Outstanding Contribution Award by a Non-Orthodontist Past Winners
In 2018, the AAO created the Outstanding Contribution Award. This award recognizes a non-orthodontist for outstanding service to the specialty of orthodontics. The award winner must be a non-orthodontist and may come from an allied health field, a corporate environment or be a private individual.
At the August 2019 BOT meeting, the BOT changed the name of the award from Outstanding Contribution Award to Outstanding Contribution Award by a Non-Orthodontist.
Created: June 17, 2019
Updated: December 3, 2024
* Awarded posthumously
| YEAR | AWARD RECIPIENT(S) | CONTRIBUTION |
| 2024 | Mary Beth Kirkpatrick | Providing expertise to make practice data meaningful and actionable for orthodontists. |
| 2023 | G. William Arnett | Oral surgeon and author who for nearly 30 years offered the Orthodontics and Orthognathic Surgery Course (also known as “The Santa Barbara Course”). |
| 2022 | Chris Bentson | Known worldwide as an expert on orthodontic practice management, practice valuation and trends in the specialty. Speaker at Annual Sessions, constituent meetings, residency programs, podcasts and webinars. |
| 2021 | Rosemary Bray | Recognized as a leading authority and speaker on orthodontic/dental customer service, the orthodontic new patient experience and the value and meaning of true teamwork. For over 25 years, she has presented at AAO meetings. |
| 2020 | Sharon Hunt* | Executive director of the Southern Association of Orthodontists. She advised SAO leaders in modernizing the organization’s financial management and restructuring Board meetings to emphasize strategy and efficiency. She impacted the entire AAO by developing a high-level leadership training program for the SAO that became a model for training by other constituent groups and the AAO. |
| 2019 | Paul Gange, Sr. | President of Reliance Orthodontics Products. The company provides consistent, high quality adhesives in a variety of delivery systems at a reasonable cost. |