ACD REGENCY 8
British Columbia Section
Colorado Section
International Section
Montana Section
Oregon Section
Utah Section
Washington Section
Western Canada Section
ACD Regency 8 Newsletter
Communication for the Excellent Sections that Comprise Regency 8 of the American College of Dentists
Robin J. Henderson, DDS
ACD Regent | Regency 8
Private Practice, Owner | Doctor
Affiliate Faculty | University of Washington School of Dentistry
Department of Restorative Dentistry
robin@robinhendersondds.com
Cell: 509.254.1500
ACD Annual Meeting 2025 — Washington DC
Plan to gather for the ACD Annual Meeting in Washington DC on October 23 - 24th. Due to many requests, the meeting will be held on Thursday and Friday this year to better accommodate the practice schedules of Fellows and Candidates. The location is the JW Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC.
Get our Regency 8 Breakout Session on your schedule for 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, the 23rd. Follow that up with a chance to dine at a Washington DC popular restaurant with others from our Regency. We had so much fun at our Regency 8 Dinner last year that now al Regency’s in the College are planning a Regency Dinner this year!
ACD Spring Leadership Meeting
A focus of the recent ACD Strategic Plan is to support Sections in addition to leadership growth amongst Fellows. The first ACD Spring Leadership Retreat was held at the beautiful La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, TX Hill Country May 8-10th. ACD Section leaders and those interested in leadership are encouraged to attend this spring meeting at least one time over the next five years that this course is planned for.
Attendees enjoyed warm Fellowship at an opening reception which provided the first opportunity of many for leaders to meet and learn from one another.
In one of the general sessions, Executive Director, Mike Graham, shared insight from preliminary findings of the recent Fellowship survey. Of the 567 respondents there were common themes of Fellows desiring both a sense of belonging as well as knowledge about the College. Through this,
the College understands there is a need to organize and share information more effectively in order for Fellows to feel a stronger sense of belonging in ACD. There were several breakout sessions led by Regents of the College which provided an ideal format for small group discussions and relationship building. There was an opportunity for Regents to share information about the College and for Section leaders to inform the College about any pain points they experience that could be improved upon by the College. Topics for the breakout sessions were “Becoming a Model Section,” “Recognizing Excellence,” which was focused on the nominations process, and “Adding Value to Your Section Meetings With ACD Resources.”
SPEA Executive Leadership was also there to add to discussions and answer questions around how the ACD can partner with SPEA chapters within Sections.
Important Dates for Your ACD Meeting Planning:
September 1 — Registration closes for Candidates Annual Meeting WA DC
September 10 — Registration closes for current Fellows Annual Meeting WA DC
September 15 Registration opens for the Spring Leadership Conference
Please also reach out to Suzan Pitman, suzan@acd.org, if you are interested in participating in a SHIFT Leadership Event.
Opportunities to learn alongside each other, and from each other, brings much value to your Fellowship and to others!
Preliminary Insight From Survey of Fellows
During the Spring Leadership Meeting, ACD Executive Director, Mike Graham, shared initial findings from the recent survey that went out to Fellows. Attendees of the Spring Meeting in San Antonio, TX were largely comprised of current Section leaders; current and past Regents, including current and past Executive Leadership of the College; Program Director, Suzan Pitman; Communications Director, Matthew Sheriff; and Sections Coordinator, Ben Kissinger. The ACD Leadership programming and continuing education is made possible through the ACD Foundation with special thanks to former Regent, Paula K. Friedman for her giving to support leadership at the local level. Former Regent Friedman’s intent is certainly recognized by current College leadership as Executive Director, Mike Graham, stated in his opening comments that “you don’t necessarily see change on the national level, you see it locally.”
There were 567 respondents to the survey, with 29 of those respondents saying that they aspire to Section Leadership.
The overwhelming responses indicated that Section involvement would be encouraged by creating a sense of belonging and providing knowledge about the College.
