Journal of Public Health Dentistry
248
The John W. Knutson Distinguished Service Award in Dental Public Health-1991 Recipient: Philip E. Blackerby, Jr. Comments by Stanley Lotzkar, DDS, MPH
In the fall of 1962, as a young Public Health Service officer,I received the inevitable phone call informing me that I had been transferred, this time to Washington, DC, to work under Dr. Harry W. Bruce in the Division of Dental Public Health. It wasn't very long before I heard Dr. Bruce in his own inimitable way refer to a "Dr. Blackberry," who was working at that time as a consultant to the Division of Dental Health and member of the National Advisory Dental Training Committee. Eventually, I had the pleasure of meeting "Dr. Blackberry." I was introduced to a distinguished gentleman in a dark suit with a soft Southern accent who turned out to be Dr. Philip E. Blackerby, Jr. I remember going home that evening and mentioning to my wife that if a casting director wanted someone to play the part of a public health dentist, they would send him Dr. Blackerby. Dr. Blackerby became for me a kind of role model in public health dentistry. I soon found out that not only did Dr.Blackerby look the part, in every respect he was the epitome of dental public health. Those were interesting and exciting times in dentistry and in dental education in particular. It was the golden age of public health dentistry, a time when funds were available to start bold new programs-such as traineeships for public health dentists, chairside dental auxiliary utilization, dental public health residencies, geriatric dentistry, and establishment of departments in dental schools, which were initially referred to as Departments of Social Dentistry. Dr. Blackerby played major roles in all of these activities, but it is the latter where I believe he has made his greatest contribution. I remember quite vividly the excitementgenerated at the National Conferenceon the Teaching of "Social Dentistry" held at the Ann Jordan Farm of the University of Alabama in 1963. It was the beginning of an era where dental public health took its rightful place as an academic discipline in dental education. In preparation for this introduction, I reread Dr. Blackerby's landmark 1960 paper titled, 'Why not a Department of Social Dentistry?" I was struck by his extraordinary foresight in identifymg areas which were to become major concerns in the 1970sand 1980s' and which at that time were dealt with as "curricular orphans"-if they were dealt with at all. Dental students were taught subjects of social import by more or less qualified guest lecturers or a faculty member from one of the clinical departments who had been assigned the task, or as fre-
quently happened, the dean of the dental school. These areas included such topics as ethics, preventive dentistry in its broadest sense, epidemiology, gerontology, psychology and human behavior, dental economics, health insurance and pre- and postpayment plans, practice management, hospital relations, and chronic disease management, just to name a few. There was practically no research in these areas in the late 1950sand supervised field experiences were virtually nonexistent. These are activities that occupy many of today's Departments of community dentistry and similar departments, but it was Dr. Blackerby who provided the impetus to make it happen. Imagine the skepticism which met his proposal when only four of 47 dental schools at that time had a full-time faculty member with a public health degree. Dr.
Dr. Philip E . Blackerby, Jr.
