cover stor y dr. david m. minahan, your wsda president
Fund raiser extraordinaire
At the UW, Minahan made a name for himself by working with others raising record amounts during two campaigns: one to fund the dental school’s new D-1 Lab, the other an altruistic ask to all alumni. WSDA Vice President Dr. Bryan Edgar says, “Dr Minahan has been a key player in fund raising for the UW Campaign for the dental school. He led the alumni association to raise $2 million dollars of the total $22 million raised in the campaign for the dental school. As Co-chairs of the campaign, Linda and I are eternally grateful for his efforts in this key activity for the dental school over a 6-year period.” Dean Joel Berg added, “Dr. Minahan is one of the most loyal and dedicated supporters of the School of Dentistry. David’s sincere and caring ownership of the value he places on his UW Dental School education is evident in his ask of others to support all that we do. I am exceptionally grateful and honored to be surrounded by alumni leaders like him.” Long-time friend and fellow Class of ‘75 alum Dr. Mike Fey, echoes that, saying, “You see a lot of guys who put in time for various organizations like the UW who are out front, taking credit, and Dave’s not that guy — he’s the one behind the scenes doing the real work, putting in time. He’s well informed, supports the school with time and financially, but he’s not the kind of person who is doing it for recognition, he’s doing it for the love of the cause.” Perhaps, but Minahan is the first to admit he hasn’t always felt he was the strongest candidate for the task at hand. “That’s one thing about these leadership roles,” he says, “They have led me to areas I wasn’t always comfortable with — I would never have been a fund raiser. I never would have done anything with the legislature. Those are two things I wouldn’t have done on my own, but the job needed to be done. These positions stretched my abilities, and I’m more comfortable with it now.” But Minahan can see a horizon for leadership, especially now. “I’m hoping to broaden someone else’s perspective on fundraising,” he says with a laugh, “But I’m happy to be the cheerleader, because I’m comfortable at driving the enthusiasm.”
Bleeding purple and gold
Minahan has scores of reasons to be nostalgic about the UW. Not only did he receive a stellar education there, but also he played freshman basketball, met Sue, and created close friendships with a cadre of classmates who are still in a study club together, some 35 years later. The group focused mainly on practice management, although they have brought in noted speakers from time to time. Fey recalls, “Our study club focused mostly on management because that was what we struggled with — how do you keep a business together when you’re trying to do this very technical work? We all felt as though we had other avenues for technical resources, but not for the practice management. That’s why I was always impressed with Dave, because I saw it from both sides — I was his patient as well as his friend, and I would see him put in motion the things that we had discussed in study group.” While most would say playing sports at the university level is impressive, Minahan downplays his basketball experience at the U, saying “I was not a scholarship player, but I was 6’4” and the secondtallest guy on the team, so I had an opportunity to play and had
some good experiences meeting people and traveling around a bit. And, I got to soak in the love for Husky basketball.” While he would have loved to continue playing, he laughs and says, “I was too slow to be a guard and couldn’t jump high enough to be a forward. Still, I got great seats to see Kareem Abdul Jabar and others play.” Minahan and Sue met through a blind date set up by their fraternity/sorority houses – matched up by height. At their first meeting the pair went door belling to help repeal blue laws. “We dated freshman year a bit, recalls Minahan, “And went home for the summer. Friends who knew us made sure we got reconnected when we got back to college. We dated all through undergrad and got married just before dental school.” After just three years of undergrad at the UW, Minahan applied for early entry into the dental school. He was accepted as an alternate and then the following year he reapplied to UW — and nowhere else. “In hindsight, that could have been really foolhardy,” he says, “You heard all of these stories about people not getting into dental schools, and most of the people I knew were applying to multiple schools.” In the end, of course, it didn’t matter — he was accepted into the UWSoD. He had applied himself and it had paid off — his goal was within reach.
An early calling
At age 8, he says he knew he wanted to be a dentist “for all the wrong reasons.” Minahan was a good kid who caught a little flak for being the class clown, but even then he had the focus and determination to know that he wanted to become a dentist. It surprised his parents — neither was from a family of dentists. He grew up in Des Moines, the son of a homemaker mom, and a dad who wore many hats — math teacher, Vice Principal, Basketball Coach, and Athletic Director. It was an 8th grade project — a vocational notebook — that gave Minahan the laser focus he needed for his career. He says, “The elements that went into dentistry — being a people-oriented person, the academic/educational piece, the science background, the creative, hands-on aspect to dentistry — were all things that I was very much interested in. The exercise forced me to focus on the classes I would need, and the track I would have to take.” Of course, there were a few misfires along the way — when Minahan got a C in a science class in high school he thought it might all be over. But for the most part, he kept his eye on the prize, no matter how unusual that might have seemed to others.
Global lessons
An only child, Minahan excelled at sports, and was his high school’s first 9-letter athlete, playing in football, basketball and baseball all three years that he was eligible to play varsity. His father coached at a rival high school, and Minahan remembers that when the two teams would square off that it was “a little quiet around the house,” but dad and son were close, and the chill would quickly dissipate. It was about that same time the he took a job at Longacres Racetrack — a post he would hold for ten years until he graduated from dental school. He was a maintenance supervisor on the public side of the facility, working with a good friend of his from high
2 0 · th e wsda ne w s · issue 2, december · 2013 · www.wsda.org