The West Virginia Section of the Pierre Fauchard Academy held its annual awards ceremony and dinner on Wednesday May 6, 2026 at the beautiful Erickson Alumni Center on the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.  The program began at 5:30 p.m. with a reception followed by the awards program and a great dinner.

We were especially excited as a West Virginia Section to have the Executive Director, Bob Cattoi, as our special guest.  He gave a wonderful presentation on functions and events at the Academy, and helped present the awards given by West Virginia Officers.

It was a memorable time for the West Virginia Section as four new fellows, Dr. Melissa Luna, Dr. Michael Cavender, Dr. Manali Vora, and Dr. Chris Ivanoff were inducted into the Academy. All four are faculty members at the WVU School of Dentistry. Dr. Luna is in the Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Dr. Cavender is Chair of Endodontics, Dr. Ivanoff is in Restorative Dentistry and Dr. Vora is in Periodontics. All have contributed in countless ways to the school and WV Dental Association.

The West Virginia Section also presents a Special Appreciation Award which is given to faculty or staff members at the school who have made extraordinary contributions to the Dental Profession. This year the awards were presented to Michele McElroy, who is the Patient Access Manager,  and April Fields who serves as the Billing Manager at the school. In no way could their titles begin to tell you everything they have done for the WVU School of Dentistry over the years.

The WV Section also presents a Distinguished Dentist Award for a dentist who has shown outstanding leadership and service to the state on a national level. This year it was presented to the President of the WV Dental Association, Dr. Nika Hettlinger, and the Dr. Kerri Simpson, the ADA Delegate. Both have served in many leaderships at the WVU School of Dentistry and the WV Dental Association.