Vol. 52, No. 4, Summer 1992
Blackerby correctly reasoned that when such departments were established, sufficient qualified candidates could be found or educated to staff them. Some of the people in this room as well as myself owe their careers partly to the fact that Departments of Community Dentistry were established and expanded. The foregoing would probably be enough to establish Dr. Blackerby’s place in the history of dentistry, and particularly public health dentistry, but his career is replete with honors, appointments, international activities in Latin America and with the World Health Organization, and various leadership positions in dental organizations. Dr. Philip E. Blackerby, Jr., was born in Erlanger, Kentucky, on August 9,1910. His father, Philip E. Blackerby, Sr., was the state health commissioner for Kentucky, which no doubt inspired his son to engage in a career in the health field. Dr. Blackerby received an AB degree at the University of Louisville in 1930, followed by a dental degree from the same university in 1933. I did not realize until reading Dr. Blackerby’s CV that he and I interned at the same hospital, the USPHS hospital in Chicago, although 17 years apart. Following his internship, he served as director of dental health in the Tennessee Department of Public Health for six years, along the way picking up a certificate in oral pathology and therapeutics from the Universityof Illinois and an MSPH from the University of Michigan. He then returned to the University of Louisville School of Dentistry as head of the Department of Oral Pathology and Diagnosis and eventually became dean in 1944. Besides his pioneering efforts in helping to establish Departments of Community Dentistry, Dr. Blackerby is best known for his affiliation with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, which began in 1945 when he was appointed director of the division of dentistry and continued through 1972. he was instrumental in encouraging the development of dental hygiene programs and establish-
249
ing relationships with dentists and dental programs in various Central and South American countries. For his efforts, he was awarded honorary degrees and memberships in Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela. With the World Health Organization, he prepared a report for the World Health Assembly with recommendations for the establishment of WHO programs in dental health. He was the first consultant in dental health at WHO and assisted with dental programs in Sweden, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Iran, England, Holland, Belgium, and France. His career with W. K. Kellogg culminated with his appointment in 1967 as president, the second dentist to be named to that position. In reviewing Dr. Blackerby’s career, one is struck by his broad range of interests and activities. Besides oral pathology and diagnosis, he has been active in associations of dentistry for children, and endodontics, as well as dental public health. His is one of the five founding members of the American Board of Dental Public Health in 1950 and served as president of that organization in 1958. He was a very active participant in the American Public Health Association, serving on a number of committees, as well as becoming chairman of the then Dental Health Section and serving on the APHA Governing Council. He has served as president of the American Association of Public Health Dentists and the American College of Dentists, and has had his name inscribed on the College Mace. He was in constant demand by the US Public Health Service and was a valued consultant with the Division of Dental Public Health and the National Institutes of Health, a relationship lasting from 1946 through 1973. Dr. Blackerby is now retired and is a fellow Floridian residing in the beautiful Gulf Coast city of Punta Gorda. It is a distinct honor and privilege to present these introductory remarks for this year‘s recipient of the John W. Knutson Distinguished Service Award, Dr. Philip E. Blackerby, Jr.
248
The John W. Knutson Distinguished Service Award in Dental Public Health-1991 Recipient: Philip E. Blackerby, Jr. Comments by Stanley Lotzkar, DDS, MPH
In the fall of 1962, as a young Public Health Service officer,I received the inevitable phone call informing me that I had been transferred, this time to Washington, DC, to work under Dr. Harry W. Bruce in the Division of Dental Public Health. It wasn't very long before I heard Dr. Bruce in his own inimitable way refer to a "Dr. Blackberry," who was working at that time as a consultant to the Division of Dental Health and member of the National Advisory Dental Training Committee. Eventually, I had the pleasure of meeting "Dr. Blackberry." I was introduced to a distinguished gentleman in a dark suit with a soft Southern accent who turned out to be Dr. Philip E. Blackerby, Jr. I remember going home that evening and mentioning to my wife that if a casting director wanted someone to play the part of a public health dentist, they would send him Dr. Blackerby. Dr. Blackerby became for me a kind of role model in public health dentistry. I soon found out that not only did Dr.Blackerby look the part, in every respect he was the epitome of dental public health. Those were interesting and exciting times in dentistry and in dental education in particular. It was the golden age of public health dentistry, a time when funds were available to start bold new programs-such as traineeships for public health dentists, chairside dental auxiliary utilization, dental public health residencies, geriatric dentistry, and establishment of departments in dental schools, which were initially referred to as Departments of Social Dentistry. Dr. Blackerby played major roles in all of these activities, but it is the latter where I believe he has made his greatest contribution. I remember quite vividly the excitementgenerated at the National Conferenceon the Teaching of "Social Dentistry" held at the Ann Jordan Farm of the University of Alabama in 1963. It was the beginning of an era where dental public health took its rightful place as an academic discipline in dental education. In preparation for this introduction, I reread Dr. Blackerby's landmark 1960 paper titled, 'Why not a Department of Social Dentistry?" I was struck by his extraordinary foresight in identifymg areas which were to become major concerns in the 1970sand 1980s' and which at that time were dealt with as "curricular orphans"-if they were dealt with at all. Dental students were taught subjects of social import by more or less qualified guest lecturers or a faculty member from one of the clinical departments who had been assigned the task, or as fre-
quently happened, the dean of the dental school. These areas included such topics as ethics, preventive dentistry in its broadest sense, epidemiology, gerontology, psychology and human behavior, dental economics, health insurance and pre- and postpayment plans, practice management, hospital relations, and chronic disease management, just to name a few. There was practically no research in these areas in the late 1950sand supervised field experiences were virtually nonexistent. These are activities that occupy many of today's Departments of community dentistry and similar departments, but it was Dr. Blackerby who provided the impetus to make it happen. Imagine the skepticism which met his proposal when only four of 47 dental schools at that time had a full-time faculty member with a public health degree. Dr.
