Four Professors Granted Emeritus Status
Congratulations to Dr. Huw Thomas, Dr. Roger Galburt, Dr. Charles Rankin, and Dr. Kanchan Ganda, the latest to be bestowed professor emeritus status at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. We thank them for their outstanding and lasting contributions to the school and to Tufts University and wish them all the best in the years ahead.
Dr. Huw Thomas
Dr. Huw Thomas, Dean from 2011-2019, professor of pediatric dentistry, and respected leader of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, retired August 31, 2020. A thoughtful leader, an enthusiastic partner, and an accomplished researcher, Huw has advanced the school’s mission of offering dental students a world-class education focusing on comprehensive patient care. “We are honored that he has achieved Emeritus status as a Professor and Dean,” Dean Karimbux announces. “In 2012 Dr. Thomas recruited me to be the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Under his mentorship I learnt what it means to lead a school with a tremendous legacy. A legacy for excellence in clinical education, research, and community engagement. Dr. Thomas has always been a visionary—in particular, championing the integration of basic and clinical sciences and the importance of interprofessional education. His commitment to creating opportunities for junior faculty and to women in leadership positions are a legacy that continues. I thank him for all his years of service—and like he tells me, he has too many friends and colleagues at TUSDM to just disappear!”
During his time with TUSDM, Dr. Thomas has fostered an open, diverse, and collegial environment for which TUSDM is widely known and admired—a place where faculty, staff, and students collaborate to create innovative educational experiences that have spanned the globe.
Dr. Thomas has led a number of groundbreaking initiatives, further enhancing the school’s reputation as the frontrunner in dental education and oral health. His commitment to approaching the patient holistically is clear in his work, especially as Director of Interprofessional Education. During his tenure, the school established a mind-body wellness program and reaffirmed a requirement that our students spend time treating patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, two unique features of our educational program.
Additionally, as TUSDM has attracted an increasingly diverse and competitive student body, and as more women have enrolled, Dr. Thomas brought in more female junior faculty and appointed a number of women to senior leadership positions within the school. He also has supported our global health programs, helping us to gain a global perspective and advance the practice of oral health to underserved populations around the world.
Dr. Thomas has spent valued time with alumni and friends—listening and learning from them and building a pipeline of generous support to help achieve the school’s ambitious goals. As we, our students, and patients walk through our new lobby each day, we can experience a portion of the fruits of his labor.
Dr. Thomas’ contributions to the field of dentistry are numerous. In 1996, he was elected to membership in OKU (Dental Honor Society) and in 2010 received the Award for Excellence from the Society for Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine. He is the author or co-author of over 150 published articles, chapters, and abstracts in a broad spectrum of scientific journals and holds fellowships in the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), the American College of Dentists, and International College of Dentists.
Dr. Roger Galburt
Dr. Roger Galburt graduated from the University Brooklyn College CUNY BA in 1968. He completed his graduate degree at the New York University School of Dentistry in 1974 and postgraduate training in prosthodontics at Harvard Dental in 1977. He has been a faculty member at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine since 1977 and in private practice for over 30 years. He began his career at TUSDM as an Instructor, was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1979, Clinical Associate Professor in 1984, and Clinical Professor in 2007. He served as the Director of the Implant Fellowship Program from 2009 through 2017.
Since 2014, Dr. Galburt has been a Chair of the Faculty Advisory Council to the Dean that was established to represent general faculty of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. The mission of FAC was to advise the Dean directly of any issues or concerns that the faculty members at TUSDM may have that may impact TUSDM or the faculty members or students in general. It became a mechanism for the faculty to communicate directly to the top administration of the dental school and for the administration to communicate with the faculty. The goal was to maintain a shared sense of community at TUSDM.
In 2017, Dr Galburt was elected to serve on the Tufts University Faculty Senate, he was re-elected in 2020 and nominated to be a part of the Executive Committee of the Tufts University Faculty Senate, thus representing the School of Dental Medicine.
Throughout his tenure at TUSDM, Dr. Galburt has taught and directed the preclinical courses, received many awards, served on a numerous committees and published in professional journals. In 1984, he also published a book entitled “Calcium & Oral Health.”
