Award of Excellence

NYU Excellence Photo

This award honors the spirit of volunteerism by recognizing one student from each dental school for achieving superior levels of participation or leadership in service to other students, their school or local community.

Nominees are selected by faculty and staff at each dental school.

Award Criteria

Nominees must meet the following criteria:

  • Predoctoral member of ASDA in good academic standing
  • Participation or leadership in extracurricular school activities and/or service to the local community
  • Active participant in furthering the cause of organized dentistry

Submissions for the 2023 Award of Excellence are open March 1, 2023 through April 15, 2023. For questions, contact Abbie Treado at membership@asdanet.org.

2022 Award of Excellence Recipients

DISTRICT 1
Mark Girard Pugliese, Boston ‘22
Audrey Brigham, Connecticut ‘23
Mark Berenshteyn, Harvard ‘22
Joan Daniel, New England ‘22
Alia Hope Osseiran, Tufts ‘22

DISTRICT 2
Evan James Conley, Buffalo ‘22
Michelle Skelton, Columbia ‘22
Jonathan Tai, New York ‘22
Elizabeth Tramontana, Rutgers ‘22
Diana Kim, Stony Brook ‘22
Heather Rowlands, Touro ‘22

DISTRICT 3
Jasvir Ajimal, Howard ‘22
Ashley Reid, Maryland ‘22
Viviana Portillo, Pennsylvania ‘22
Brett Thomas Becker, Pittsburgh ‘22
Turab Rai, Temple ‘23

DISTRICT 4
Scarlett Jane Walston, East Carolina ‘22
Stephanie Jaipaul, Georgia ‘22
Kenneth Parker, South Carolina ‘22
Anne Marie Currie, Tennessee ‘22
Morgan Laurel Sabol, Virginia ‘22

DISTRICT 5
Jessica M. Mitchum, Alabama ‘22
Daria Mages, Florida ‘22
Amelia Cai Crawford, LECOM ‘22
Marco A. Gargano, Louisiana ‘23
Savannah Chandler Oldenburg, Mississippi ‘22
Lindsay Hoop, Nova ‘22
Manuel A. Perea Cuebas, Puerto Rico ‘22

DISTRICT 6
Charandeep Ghotra, Detroit Mercy ‘23
Sarah E. Kowalski, Michigan ‘22
Joseph J. Linser, Ohio State ‘24
Marissa Fletcher, West Virginia ‘22

DISTRICT 7
Brooke Wilson, Illinois ‘23
Meera R. Patel, Indiana ‘22
Ashley Wettstain DiMeo, Kentucky ‘22
Kirsten Peterson, Louisville ‘23
Melissa Sara Drab, Marquette ‘22
Kristen Farr, Midwestern-Illinois ‘22
Anastasia E. Kozal, Southern Illinois ‘22

DISTRICT 8
Kristina E. Young, Creighton ‘22
Alex Hsieh, Iowa ‘23
Hayley Mathie, Minnesota ‘22
Alexandria Thomas, Missouri-Kansas City ‘23
Hailey Speck, Missouri-Kirksville ‘22
Benjamin Kincaid, Nebraska ‘23

DISTRICT 9
Aaron Buban, Colorado ‘22
Alison Nicole Agee, Oklahoma ‘22
Erik Meckel, Texas A&M ‘22
Mary Jocelyn Nisnisan, Texas-Houston ‘22
Scott Block, Texas-San Antonio ‘22
Michelle Ortiz, TTUHSC El Paso ‘25

DISTRICT 10
Sasha Asthana, Arizona ‘22
Robert C. Bingaman, Las Vegas ‘22
Holliston Langendorfer, Midwestern-Arizona ‘22
Jonathon James Goddard, Oregon ‘23
Jonathan Wong, Roseman ‘22
Arman Farhadtouski, Utah ‘22
Peter Popek, Washington ‘22

DISTRICT 11
Alina Madgwick, Loma Linda ‘22
Maya Giannetti, Los Angeles ‘22
Patrick Gomez, Pacific ‘22
Amanda Rosenfeld, San Francisco ‘23
Emilie Hsu, Southern California ‘22
Kylee Homecillo, WesternU ‘23

2021 Award of Excellence Recipients
DISTRICT 1

James Vegrzyn, Boston '21
Alexandra McKenna, Connecticut '22
Jennifer Erin Lee, Harvard '21
Emily Richard, New England '21
Alexandra P. Penta, Tufts '21

