During the 2017 Annual Session, the AAO, the American Board of Orthodontics and the AAO Foundation will recognize honorees at the Excellence in Orthodontics Luncheon and Awards Ceremony (Sunday, April 23 at the San Diego Convention Center).

Tennis great Andre Agassi will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon. Ticket cost is $60 (or $15 for the keynote address and award presentations only). Tickets may be purchased via Annual Session registration.

AAO award recipients will include:

  • Dr. Jerry Clark (Humanitarian Award). In 1985, Dr. Clark founded the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Carolina and devoted many years to leading efforts that have resulted in wishes coming true for more than 5,000 children with life-threatening illnesses. Dr. Clark has also been a leader of philanthropic projects in his community and has participated in dental missions in several countries.
  • Dr. Vann Greer (James E. Brophy Distinguished Service Award). Dr. Greer spent decades serving organized dentistry and orthodontics. A past president of the Oklahoma Orthodontic Society and the Southwestern Society of Orthodontists, she was Speaker of the AAO House of Delegates (2001-03), served on the AAO Council on Insurance and was chairman of AAO Services Inc.
  • Dr. William Proffit (the first AAO Lifetime Achievement Award in Orthodontic Research). Designated in 1992 as Kenan Distinguished Professor, Department of Orthodontics at the University of North Carolina, Dr. Proffit was a long-time chair of the department. He is the author of the widely used textbook, Contemporary Orthodontics, co-author of Surgical Correction of Dentofacial Deformity and Surgical-Orthodontic Treatment, and has published more than 100 scientific papers and 20-plus book chapters.

Award presentations during the awards luncheon will also include:

  • Dr. Sheldon Peck (American Board of Orthodontics Albert H. Ketcham Memorial Award). Dr. Peck practiced orthodontics privately in the Boston area with his late brother, Dr. Harvey Peck, and then with his wife, Dr. Leena Peck. Drs. Sheldon and Leena Peck served on the orthodontic faculty at Harvard University, conducting research in facial esthetics, dental anomaly patterns and dental anthropology. He was executive secretary of the Angle Society for 14 years and is now an adjunct professor of orthodontics at the University of North Carolina.
  • Dr. Robert L. Vanarsdall (AAO Foundation Louise Ada Jarabak Memorial International Teachers and Research Award, posthumous presentation). Dr. Vanarsdall passed away on January 1. After completing residencies in both orthodontics and periodontics at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Vanarsdall served as chairman of the university’s Department of Periodontics and Department of Pediatric Dentistry, and directed the Department of Orthodontics for more than 25 years.