisdiction over OSHA as does my subcommittee in the House. Senator Isakson is going to introduce these bills in the Senate. The House Bill numbers are HR 739, HR 740, HR 741, and HR 742. We do not know the Senate bill numbers yet, but when we do, it would help us if you would call your Senators and urge them to support these bills.

Have you ever heard of a Dental Health Aid Therapist? Neither have I. And I am reliably told that no dental school in this country has a Dental Health Aid Therapist. The term was established by the Indian Health Service of Alaska.

They are high school graduates trained for two years in New Zealand to practice dentistry in Alaska. While that State does have some serious challenges in providing dental care to their residents related to terrain and climate, sending untrained persons into the field is no way to solve this problem. Congressman Dan Young of Alaska agrees with me and understands our commitment “to do no harm.” Medics, Corpsmen, and Dental Associates or Aides can help, but there must be certain set performance procedures. The ADA and several Congressmen are active in straightening this situation out.

I did not receive the Health Subcommittee Chairmanship on the Energy and Commerce Committee. I was told that it was strictly a seniority situation. But I am next in line in seniority and there will be openings next term.

Georgia is redrawing the Congressional Districts again. In the last decade, I have been in four districts. This time I will face an incumbent trial lawyer funded by them and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It will be a difficult fight, but I will need your support. Help can be sent to me at P.O. Box 499, Evans, Georgia, 30809.

Thank you all for the cards and letters about my lung surgery. They placed a new lung in and I am still on oxygen because of a little damage to the phrenic nerve that works the diaphragm. I am assured that the situation will heal itself this year and I will be back at 100%.

Come visit me when you are in Washington. And, as you know, I send this report out to you and your editor at no cost to the taxpayers. It is entirely at my expense and the help of the contributions you support me with.