The survey went out to the entire College, which is comprised of 2900 Active Fellows, described as under age 70 and working fulltime; over 4000 Life Fellows, over the age of 70; and 275 Retired Fellows who are under 70 and working part-time.
SHIFT Workshops
When those individuals were asked to respond to the follow-up question of “What might ACD leadership do to encourage Section involvement and local leadership?” The open-ended responses could largely fit into 4 categories of time, trust, belonging, and knowledge. The overwhelming responses indicated that Section involvement could be encouraged by creating a sense of belonging and providing knowledge about the College.
(continued on page 8)
The American College of Dentists supports leadership training through SHIFT workshops in various locations throughout the country, and even the world. These 2-day courses have very limited attendees in order to intentionally foster high-level communication, personal interactions, and build relationships amongst those attending. The workshops are typically at least partially led by Sreenivas Koka, a prosthodontist with an MBA from MIT as well as an ACD past Regent with much leadership experience, including being a former dental school dean and the Chair of the Department of Dental Specialties at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
There are endless takeaways from a SHIFT program, including Dr. Koka’s Rule of 94. This refers to the fact that for every 100 decisions you make, 94 don’t matter. According to Dr. Koka, our job is to choose the six that do and run with it.
One of the six decisions that you can make that matters is to attend a SHIFT workshop! Contact Suzan Pitman at the ACD main office suzan@acd.org to make plans for this experience. The course is underwritten by the ACD Foundation and attendees are responsible for the travel expense. Immediate Past Regent, Lance Rucker, is hosting SHIFT in Vancouver, BC May 8-10, 2026.
Message from the Executive Director
PJuly 30, 2025
Connecting with ACD Fellows and Carrying Out Our Strategic Plan
erhaps the very best part of my job is connecting with ACD Fellows from around the country, either in person or through zoom meetings, and sharing with them our activities and plans for the future. In Regency 8, I enjoyed my visit with the Washington Section for their Tri-College Day Leadership Summit in March where I had the opportunity to share why leadership matters. In May, I was privileged to attend the British Columbia Section Annual General Meeting in Vancouver. So far this year I have participated in over 20 Section meetings, most of which were in-person! I have more meetings planned before we have the chance to get together at our Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
We are progressing in every area of our strategic plan which makes my conversations with Fellows that much more enjoyable. Allow me to highlight our progress on three strategic goals.
Strategy one of our strategic plan focuses on upholding ACD’s position as a leader of our profession on ethics and professionalism. We measure that in part through the number of Fellows we nominate and induct each year. Last year, we nominated 349 candidates for Fellowship. In 2025, that number jumped to 445. We remain very hopeful that we will be inducting a record number of Fellows in Washington, DC this fall, perhaps more than 400 candidates.
Strategy two demands that we continue to recognize and engage the most talented and diverse emerging leaders in dentistry. We are meeting this goal by working to improve all 51 Sections of the College both programmatically and administratively. We have (1) established a Section Leadership Initiative (choosing 10 Sections each year) that focuses on Section leader development; (2) improved the Model Section program in response to feedback from Fellows; and (3) are in the process of producing Section training videos on a myriad of topics important to Section leaders.
Strategy three is about investing in the continuous creation of ACD-branded professional development courses on ethics and leadership. Already we are in the process of updating our CE courses and videos on our ethics website and are developing our leadership pillar by launching our Sweet Spot Leadership online training program as well as planning two SHIFT (Shaping the Future) Leadership programs for 2026. We also held our first annual leadership conference this past May.
This is just the beginning. We have so many more activities that are planned for the future. So I ask that you continue to follow our progress and give some time to the College whenever you have the opportunity.
