Congratulations to the recipients of the 2022 OMS Foundation Awards, who were recognized onstage at the 2022 AAOMS Annual Meeting Opening Ceremony.
Torch Award
Photo: Mr. William C. Passolt
The Foundation’s most prestigious annual award recognizes individuals or organizations who have provided exceptional service to the Foundation. This year’s winner is Mr. William C. Passolt, CPA, who joined the OMS Foundation Board as a Director in 2015 and became its first non-OMS Chair in 2019.
His dual role as Foundation Chair and OMSNIC President/CEO was challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, AAOMS recognized Mr. Passolt’s extraordinary leadership by naming him an AAOMS Honorary Fellow, the Association’s highest distinction bestowed upon non-members. Mr. Passolt was a principal architect of both the strategic alliance between AAOMS and the Foundation and a subsequent, comprehensive strategic plan for the Foundation that facilitated its successful implementation. He helped open the door to a more collaborative relationship between the OMS and IAOMS Foundations and drew on his business acumen to strengthen the Foundation’s relationships with AAOMS’s corporate sector.
In 2018, Mr. Passolt facilitated a $100,000 gift match challenge from OMSNIC in support of the Foundation’s Centennial Tree campaign, which helped to raise $1.7 million in donations to the Annual Fund that year. Mr. Passolt retired from both OMSNIC and the OMS Foundation in 2021, but he continues to support the Foundation as an OMSFIRE donor, R.V. Walker Society member and consultant to the Development Committee.
Research Recognition Award
Photo: Dr. Thomas B. Dodson
This annual award recognizes those whose scientific contributions have led to a better understanding of basic disease processes and improvement of care for patients with maxillofacial disorders. This year’s recipient is Thomas B. Dodson, DMD, MPH, FACS, Professor and Chair of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.
Dr. Dodson is internationally recognized in the specialty as a clinician, researcher, advocate, educator and mentor. The Foundation has funded his work through multiple Research Support Grants, Student Research Training Awards and a clinical fellowship. He also received the Ambassador Service Award in 2007, two Daniel M. Laskin Awards for most outstanding article published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (in 2003 and 2010), and the 2019 Torch Award. As a Director, he served on every committee of the Foundation Board, becoming its Chair in 2015. After helping to construct the strategic alliance with AAOMS, he extended his service to the OMS Foundation Board through 2018 to support its implementation.
Dr. Dodson has helped to edit JOMS since 2006 and was appointed its Editor-in-Chief in 2022. His research has spanned the spectrum of the specialty, examining risk factors associated with anesthesia, third molar extractions and implant placements, management of HIV-positive OMS patients, and the efficacy of seat belt laws. He is a co-author of AAOMS position papers on MRONJ and clinical articles identifying markers for domestic abuse. He is credited with more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and countless reviews, chapters, editorials, commentaries and clinical communications.
Gerald E. Hanson Outstanding Service Award
Photo: Drs. Louis K. Rafetto and Thomas P. Williams
At the discretion of the Foundation Board, this award recognizes outstanding champions and advocates who have demonstrated extraordinary stewardship, such as this year’s recipient – Thomas P. Williams, DDS, MD, FACS.
Dr. Williams has served on the OMS Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2016 and was its co-Vice Chair in 2021-22. He spearheaded the formation of the Foundation’s Committee on Humanitarian Programs in 2018 and continues to serve as its Chair. He enlisted a cohort of seasoned international healthcare volunteers to develop and launch the Global Initiative for Volunteerism and Education (GIVE), hoping to infuse the next generation of OMSs with a passion for “giving back.”
He is a lifelong volunteer, a tireless champion for the Foundation’s mission, a proud member of its R.V. Walker Society and a generous supporter to GIVE. Dr. Williams has served as the staff OMS at the Naval Amphibious Base in California and as a consultant to the Eleventh Naval District. He has traveled extensively to the Philippines, Asia and South America with Health Volunteers Overseas and Uplift International to deliver care to underserved communities, families and (especially) children in those regions.
