The West Virginia Section of the Pierre Fauchard Academy held its annual awards ceremony and dinner on Tuesday May 13, 2025 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 President-Elect, Dr. Ghabi Kaspo, as our special guest. He gave a wonderful presentation on functions and events at the Academy, and helped present the awards given along with our West Virginia Chairman, Dr. Jon Abraham.

It was a memorable time for the West Virginia Section as two new fellows, Dr. Michael Mason and Dr. Bryan Weaver were inducted into the Academy. Both are faculty members at the WVU School of Dentistry. Dr. Mason is in Restorative Dentistry, and Dr. Weaver is Chair and Program Director in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Both 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 a faculty member at the school who has made extraordinary contributions to the Dental Profession. This year the award was presented to Dr. Les Bakos, who is the longest serving full-time faculty member at the school. 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 WVU SOD Alumni Association, Dr. Moe Momen.

We had a fine attendance at the ceremony, and all were treated to a great dinner at the Alumni Center.

Robert L. Wanker, DDS
Past Chairman of the West Virginia Section of the PFA