Mike Graham Executive Director, American
College of Dentists
ORegent Report
Robin Henderson ACD Regent, Regency 8
ur Regency is a vast area covering British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and the International Sections outside of Europe. As such, we do much of our communications amongst Sections virtually, but during the month of May I greatly enjoyed visits to the Sections of Oregon (which also includes Idaho), Montana, and British Columbia. The 4 pillars of the College are Ethics, Professionalism, Leadership, and Excellence. Last year during my Section visits, I had the opportunity to share why the ACD pillar of professionalism is important to me. This year I focused on the pillar of leadership, as the ACD regards leadership not just as a management skill but as a moral and professional obligation to elevate the profession and serve the public good. In that regard, the College is focused on the mission of leadership and I hope to share with you ways that you can engage with ACD around leadership. The leadership of the College is strong and is there to uphold our recent strategic plan, which calls for recognizing and engaging the most talented and diverse emerging leaders in dentistry. You can support this by joining your Section leadership and by nominating colleagues. Fellowship is by invitation only, with leadership qualities and demonstrated leadership experience being one of the main parts of the nomination form, while also being the best prediction for a successful nomination. Executive Director, Mike Graham, has grown support of our Sections by ACD staff to support Sections. With the focus on improving our Section’s experience, administratively and programmatically, we hope to attract and retain dentists who are emerging as leaders in the profession. We have identified an initial cohort of Section Leaders for this support that we call the Section Leadership Initiative (SLI). Approximately 10 new Section leaders will be invited each year to the SLI.
I attended SHIFT 7 in Rockville at the ACD Headquarters April 4-6th. SHIFT is a unique leadership intensive led by Past Regent, Sreeniva Koka, and largely underwritten by the ACD Foundation through the Paula Friedman Section Leadership Initiative. Each
SHIFT is unique, as the attendees and the presenters are always different. SHIFT stands for Shifting the Future in dentistry and it’s leadership lessons are both completely ground-breaking and, conversely, timetested; topics covered are dynamic and can be visited over and over with new lessons to be learned. If you are interested in attending SHIFT, please email suzan@acd.org.
We had a great Spring Leadership Retreat May 9-11th in San Antonio, TX where attendees felt empowered and encouraged. The hope for the new Spring Leadership Retreat is that all Section leaders and interested Fellows will take advantage of it at least once in the 5-year timeframe that we intend to run it. The 2026 Spring Leadership Retreat is being planned for April 30 - May 2, 2026 at Pillar and Post Resort in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario.
Another way the College is upholding mission around the pillar of leadership is the new Sweet Spot Leadership Program. This is a one-year learning model with both online and in-person content as well as live executive coaching sessions. Please reach out to me if you are interested.
The ACD Foundation not only sponsors the above leadership programs for Fellows, but also sponsors awards for students, as the Foundation helps Sections to recognize Outstanding Student Leaders through this ACD scholarship.
Through the Journal of the American College of Dentists (the JACD), the College publishes articles on leadership as well as encourages thought leadership and scholarly discussion.
In short, ACD is true to the focus on the pillar of leadership through recognition and celebration of ethical leaders, education and training around leadership, and through the publication of the JACD, where the College strives to maintain it’s recognition as the voice of ethics in our profession.
In the words of Linda Edgar, during the Washington Section Tri-College Day Leadership Summit, “lift as you climb,” and bring someone else along with you in your leadership journey.
In Warm Fellowship,
A New Dental School in Our Regency
The Inaugural Class of the Pacific Northwest University School of Dental Medicine Begins
A groundbreaking achievement took place in our Regency on July 28, 2025 as the inaugural class of the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences School of Dental Medicine (PNWU-SDM) started their first day of orientation. While Regency 8 is the largest geographic regency in the American College of Dentists, we are also the most rural. It is fitting that the opening of this new dental school in Yakima, Washington, is missionfocused on serving the oral healthcare needs of rural communities.
The first day of orientation included teambuilding exercises and a motivational talk from ACD Fellow and Washington State Dental Association (WSDA) President, Chris Dorow. Another activity the students embraced on their very first day was drafting the PNWU-SDM professionalism oath. They will further dedicate themselves to this oath at their Professionalism Ceremony on August 22nd.
