Dr. Alan Lurie, professor and chair, Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences, has been selected as the inaugural “Outstanding Faculty Mentor” in the UConn School of Dental Medicine. This new award recognizes a senior faculty member for their exceptional and sustained junior faculty mentoring activities.
Candidates were nominated by the School of Dental Medicine faculty and reviewed by a seven-member Faculty Development Advisory Committee, comprised of senior and junior faculty from basic and clinical sciences of the school. In addition to this tremendous recognition, the award comprises of a $1,500 Academic Enhancement fund and a commemorative plaque.
Lurie is a 1970 graduate of the UCLA third graduating dental class. He obtained his PhD at the University of Rochester, where he worked with some of the leaders in the field of low dose radiation and its effects on biological tissues. His PhD work on renal radiotoxicity was followed by years of research at UConn on radiation-chemical co-carcinogenesis, leading to several seminal publications that established the tenets of the effects of diagnostic range radiation on biological tissues. He joined the University of Connecticut, School of Dental Medicine in 1973 and continues to actively serve the school as Division Chair, after 50 impressive years of dedicated service to the University of Connecticut, and to the School of Dental Medicine.
Lurie was nominated for this award by two senior faculty members of the Oral and Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences Division. The nominating faculty described him as a “Champion Mentor”, a gifted teacher, an accomplished scientist, and importantly a wonderful human being who has incessantly provided opportunities for his mentees to succeed.
As the longest serving faculty member in the School of Dental Medicine, Lurie has mentored more than 60 faculty and students during his tenure at UConn. Many of them have served or currently serve in senior leadership roles including, Associate Dean, Department Chair, and Program Director, at UConn, nationally and internationally.
“Mentoring is a critical component of professional growth for all our early and mid-career career faculty” stated Dr. Anna Dongari-Bagtzoglou, associate dean of faculty affairs in the School of Dental Medicine. “Faculty mentors who participate in our formal junior faculty mentoring program or are part of an informal collegial mentoring network in our School can contribute significantly to their mentees’ academic success and career satisfaction. This is a tremendous recognition and a well-deserved award for Dr. Lurie.”
“Thank you so very much for this singular honor,” says Lurie. “It has been a privilege to have been mentored by great faculty and to be entrusted with the mentoring of many outstanding faculty, graduate students, and residents.”