Dr. Philip E . Blackerby, Jr.
Vol. 52, No. 4, Summer 1992
Blackerby correctly reasoned that when such departments were established, sufficient qualified candidates could be found or educated to staff them. Some of the people in this room as well as myself owe their careers partly to the fact that Departments of Community Dentistry were established and expanded. The foregoing would probably be enough to establish Dr. Blackerby’s place in the history of dentistry, and particularly public health dentistry, but his career is replete with honors, appointments, international activities in Latin America and with the World Health Organization, and various leadership positions in dental organizations. Dr. Philip E. Blackerby, Jr., was born in Erlanger, Kentucky, on August 9,1910. His father, Philip E. Blackerby, Sr., was the state health commissioner for Kentucky, which no doubt inspired his son to engage in a career in the health field. Dr. Blackerby received an AB degree at the University of Louisville in 1930, followed by a dental degree from the same university in 1933. I did not realize until reading Dr. Blackerby’s CV that he and I interned at the same hospital, the USPHS hospital in Chicago, although 17 years apart. Following his internship, he served as director of dental health in the Tennessee Department of Public Health for six years, along the way picking up a certificate in oral pathology and therapeutics from the Universityof Illinois and an MSPH from the University of Michigan. He then returned to the University of Louisville School of Dentistry as head of the Department of Oral Pathology and Diagnosis and eventually became dean in 1944. Besides his pioneering efforts in helping to establish Departments of Community Dentistry, Dr. Blackerby is best known for his affiliation with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, which began in 1945 when he was appointed director of the division of dentistry and continued through 1972. he was instrumental in encouraging the development of dental hygiene programs and establish-
249
ing relationships with dentists and dental programs in various Central and South American countries. For his efforts, he was awarded honorary degrees and memberships in Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela. With the World Health Organization, he prepared a report for the World Health Assembly with recommendations for the establishment of WHO programs in dental health. He was the first consultant in dental health at WHO and assisted with dental programs in Sweden, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Iran, England, Holland, Belgium, and France. His career with W. K. Kellogg culminated with his appointment in 1967 as president, the second dentist to be named to that position. In reviewing Dr. Blackerby’s career, one is struck by his broad range of interests and activities. Besides oral pathology and diagnosis, he has been active in associations of dentistry for children, and endodontics, as well as dental public health. His is one of the five founding members of the American Board of Dental Public Health in 1950 and served as president of that organization in 1958. He was a very active participant in the American Public Health Association, serving on a number of committees, as well as becoming chairman of the then Dental Health Section and serving on the APHA Governing Council. He has served as president of the American Association of Public Health Dentists and the American College of Dentists, and has had his name inscribed on the College Mace. He was in constant demand by the US Public Health Service and was a valued consultant with the Division of Dental Public Health and the National Institutes of Health, a relationship lasting from 1946 through 1973. Dr. Blackerby is now retired and is a fellow Floridian residing in the beautiful Gulf Coast city of Punta Gorda. It is a distinct honor and privilege to present these introductory remarks for this year‘s recipient of the John W. Knutson Distinguished Service Award, Dr. Philip E. Blackerby, Jr.
