Judith Albino, PhD, is a health and community psychologist whose research included studies of health disparities and the development of prevention interventions for oral health. Her academic career began at the SUNY-Buffalo School of Dentistry, where she served on the faculty from 1972 through 1990 in the Department of Behavioral Sciences. It was at UB where she began her experiences as an administrator, serving for a time as Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. She left UB and enjoyed a distinguished career, most prominently as president of the University of Colorado and subsequently interim dean of the University of Colorado School of Public Health, as well as in numerous other academic leadership roles.  

Interviewed on February 24, 2021

Irwin Burstein, DDS, is a graduate of the University of Buffalo School of Dentistry and completed specialty training in periodontics at Columbia University. He practiced periodontics in Buffalo for 50 years, and served as a part time instructor in the dental school over the course of his career.

Interviewed on February 22, 2021

Rosemary Dziak, PhD, joined the faculty in 1976 and is presently Professor of Oral Biology and a recognized expert in bone cell metabolism, with specific emphasis on signal transduction mechanisms in osteoblastic cells after activation with various local and systemic factors including mechanical perturbations. She has mentored a large cohort of dental and graduate students over her career, and has served the school, university and scientific communities in many ways, including as a member of a variety of federal and local grant review committees, as Co-Director of the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender, and as a member of the UB Presidential Review Board.

Interviewed on December 3, 2020

Stuart Fischman, DMD, joined the SUNY-Buffalo School of Dentistry as an Instructor in 1961, and retired as Professor of Oral Medicine in 1997. He served as Director of Dentistry at the Erie County Medical Center for many years, and is a Diplomate of the American Boards of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine. He enjoyed an active career as a researcher, investigating the clinical effects of dentifrices, chewing gums and mouth rinses, the management of ulcerative diseases of the oral mucosa and the oral manifestations of HIV disease. His efforts had international impact, and he has held academic appointments in Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, and Israel.

Interviewed on November 20, 2020

Richard Hall, DDS, MS, PhD, MD, has a long history with the University at Buffalo, first matriculating as a college student in the 1960s. He has an extensive educational background, having earned BS, DDS and MD degrees from the University at Buffalo, and MS, PhD and certification in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from the University of Rochester. He served as Chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University at Buffalo for 20 years, and is presently Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Over his career he has engaged in a variety of research projects and has provided numerous invited presentations and seminars at national and international meetings.

Interviewed on December 17, 2020

Mark Herzberg, DDS, PhD, is Professor of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences, Director Emeritus of the NIH-supported Craniofacial Research Training Program at the School of Dentistry, and former Associate Director of the University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Minnesota. His research has mostly focused on host-pathogen interactions and cancer biology. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and received numerous federal grants and scientific accolades for his research. He received his DDS degree in 1973 from New York University, and PhD in Oral Biology and a Specialty Certificate in Periodontics from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1978.

Interviewed on January 11, 2021

Michael Levine, DDS, PhD, is the first individual to have received both the DDS and PhD from the SUNY-Buffalo School of Dentistry. Following postdoctoral training at Harvard, he returned to UB, where he served on the faculty from 1975 to 2000, retiring as Professor of Oral Biology. He has made a great impact as a pioneer investigator in the field of salivary biochemistry, with a focus on the identification and functional characterization of salivary proteins and glycoproteins. His laboratory trained more than 25 PhD and post-doctoral scholars, as well as numerous MS and dental students.

Interviewed on November 30, 2020

W.D. (Scott) McCall , PhD, joined the oral medicine faculty of the SUNY-Buffalo School of Dentistry in 1976, and became a productive investigator who focused attention on the neurophysiology physiology of Tempro-Mandibular Disorder (TMD). He and his UB colleagues have made major contributions to our present understanding of this complex and difficult condition. In addition to his research activities, Professor McCall has served the school in many capacities over his tenure, as a teacher, mentor and as Chair of the Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences from 2007 through 2014.

Interviewed February, 2021

Mirdza (Mitzi) Neiders, DDS, MS, one of the longest serving full-time member in the history of the UB dental faculty, joined the SUNY-Buffalo School of Dentistry as an Assistant Professor of Oral Pathology in 1962, and retired as Distinguished Teaching Professor of Oral Diagnostic Sciences in 2004. She continued as a part-time clinical faculty until 2021. Over her remarkable 60-year career at UB, she made major contributions as a researcher, teacher of dental students, residents and graduate students, and clinical and laboratory oral pathologist.

Interviewed December 7, 2020

Frank Scannapieco, SUNY Distinguished Professor or Oral Biology, entered the School of Dental Medicine graduate program in 1985 to study periodontology, basic mechanisms of dental plaque formation and their implications in health and disease. Following completion of his training, he joined the faculty of the school, where he has remained since. His interest in the history of the school lead to this oral history project.

Larry Tabak, DDS, PhD, is a graduate of the UB oral biology and endodontics programs. After starting his career in Buffalo, he moved to the University of Rochester Medical Center where he served as a professor of dentistry, biochemistry and biophysics and as the senior associate dean for research. He then went on to serve as the director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and then the principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. He served as acting director of NIH from 2021 to 2023.  His research has focused on the structure, biosynthesis and function of glycoproteins.

Interviewed on June 1, 2023

Martin Taubman, DDS, PhD, Senior Member of the Staff Emeritus, the Forsyth Institute, was one of the first graduates of the Oral Biology PhD program, at which time he pioneered studies of the oral secretory immune system and its role in dental caries. Throughout his distinguished career, he made numerous contributions to our understanding of the importance of oral mucosal immunology in dental diseases.

Interviewed on June 12, 2023

Thomas Van Dyke, DDS, PhD, is Vice President of Clinical and Translational Research at the ADA Forsyth Institute and Professor at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. A graduate of the UB SDM PhD program in Oral Biology, his research has addressed issues pertinent to the pathogenesis of periodontitis and other inflammatory diseases. His work has contributed to the current understanding of the role of the oral microbiome in the inflammatory response and how the host response modifies the microbiome, as well as the pathogenesis of periodontitis, diabetes, and other inflammatory conditions.

Interviewed on June 14, 2023

Gerard (Gary) Wieczkowski Jr., DDS, joined the SUNY-Buffalo School of Dentistry faculty in 1969, as a clinical instructor in the then Department of Operative Dentistry.  He retired as a full-time Associate Professor of Restorative Dentistry in 2012.  He helped train generations of dental students on the finer points of tooth restoration.  He was also a pioneer in restorative and dental materials research in the school.

Interviewed January 18, 2021

Lawrence Wolfgang DDS, is a graduate of the University of Buffalo School of Dentistry. He began his career in full-time practice of general dentistry. He joined the SUNY-Buffalo School of Dentistry as a part-time faculty in the early 1960s, but soon transitioned to full-time, and served the School for many years as the director of oral radiology.

Interviewed March 15, 2021