Dr. Charles Rankin
Dr. Charles Rankin, a native of Everett, Massachusetts, entered the dental field in 1968 when he was assigned as a dental technician in the U.S. Air Force. He received his B.A. in Biology from Salem State College in 1976 and his D.M.D. from Tufts University, School of Dental Medicine in 1979. Dr. Rankin practiced five years as an Air Force general dentist and returned to Tufts to earn his endodontic certificate in 1986. He became Board-certified by the American Board of Endodontics in 1990.
He practiced endodontics at Andrews AFB in Maryland and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado before retiring from the Air Force in 1995. Dr. Rankin joined TUSDM in 1996 and served as the Director of Predoctoral Endodontics for fifteen years. Concurrently, he practiced endodontics at NH Endodontics, Concord, NH from 1997-2012 and later at Tufts Dental Associates. In 2012, Dr. Rankin was appointed as the Interim Chair of the Department of Oral Diagnostics and Health Promotion which later became the Department of Comprehensive Care. He held the Interim Chair position for 6 years, until 2018. In the past two years, Dr. Rankin was a Professor and the Director of our Basic Science, Clinical Science Spiral Seminar Series course. He also is the faculty advisor to our Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP) students who will be serving in the military upon their graduation.
Dr. Rankin was presented with the Dean’s Award in Clinical Teaching in 2000 and the Dean’s Award in Preclinical Teaching in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. He was presented with the Faculty Sesquicentennial Award at the TUSDM’s 150th anniversary celebration.
Dr. Rankin holds memberships in the American Dental Association, American Dental Education Association, American Association of Endodontists, American College of Dentists and the Massachusetts Association of Endodontists. Dr. Rankin has lectured locally, nationally and internationally as well as published several articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals
Dr. Kanchan Ganda
For forty years, Dr. Ganda has shared her expertise with our TUSDM community, developing the minds of generations of dentists that will skillfully and passionately serve their communities. Dr. Ganda will retire in December 2020 as Professor and Head of the Division of Medicine in the TUSDM Department of Comprehensive Care.
Dr. Andrea Ferreira Zandona, Professor and Chair Department of Comprehensive Care, writes, "When I first arrived at Tufts Dr. Ganda communicated that she was considering retiring. I feel privileged that she postponed her retirement allowing me the honor of working with her for two years of her long tenure at Tufts. In Dr. Ganda I found inspiration and support, commitment and dedication. Dr. Ganda’s devotion to Tufts is palpable. Her passion unwavering, felt by dental students, residents, and faculty, staff and patients. Her legacy will continue through the thousands of students and residents that gained a foundation in medicine applied to dentistry in one of her many courses and lectures, her one to one guidance during medical consults, or grants that provided the financial support for their patients' dental treatment. Her retirement will leave a very large void in our department and TUSDM. I will greatly miss Dr. Ganda and, as I mentioned to her, hope to honor her legacy."
A licensed physician, Dr. Ganda serves as the Medicine Course Director, teacher, and medical consultant for both pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students. Managing TUSDM Health Care Policies and the AHA CPR Program, she also trains students, faculty, and staff to ensure we and our patients are safe in emergency situations. She is sole author of the text, Dentist’s Guide to Medical Conditions, Medications & Complications (Wiley-Blackwell 2008, 2012) and is associate staff at the Department of Dentistry at Tufts Medical Center.
A lasting legacy is Dr. Ganda’s dedication to underserved populations, especially survivors of domestic violence and those with HIV. After a heartbreaking interaction with a patient, Dr. Ganda founded the Dental Outreach To Survivors (DOTS) Program. The DOTS program has been providing dental education to students since 1991 and the grant has been supporting the dental care to survivors of violence since 2003. Additionally, she has obtained over $3 million in funding through the Ryan White Care Act Dental Reimbursement Program Grant, which improves access to oral health care services for low income, uninsured, and underserved people with HIV and supports related education and training for the delivery of dental care to people with HIV. She is also the Director of the Services for the Underserved Patient Population Overtly-urgent & Routine Treatments (SUPPORT) Program & MCP-SUPPORT Clinic.
Dr. Ganda has earned numerous awards and recognitions, including: the TUSDM 2012 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Pre-Clinical Teaching; the 2011 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Basic Science Teaching; the 2009 Richard Allard Award for Excellence in Prevention of Abuse and Neglect (presented by the Massachusetts Dental Society’s Committee); the 2007 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Basic Science Teaching; the 1999 Outstanding Faculty Award; and the 1996 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was also selected to honorary membership in the XI-XI Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the National Dental Honor Society, in May 1995.