On the second day of orientation, Fellow and Dean, Fotinos Panagakos, included a session with author Mary Otto. The PNWU students, faculty, and staff all read Mary’s book about her involvement in oral health, how the the tragic death of pediatric patient,
PNWU-SDM Inaugural Class
PNWU-SDM Dean Foti Panagakos
Chris Dorow, WSDA President
Experience of SPEA Regent Serving in Our Regency
James (Boomer) Stamps
SPEA Midwest Regency
University of Colorado Class of 2026
Elections for National officers of the Student Professionalism and Ethics Association (SPEA ) in Dentistry were held at the SPEA Annual Session in New Orleans where University of Colorado student, Boomer Stamps, was elected as SPEA Regent of Regency 5, the Midwest Regency. This is a one-year term where Mr. Stamps has been serving as a national SPEA board member representing the constituents of his regency (shown in orange on the above map) while serving as the primary communication contact between SPEA Chapters and executives, as wel as ACD Felows.
Following, are Regent Stamps’ words from his experience as SPEA Regent:
When I took over the Regency last year after annual session, I was very excited to reach out to our chapters in the region and discover how they were faring. I contacted several SPEA leaders and ACD members and was delighted to see several chapters in our region that were thriving and actively engaging students in the values of professionalism and ethics. In particular, the chapters at Marquette, Creighton, and Colorado continue to grow and provide a strong community of students committed to professional development. Membership across these schools continues to rise, which strengthens each chapter and helps build a broader culture of integrity within the future dental workforce. One of our schools, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry, is currently in the early stages of establishing a new chapter and, with the help of the ACD, I am confident that it will not be long before it establishes roots and grows to great heights.
As a student from Colorado, I also want to give a special acknowledgement to Fallyn Freije, who recently assumed the role of Chapter President and has done a wonderful job keeping the Colorado SPEA strong and engaged. I am incredibly proud of the hard work our students are doing across the regency and grateful for ACD’s continued support in advancing our shared mission.
Students at Pacific Northwest University School of Dental Medicine Commence With Commitment to Professionalism
A moving and perfectly prepared Professionalism Ceremony took place at the Yakima Convention Center in Yakima, Washington the afternoon of August 22, 2025. The inaugural class of the Pacific Northwest University (PNWU) School of Dental Medicine filled the first 3 rows in front of the podium and the remainder of the audience for this momentous occasion was the PNWU faculty and staff, family and friends of the students, and honored guests.
Dean Fotinos Panagakos opened and led the event. A ceremony blessing was delivered by Davis “Yellowish” Washines, PNWU Board of Trustees. PNWU President, Dr. Michael Mittelman, shared inspiring remarks with the students. Keynote speakers were ACD Regent Robin Henderson and Laila Hishaw, ACD Fellow, board-certified pediatric dentist, speaker, and founder of Mentorships in Dentistry. The Class of 2029 recited the Professionalism Oath, which they had written, and they then, ceremoniously, signed their commitment to it as they crossed the stage and were given a school challenge coin by Dean Panagakos. (continued on page 13)
College of Dentists | Regency 8 | Page 7
Planning For Fun With Fellows in Regency 8 During the Washington DC Annual Meeting
Inspired by British Columbia Section dinners at past ACD Annual Meetings, Immediate Past Regent of Regency 8, Lance Rucker, and Regent, Robin Henderson, hosted a very fun and memorable Regency 8 dinner during the 2024 Annual Meeting in New Orleans at a landmark restaurant on Bourbon Street that was attended by Regency 8 Fellows and guests, as well as honored leaders of the College.
Following the success of the Regency 8 dinner of 2024, all Regencies will gather in Washington DC for dinner together at one of DC’s restaurants from the famous Clyde’s restaurant group.
Please plan to join in using the QR code at right or through your Annual Meeting reservations.
Preliminary Insight From Survey of Fellows
(continued from page 3)
The great news is that at the Section level, our Section leaders can powerfully impact the experience of our Fellows around the topics of creating a sense of belonging amongst the Fellowship and providing knowledge about the ACD.
