After being one of our college’s six academic health center Superior Accomplishment Award winners earlier this spring, UFCD clinical assistant professor Olga Ensz, D.M.D., was bestowed a University Gold Award on April 20 and was one of just 16 faculty and staff at the University of Florida recognized for outstanding and meritorious service with University Gold and Special Recognition Awards.
The 16 recipients of the university-level awards were selected from 120 division-level winners and honored in a prestigious ceremony hosted by UF President Ben Sasse, Ph.D., UF Human Resources Interim Vice President Melissa Curry and UF Human Resources Interim Assistant Vice President Bob Parks, Ph.D., at the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.
The awards program recognizes faculty and staff who contribute outstanding service, or who have created an impact on the quality of life provided to students and employees, rewarding each recipient for dedication to their jobs and for going above and beyond to advance the mission of UF.
University Gold Award winners, the Superior Accomplishment Awards’ highest honors, were awarded a $2,000 check and golden gator trophy, while Special Recognition Award winners earned a $1,000 check and silver gator trophy.
Ensz’s dedication to guiding the college’s community outreach initiatives and programs is second-to-none for the Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science. On top of running UFCD’s Saving Smiles Program in our Alachua County community, among other local outreach and oral health surveillance programs, on many weekends you will find her giving her time to community health fairs, free dental clinics such as Remote Area Medical and FreeDOM Clinic, where she instructs students or provides dental treatment to underserved populations and patients – many of whom are uninsured or underinsured.
Ensz, a Gator Dentist herself as a member of the DMD Class of 2015, has additionally stepped up to take direct responsibility for the dental outreach program for the college’s NCEF Pediatric Dentistry Center residency program in Naples. Through funding from the Naples Children’s Education Foundation, the community outreach program provides dental screening and preventive care to children and adolescents in Collier County, including those living in Immokalee, a community with a high concentration of seasonal farm workers and their families.
Ensz defines the ‘service’ pillar of the UF College of Dentistry mission, and her recognition in the UF Health division, and then at the highest UF level, is so well-deserved. Congratulations, Dr. Ensz!