DISTRICT 2
Will R. Adamson, Buffalo '21
Peter Chyun, Columbia '21
Stephanie Jarmolow, New York '21
Mohammad Saqib Ihsan, Rutgers '21
Nicholas Santaro, Stony Brook '22
Victoria B. Yang, Touro '21

DISTRICT 3
Lee Goodloe, Howard '21
Caitlin Montgomery, Maryland '21
Craig McKenzie, Pennsylvania '21
Casey White, Pittsburgh '21
Sehej Kaur, Temple '22

DISTRICT 4
Amir Taha, East Carolina '21
Grace Kwon, Georgia '21
Taylor Jackson, Meharry '23
Ariel Kunde, South Carolina '21
Lauren Phillips, Tennessee '21
Emily Farris, Virginia '21

DISTRICT 5
Danielle Ho, Alabama '21
Vrinda Shah, Florida '21
Ashley Lauren Wagler, LECOM '21
Gerard Scannell, Louisiana '21
William Key, Mississippi '21
Sierra Zarate, Nova Southeastern '21
Manuel Perea, Puerto Rico '22

DISTRICT 6
Justin Abbs, Case Western '21
Maxemilian Nascimento, Detroit Mercy '22
Malika Malik, Michigan '21
Savanah Craig, Ohio '22
Brooke Dolin, West Virginia '21

DISTRICT 7
Subeena Thomas, Illinois '22
Brett Turek, Indiana '21
Ashley Wettstain, Kentucky '22
William Jacob Fooks, Louisville '22
Janae Momchilovich, Marquette '21
Jacqueline Hassenplug, Midwestern IL '21
Alexandra Nash, Southern Illinois '21

DISTRICT 8
Patrick W. Reardon, Creighton '21
Morgan Scholtes, Iowa '23
Hallie Schley, Minnesota '21
Katie Hayes, Missouri-Kansas City '22
Taylor Little, Missouri-Kirksville '21
Logan Lawrence, Nebraska '22

DISTRICT 9
Jillian Stacey, Colorado '21
Victoria D. Do, Houston '21
Christian Davila, Oklahoma '21
Ravin Chodavadia, San Antonio '21
Francesca Clarice Daigle, Texas A&M '21

DISTRICT 10
Justin Tagen Sapwell, Arizona '21
Charles Buchanan, Las Vegas '21
Rachel Bryant, Midwestern AZ '21
Rachel Wittenberg, Oregon '22
Danny Huynh, Roseman '21
Shaylee Avery, Utah '21
Kaylee Salesky, Washington '21

DISTRICT 11
Lori Foust, Loma Linda '21
Ammie Lucero Chinchilla, Los Angeles '21
Anthoula S. Vlachos, Pacific '21
Brian Kwon, San Francisco '22
Ashley Mach, Southern California '21
Aaron Bacha, WesternU '23
 

2020 Award of Excellence Recipients
DISTRICT 1
Anisha Pandya, Boston '20
Taleen Kalajian, Connecticut '21
David O. Danesh, Harvard '20
Greta-Anne Castonguay, New England '20
Airy Choi, Tufts '20

DISTRICT 2
Michael Healy, Buffalo '20
Nancy Mo, Columbia '20
Brenda Shah, New York '20
Alisha Matreja (DMD) '20
Jack Lupfer , Stony Brook '20
Victoria Yang, Touro '21

DISTRICT 3
Tatum Newbill, Howard '20
Arielle C. Statham, Maryland '20
Leslie Wan-Yi Tay, Pennsylvania '20
Morgan Choe, Pittsburgh '20

DISTRICT 4
Jordan Tyler Brunson, East Carolina '20
Meaghan Cleary, Georgia '20
Aierress Hanna, Meharry '21
Tonya Lea Spangler, Virginia '20

DISTRICT 5
Bhakti Desai DMD, Alabama '20
Priscilla Sosa, LECOM '20
Evan Tatford, Louisiana '20
Trent D. Wilkerson, Mississippi '20
Karen Nachum, Nova Southeastern '20

DISTRICT 6
Brittany Schweiger, Detroit Mercy '21
Kyle Mulder, Michigan '20
Sarah Jasinski, Ohio State '21