If you have ideas about how your Section can improve your sense of belonging in addition to sharing knowledge about the College, please contact your Section leaders or your Regent, Robin Henderson. Better still, get involved in making this happen!
Regency 8 Dinner in New Orleans
REGENCY 8
The Utah Section had their Annual Meeting on January 24, 2025 during the Utah Dental Association Convention. Their business meeting was held in conjunction with ICD over breakfast. Section Chair, David Prince, presided over the meeting.
May 9, 2025 was the Washington (Alaska) Section Meeting during the Pacific Northwest Dental Conference in Seattle, WA. Section Chair, Darcie Morris
Special guests included Candidates for 2025 Convocation and student scholarship recipients in addition to Irene Ahn, SPEA President at the University of Washington School of Dentistry (UWSOD) and Annalise Kress, SPEA Regent of Regency 7.
Chair Morris was also honored to announce newly-elected ACD Regent Intern, Dr. Bianca Zero. Bianca is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Dentistry and she is currently a GPR Resident at the UWSOD. Her research interests involve assessing capacity for informed consent in communities with developmental and intellectual delay, barriers in the medical field in relation to dental clearance for transplant patients, and exploring culture and language as barriers to dental care. Bianca was elected to the ACD Board of Regents during their recent Spring Meeting.
A Rosette Ceremony was held for new Fellows and a keynote was given by Fellow David Dean. Regent, Robin Henderson, greeted Annual Meeting attendees with a video message as she was in Texas at the ACD Spring Board of Regents meeting and Spring Leadership Conference to support ACD section leaders.
Section Secretary, Lauren Hagel, presented about the ACD Washington Section quarterly Study Club and shared the goal being to discuss cases with special exploration and discussion around ethical principles that arise. Participation was encouraged, either inperson or virtually, for the quarterly Study Clubs organized by Lauren.
Past Regent, Larry Lawton, spoke to the importance of attending the ACD Annual Meeting and Section Chair Morris encouraged nominations and offered help by the Section Board to review the nomination for success.
(continued on page 10)
Washington Section Chair, Darcie Morris, and the Annual Section Meeting
(continued from page 9)
The Washington Section Project, Tri-College Day, which took place on March 21, 2025 was celebrated as to its success. The topic of 2025 was Leadership and plans are well underway for 2026 with a topic of Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry.
(continued on page 11)
SPEA Regent, Annalise Kress, and UWSOD SPEA President, Irene Ahn
Lauren Hagel shares about the WA Section Study Club
Pizza chef, Rick Asai
Enjoying sunshine and camaraderie at beautiful Marchesi Vineyards
REGENCY 8 ANNUAL SECTION MEETINGS and EVENTS
(continued from page 10)
The British Columbia Section held their Annual General Meeting at the Shaughnessy Golf Club in Vancouver, BC on May 24, 2025. Immediate Past Regent, Lance Rucker, and his wife, Bianca, graciously hosted Regent, Robin Henderson, and her husband, Scott, during their visit.
David Lim, Section Chair, opened the meeting and the invocation was given by Past ACD President, Marcia Boyd.
We were delighted to be joined by ACD Executive Director, Mike Graham who pinned rosettes on and congratulated successful candidates for future Fellowship.
Vice Chair and UBC SPEA Chapter Liaison, Clifford Pau, addressed the Section and introduced SPEA leaders who gave a report.
BC Section Treasurer, and 2025-2026 Canadian Dental Association President, Bruce Ward, gave the financial report.
Regent Robin Henderson gave an update on the College. Last year the focus of her message was on the ACD pillar of professionalism and this year was, specifically, around the pillar of leadership.
