During the 2018 Annual Session, the AAO, the AAO Foundation and the American Board of Orthodontics will recognize honorees at the Excellence in Orthodontics Luncheon and Awards Ceremony (Sunday,  May 6 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center).

The Excellence in Orthodontics Luncheon and Awards Ceremony keynote speaker will be Mike Krzyzewski, aka “Coach K,” head coach of the Duke University Men’s Basketball Team. Ticket cost is $60 for the luncheon (or $15 for the keynote address and award presentations only). Tickets may be purchased via Annual Session registration.
 
AAO award recipients will include:

Humanitarian Award
Dr. E. David Engst

After practicing  orthodontics for 26 years, Dr. Engst sold his practice and returned to his alma mater, the University of Washington, as a fellow in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.  Over the past 10 years, he has provided free dental clinic services in several Latin American countries, Cambodia and the Philippines, often serving patients who have never had dental care. For the past eight years, he has spent six months per year in the Philippines, providing dental services in schools, churches and sometimes outdoors.

James E. Brophy Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Stephen Litton
During his 41 years in orthodontic practice in Golden Valley, Minnesota, Dr. Litton was co-chair of the Doctors Scientific Program for the 2003 AAO Annual Session, served as general arrangements chair of the 2011 Annual Session, and chaired the AAO Council on Membership, Ethics and Judicial Concerns (COMEJC). He was president of the Midwestern Society of Orthodontists and of the Minnesota Association of Orthodontists, served on numerous AAO committees and task forces, was also very active in organized dentistry, and was a long-time assistant professor of anatomy at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Lifetime Achievement Award in Orthodontic Research
Dr. Lysle Johnston Jr.
Professor Emeritus and former chair, Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Michigan, Dr. Johnston had chaired the orthodontic departments of Case Western Reserve University and Saint Louis University before joining the Michigan faculty. He now teaches part-time at all three schools. He has conducted extensive research on differential effects of orthodontic treatments, mechanisms of facial growth, and the interaction between growth and treatment. Dr. Johnston has received research support via grants from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including the AJO-DO.

 
AAO Foundation, American Board of Orthodontics to Present Awards
Award recipients at the Excellence in Orthodontics Luncheon and Awards Ceremony will also include:

AAO Foundation Louise Ada Jarabak Memorial International Teaching and Research Award
Dr. Brent Larson

Currently a professor and the director of the Division of Orthodontics at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Dr. Larson has been a leader in organized orthodontics, orthodontic education, research and organized dentistry throughout his career. He is the 2017-18 AAO president-elect and has published articles in many refereed journals including the AJO-DO, most recently on 3D imaging and orthodontic treatment outcomes. He has served as the AAO Foundation Planning and Awards Review Committee vice-chair and was chair of the AAO Council on Orthodontic Education and of the AAO Task Force on Faculty Recruitment.

●  American Board of Orthodontics Albert H. Ketcham Memorial Award
Dr. Birte Melsen
 
From 1975-2012, Dr. Melsen was professor and chair of the Department of Orthodontics at The School of Dentistry, Aarhus University, Denmark. She has also had a part-time practice in Lübeck, Germany, focusing on treating adults.  Dr. Melsen has authored and published more than 400 articles, with her research encompassing study of human autopsy material, bone biology, biomechanics, interdisciplinary treatment, skeletal anchorage and tissue engineering. In recent years her primary areas of research have been skeletal anchorage, virtual imaging and adult treatment. Dr. Melsen has been very active in fundraising for third-world children, especially in South America where she lectures to generate money for underprivileged children.