The College of Dentistry dental and dental hygiene classes presented faculty recognition awards for the 2021-2022 academic year at the college's Awards & Recognition Ceremony held on April 15. The following faculty were recognized for their great dedication to preparing students to be leaders in dentistry.
Lisa Moravec & Todd Junge
Nominated by the Dental Hygiene Class of 2023
"Lisa always goes above and beyond to help students. She puts students first and has a lifelong love of teaching and sharing best practices. Lisa is a shining example of a leader and an exceptional educator."
"Todd treats every student with respect and works to solve every issue that arises. He gets to know each student and recongizes our strengths. We are so appreciative of Todd's support, knowledge and encouragement in the classroom and the clinic."
Chelsea Hamilton & Lisa Moravec
Nominated by the Dental Hygiene Class of 2022
"Chelsea is a wonderful asset to the dental hygiene program. She constantly boosts students' confidence and has a positive, infectious attitude. With her help, students are getting the best training and are prepared to take on the working world. Chelsea made a significant impact on each of us and we couldn't be more grateful for her mentorship."
"Lisa has a heart of gold. She is selfless and cares about her students so much. She was available whenever we needed advice or someone to listen and always rooted for us to succeed. She was a bright light throughout our journey at the college. We are so blessed to have had such an incredible and patient leader."
Dr. Zaid Badr & Dr. Shayla Yoachim
Nominated by the Dental Class of 2025
"Dr. Badr's passion for dentistry and dedication to teaching is felt everyday. We can always count on Dr. Badr to be positive and uplifting when we walk into the pre-clinic lab. He has gone above and beyond to help us become better dentists, whether that be staying late to give advice on our projects, answer questions, or create new content to help us enhance our skills. In a course that is so crucial to our future, Dr. Badr finds ways to solve problems, give constructive feedback, and encourage us. He also is very receptive to our feedback on the course and applies some of our ideas. Dr. Badr's dental knowledge and skills are vast, but this recognition goes beyond that. We would like to thank Dr. Badr for not only holding us to a high standard, but also showing us how to achieve that standard. He has an exceptional ability to convey information and connect with students. Because of this, he has made a lasting impression on us all."
"The excitement that Dr. Yoachim brings to anatomy is unmatched and rubs off on all of us. Her energy and teaching style creates a more enjoyable learning environment, despite being one of our most difficult courses. Dr. Yoachim expects a lot of us, but is always there to help us master the material. She is constantly offering Q&A's and times outside of class to answer questions. Through Dr. Yoachim's knowledge and dedication, she has been able to connect with the class. One example would be her Instagram page for the course, which is filled with extra videos and anatomy questions. We especially appreciate her answering our anatomy questions even on late nights before an exam. She has even gone as far as fueling us with a little bit of Starbucks to get us through a night of studying. Dr. Yoachim's course may be intense and stressful, however, we thank her for the energy she brings every day and her passion for teaching us. We feel that she does as much as she can to help us succeed. Her enthusiasm for anatomy and education is evident, and we would like to acknowledge her for the impact she has had on our education."
Dr. Gregory Oakley & Dr. Ernest Sigler
Nominated by the Dental Class of 2024
"Dr. Oakley teaches in a clear and concise manner while adding his own humor and flare. He demonstrates his eagerness to ensure every student succeeds by hosting review sessions and always making himself available for one-on-one tutoring. We always appreciate Dr. Oakley's jokes and ability to lighten our mood when we are having a tough week. It is thanks to his great teaching style that my classmates and I feel confident transitioning to the clinic and ready to answer any rare side effect of medications that our clinic professors may try to stump us on. Dr. Oakley has provided us with a strong foundational knowledge in pharmacology that will help us keep our patients safe. Thank you, Dr. Oakley, for showing up every day with a passion to teach and a caring heart."
"Dr. Sigler has one of the biggest hearts around. Every day when Dr. Sigler arrives to lab, he makes it a priority to stop by our work benches to ask us how our weekend went and to offer any help we may need on our projects. As we end our lab period, Dr. Sigler double checks to see if any students are remaining and needing his help, and he is more than willing to stay late. Dr. Sigler, although these may feel like small gestures, you have made a huge impression on us and make us feel like someone is in our corner. We have all had a lab project in school that has not gone as planned. But when Dr. Sigler gives us feedback, he always ends with tangible ways we can improve and kind words to encourage us. Thank you, Dr. Sigler, for always putting a smile on our faces and making us feel like we belong at UNMC."
Dr. Gregory Bennett & Dr. Amy Killeen
Nominated by the Dental Class of 2023
"We would like to thank Dr. Bennett, the wizard of digital dentistry, for everything he does to help expand our clinical thought process. "Wizard of all things dentistry" may be the more appropriate description for him, as any student who has taken his Advanced Topics in Operative Dentistry class can attest to. What makes Dr. Bennett such a unique and irreplaceable faculty in both pre-clinic and clinic is his way of showing cutting-edge ways to think about and perform procedures while still supplementing us with more traditional, "back pocket" techniques. We would like to commend Dr. Bennett for his advancement of our dental education and for expanding our clinical thought process and experiences."
"We would like to thank Dr. Killeen for her enthusiasm and passion for teaching. Dr. Killeen's passion for periodontics makes it hard to NOT pay attention to her lectures. In clinic, her enthusiasm is palpable whether you are coming to her for a start check, question, consult or anything else perio-related. Her interest in you and your patient's case is noticeable and she makes great efforts to ensure that we learn something from each case that will make us better clinicians. We applaud Dr. Killeen for her dedication to her students. The lessons we have learned from her will help us throughout our dental careers."