BCD professor earns Piper Professor Award

(DALLAS) — Dr. John M. Wright, Regents Professor and director of pathology in diagnostic sciences at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry, can add the distinction of being named a 2006 Piper Professor to his lengthy list of accolades.

His award was one of 15 from the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation made annually to Texas professors for superior teaching at the college level.

Dr. Wright received $5,000 in addition to a certificate and commemorative pin at a presentation June 1, 2006. Dr. Nancy W. Dickey, president of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs for the Texas A&M System, made the presentation, which was followed by a reception.

Earlier this year, Dr. Wright was bestowed the Regents Professor Service Award by the Texas A&M Board of Regents in recognition of his distinguished academic contributions.

Since joining HSC-BCD’s faculty 1980, Dr. Wright has been instrumental in redesigning the curriculum in pathology. He also directed a review of the college’s academic due process and academic standards policies. In the late 1990s, he developed HSC-BCD’s graduate program in oral and maxillofacial pathology, which he directs.

Dr. Wright served for 11 years on the executive council of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and was the academy’s president in 2000. He is a director of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and will become the board’s president in 2010. He also is the North American representative to the Council of the International Association of Oral Pathologists and currently serves as a consultant to the American Dental Association for the accreditation of advanced education programs in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology.

The Piper Professor Award was first presented in 1958, and the roster of Piper Professors includes outstanding professors from two- and four-year colleges and universities, public and private.

Founded in 1905, Baylor College of Dentistry at Dallas is a component of the Texas A&M Health Science Center. HSC-BCD is a nationally recognized center for oral health sciences education, research, specialized patient care and continuing dental education.

The Texas A&M Health Science Center provides the state with health education, outreach and research. Its six components located in communities throughout Texas are Baylor College of Dentistry, the College of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, and the School of Rural Public Health.