Promotions & Awards

Congratulations to four faculty members at the College of Dentistry who received notification of promotions from University of Florida President J. Bernard Machen, and three who were selected as senior faculty at the university and recognized for their contributions to the university. Effective July 1, 2011, Robert Burne, will be awarded the title of distinguished professor; Madhu Nair and Joseph Riley are both being promoted to professor; Fong Wong has been awarded tenure and is being promoted to associate professor.  Enrique Bimstein, Frank Catalanotto and Joseph Katz have received the senior faculty award.

Promotions

Robert Burne, Ph.D., serves as the college’s associate dean for research and is chair of the Department of Oral Biology. Burne earned his bachelor’s degree in 1981 from Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pa., and his doctorate in 1987 from the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. He served on the faculty of the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry from 1990 until 2001 when he joined the University of Florida.

Madhu Nair, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S., joined the university in 2005 and is chair of the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology. He earned his master’s from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1997, his D.M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in Penn. in 2000, and his Ph.D from Goteborg University in Sweden in 2003.

Joseph Riley, Ph.D., M.S., came to the university in 1998 where he works in the Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science. He earned his master’s in psychology in 1994 and his Ph.D. in clinical and health psychology in 1996, both from UF. His research interests focus on the study of behavioral, emotional and cognitive responses to pain.

Fong Wong, B.S.D., D.D.S., C.A.G.S., M.S.D. Wong joined the college in 2004 in the Department of Prosthodontics. She earned her bachelors of science degree in Pharmacology and her doctorate of dental surgery at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. She earned her certification in advanced graduate study in prosthodontics, her master of science in dentistry from Boston University’s Goldman School of Dental Medicine, and her fellowship in Maxillofacial Prosthetics from the University of Chicago Hospitals.

Awards

Enrique Bimstein, C.D., a professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, earned his C.D. degree in the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México and his specialty degree in the Hadassah School of Dental Medicine. He joined the college, first as a visiting professor from in 2002, and then as a professor in 2003.

Frank Catalanotto, D.M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science, joined the college in 1995. He earned his dental degree from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1968 and was a research fellow at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston, Mass.

Joseph Katz, D.M.D., a professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diagnostics Sciences, earned his D.M.D. in 1981 from the Hebrew University and Hadassah School of Dental Medicine in Israel. His main interests are in the areas of oral medicine and pathology, markers for early detection of oral cancer and the oral systemic connection between periodontal disease and pre-term delivery.

Madhu K. Nair, D.M.D., M.S., Ph.D.
Madhu Nair, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S.
Robert Burne, Ph.D.
Burne
Joseph Riley, Ph.D., M.S.
Fong Wong, B.S.D., D.D.S., C.A.G.S., M.S.D.
Fong Wong, B.S.D., D.D.S., C.A.G.S., M.S.D.