DISTRICT 7
Yiran Xu, Illinois '21
Teal Smith, Indiana '20
Daphne Salazar, Kentucky '20
Alexander M. Stewart, Louisville '21
Jessica A. Messerschmidt, Marquette '20
Julissa Burgos, Midwestern-Illinois '20
Al-Yazeed Yousef, Southern Illinois '20

DISTRICT 8
Brandon D. Rensch, Creighton '20
Chad L. Wagner, Minnesota '20
Dylan Weber, Missouri-Kansas City '20
Brianna Kay, Nebraska '21

DISTRICT 9
Samuel R. Lynass, Colorado '20
Amy Truong La, Houston '20
Brittany Hand, Oklahoma '21
Debbie Yeh, Texas A&M '20

DISTRICT 10
Chadwick Brady, Arizona '20
Julia Shelbourn, Las Vegas '20
Christy Tran, Midwestern Arizona '20
Marilyn Sadler, Utah '20
Clara Felker, Washington '20

DISTRICT 11
Joshua Lee, Loma Linda '20
Letitia Marie Edwards, Pacific '20
Theresa Bui, San Francisco '22

Advocate Award

This award recognizes faculty or school administrators who have shown a commitment to dental students and organized dentistry.

Nominees are selected by chapter leaders at each dental school.

Award Criteria

Nominees must meet the following criteria:

  • Support efforts of the local ASDA chapter
  • Demonstrate a long-term commitment to organized dentistry
  • Provide leadership and direction for ASDA chapter leaders and members
  • Promote the ideals of organized dentistry
  • Motivate new members within the school
  • Maintain a membership in the ADA, if eligible

Submissions for the 2023 Advocate Award are open March 1, 2023 through April 15, 2023. For questions, contact Abbie Treado at membership@asdanet.org

2022 Advocate Award Recipients

DISTRICT 1
Dr. Donna Paolella, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine
Dr. Joanne Falzone, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine

DISTRICT 3
Dr. Kelly Holst, Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry

DISTRICT 4
Dr. Nancy Young, Augusta University Dental College of Georgia

DISTRICT 5
Dr. Edward Bradford, UAB School of Dentistry
Dr. Alex Delgado, University of Florida College of Dentistry
Dr. Dennis Youngblood, LECOM School of Dental Medicine
Dr. Ginette M. Izquierdo-Rodríguez, University of Puerto Rico School of Dentistry

DISTRICT 7
Dr. Tim Treat, Indiana University School of Dentistry

DISTRICT 8
Dr. Colette O’Meara McKinney, Creighton University School of Dentistry
Lisa Piper, The University of Iowa College of Dentistry
Dr. Lance Godley, University of Missouri Kansas City School of Dentistry
Dr. Merlyn Vogt, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry

DISTRICT 9
Dr. Robert Spears, The University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston

2021 Advocate Award Recipients

DISTRICT 1
Tina Finnegan, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine
Carrie Sylven, Harvard School of Dental Medicine

DISTRICT 2
Dr. Allan Kucine, Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine
Dr. Raymond Miller, University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine 

DISTRICT 4
Dr. Michael Pruett, Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University
Dr. Tariq Javed, Medical University of South Carolina College of Dental Medicine

DISTRICT 5
Sandra Johnston, University of Mississippi School of Dentistry

DISTRICT 6
Adrianna Moreno, University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry

DISTRICT 7
Carolyn Feller, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry 

DISTRICT 9
Madeleine Hoefke, University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry

DISTRICT 10
Dr. Scott Howell, Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health
Mark Mitchell, Oregon Health and Science University School of Dentistry
Dr. William Harman, Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine
Dr. John Deviny, University of Washington School of Dentistry

DISTRICT 11
Tania Kurunathan, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry

2020 Advocate Award Recipients

DISTRICT 1
Dr. Donna Paolella, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine
Lisa M. Rivera, Ed.M, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine

DISTRICT 2
Jary Patrocinio, MA, Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
Dr. Claudia Mahon-Vazquez, Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine
Joseph DeLuca, DDS, University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine

DISTRICT 5
Dr. James C. Broome, Jr., University of Alabama School of Dentistry

DISTRICT 10
Klud Razoky, BDS, Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health
William B. Carroll, Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine

DISTRICT 11
Tania Kurunathan, Loma LInda University School of Dentistry

For questions about these awards, contact Abbie Treado.