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IU SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY PROFESSOR APPOINTED TO ENDOWED POSITION NAMED AFTER MENTOR

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana University School of Dentistry at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has announced that Jeffrey A. Platt will hold an endowed faculty position named to honor the memory of his mentor Ralph W. Phillips, a legendary professor at the school.

Friends and former colleagues of Phillips, a pioneering scholar in the field of dental materials, created the Ralph W. Phillips Endowed Professorship Fund to support the position.

While being selected for any endowed position is an honor, Platt, an assistant professor and director of the school's division of dental materials, finds that the Ralph W. Phillips Scholar in Dental Materials holds particular significance for him, as he had known Phillips since childhood.

"My father always made sure I understood that Dr. Phillips was a famous man, a man whom we all needed to respect," said Platt. "My family's long ties to this man make my new title all the more meaningful."

Platt was exposed to the field of dental materials, as well as academic dentistry, early on through his father, James Platt of Fort Wayne. James was a chemist in Phillips' laboratory before he became a dentist and educator. He helped establish a training program for dental hygienists on the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne campus in 1964 and served as one of the original faculty members. He is also a former chairman of the American Dental Association's Council on Dental Materials, Instruments, and Equipment.

A generation after his father worked for Phillips, Platt also worked in Phillips' lab part time while attending dental school.

Raised in Salem, Ind., Phillips joined the IU dental faculty in 1940 and quickly earned a reputation as a gifted scientist, author, and worldwide lecturer. He continued to contribute to the IU faculty and fulfill numerous speaking engagements until shortly before his death in 1991 at age 73. Phillips is best known for his internationally respected textbook, "Skinner's Science of Dental Materials," which he named after Eugene W. Skinner, the author of the book's early editions. Phillips and Skinner produced two editions together before Skinner's death in the 1960s. The 10th edition, renamed "Phillips' Science of Dental Materials" by new editor Kenneth Anusavice of the University of Florida, is still in use across the country today.

"Dr. Platt is ideally suited to fill this position as an emerging star in a field so distinguished by the late Dr. Phillips," said Lawrence Goldblatt, dean of the IU School of Dentistry. "He embodies many of the characteristics Dr. Phillips displayed and the principles he so valued."

Platt served for several years at Naval healthcare units around the world and practiced general dentistry for 12 years in his hometown of Fort Wayne. While practicing and also teaching at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, he commuted to Indianapolis to earn a master's degree from IU in dental materials. After completing his degree, he was hired as a faculty member at the school in Indianapolis.

Platt has published a number of abstracts and peer-reviewed papers on topics related to materials science. He serves on the editorial boards of Operative Dentistry, the Compendium, and the Journal of Prosthodontics, and was an abstract review section chair in 2000 for the American Association for Dental Research. Platt is also a fellow of the American College of Dentists and the Academy of General Dentistry. In 1995, he received the Maynard K. Hine Scholarship from the Indiana Section of the American College of Dentists.

At the dental school, Platt oversees a laboratory that supports a wide variety of materials testing projects. He also teaches several predoctoral and graduate-level courses and supervises graduate student research. He continues to support the philosophy of Phillips: the importance of conducting research that has a scientifically proven application in the dental office.

"We must not forget what the people who came before us have done for us," he said. "There's so much that we have learned from the great people of the past - those who made enormous contributions to dentistry and went through trial-by-fire in the development of the knowledge, the materials, and the instruments we have today."

The IU School of Dentistry at IUPUI is the state's only dental school and one of the oldest in the nation. With an enrollment of some 600 students, the school currently offers degrees and certificates in dentistry, advanced dental programs, dental assisting and dental hygiene.

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