ACD Executive Director, Mike Graham, traveled to Vancouver to attend the British Columbia Section meeting and bring
Noel Larsen Section Editor/Past Chair
Todd Beck Oregon Section Chair
OHSU-SOD Dean Ronald Sakaguchi
Robin Henderson and Lance Rucker exploring BC
David Lim BC Section Chair
Marcia Boyd delivers invocation
Clifford Pau BC Section Vice Chair
UBC SPEA Leadership
Bruce Ward BC Section Treasurer (continued on page 12)
REGENCY 8 ANNUAL SECTION MEETINGS and EVENTS
(continued from page 11)
Tgreetings from headquarters. This meeting marks a change in Section officers with the beginning of Jocelyn Johnston’s term as the new Section Chair. David Lim is now Immediate Past Chair, and Clifford Pau is now Chair-Elect. Bruce Ward will serve another term as Treasurer and Jocelyn Johnston will continue to act as Secretary.
The meeting was full of great friendship and Fellowship and the mission of the American College of Dentists. The Section Fellows were very grateful for the visit by Executive Director, Mike Graham.
he Montana Section held their Annual Meeting May 28 - 29, 2025 in Missoula during the Montana Dental Association Annual Meeting. Section Chair, Kevin Miltko, presided over the dinner event at The Keep restaurant on Wednesday night with sweeping views of the Missoula valley and a musician that
The Annual Meeting breakfast was held on the University of Montana campus Thursday morning which provided an opportunity to hear from Fellow and ADA President, Brett Kessler, as well as an ADA 11th District report from Trustee John Hisel, Candidate for ACD Fellowship. ACD Regent, Robin Henderson, gave a report on the College as well as a message around leadership and an invitation to join the many leadership growth opportunities provided by the College.
These were joint events with ICD and ICD Regent, Mary Krempasky Smith was also there.
Regent
Robin Henderson
Executive Director Mike Graham
Jocelyn Johnston, Ben Balevi, Mike Graham
ADA President, Brett Kessler, and Robin Henderson
Montana Section Enjoying Time Together
Montana Section Chair, Kevin Miltko and Robin Henderson
Students at Pacific Northwest University School of Dental Commence With Commitment to Professionalism
Beyond professionalism, the theme of the day was celebrating and acknowledging the responsibility bestowed upon the inaugural class, as well as the school’s faculty, in cultivating the culture and legacy of the new dental school.
Class President, Rebeca Gomez, gave a powerful and motivating message that left no doubt as to the trajectory of this dental school cohort.
Dean Panagakos gave closing remarks and invited all to a warm and enjoyable reception to continue the joyous occasion.
Fundraising in 2024 for the ACD Foundation ACDF) exceeded giving goals and totaled over 202,000, which was 11 greater than 2023 levels. This was due, in large part, to a successful end-of-year giving campaign adopted by the ACDF which was kicked off on Giving Tuesday, or December 3, 2024. The other main source of giving to ACDF is through donations on the dues statement, which accounted for approximately $65,000.
Deep appreciation our Regency 8 Section leaders that worked with the ACDF President, Dr. Terri Dolan, and
ACD Executive Director, Mr. Mike Graham, to accomplish these giving levels. Thank you to the Fellows that answered the call to donate to support the missionbased work of the College. The Washington Section was 5th among the 51 Sections with the highest percentage of donors per Section and also in raising the most money per Section!
Foundation giving funds CE, including the Dental Ethics website which is currently being updated, provides leadership programmings, publications like the Ethics Handbook for Dentistry, scholarships, and many other activities and resources in support of ethics and professionalism in dentistry. Giving Tuesday is going to happen again for the ACDF on December 2, 2025. Giving goals in 2025 remain the same in terms of a 5-10% increase in donations ($204,500 - $214,000) but this year that goal will be coupled with a Fellow-participation goal of 12% of Fellows giving (it was 10% in 2024)
Please visit https://www.acd.org/foundation/
(Below) PNWU Faculty and staff with the Class of 2029
(Above) Dean Panagakos gives a warm welcome
Register for the 2025 ACD Annual Meeting and Convocation
Nomination and Selection of Fellows
The common characteristic shared by successful candidates for Fellowship is demonstrated leadership in some aspect of dentistry or public service. The selection process for Fellowship utilizes a well-established, confidential peer review system evaluating professional and community leadership positions, contributions, and credentials. Please nominate outstanding colleagues today!
