Students behind Oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Kevin Lung’s drive behind his $125,000 donation to the School of Dentistry is simple – it’s for the students. He hopes his contribution will impact them directly. “I wanted to give students the opportunity to not have to worry about their finances so they could just focus on developing their skills,” says Lung (DDS ’87), who is a clinical professor at the school and director of implant surgery at the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic. He is also the 2017 recipient of the Canadian Dental Association Award of Excellence. “It is a way of saying thank you to the University of Alberta for the education I received.” For universities to continue to maintain their high level of training and education, Lung says its vital people give back. “I want to see access to funding for students that may not be able to afford dental school, improve equipment and facilities, and the educational environment,” he added. “I want people to think that I want to give and make the school even better than what I had.” And clearly as a long-time supporter of the school through numerous other projects, Lung is a firm believer in this philosophy. In addition, he has graciously planned a gift of life insurance to the School of Dentistry for the sum of one million dollars. “It’s not just about improving patient care. It’s about giving back to the profession and supporting the profession from inside the university,” he says. “It’s always rewarding when one is able to improve dental education and patient care and overall make things better.” Since graduating from the program himself, Lung says over the years the ties between professors and students has become stronger. The students care and the professors care. “I hope the people who have graduated from the university look at their educations as a positive experience. Most of us are very fortunate and we just have to look at the reason that we got where we are currently in our lives—our education,” he says.
18