Supreme Chapter         Volume XLII        October 2007

Distinguished Faculty and Guests,

Welcome to the Annual Business Meeting of the Supreme Chapter of OKU. It has been my distinct pleasure to serve as president over this past year.  First of all, I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their support and guidance over my tenure on the Board.  It has truly been a rewarding and fulfilling experience. Additionally, I would like to thank Miss Jan John for her untiring support and dedication to this organization.  Without her we would not be as strong as we currently are.

The past year saw substantial growth and development of the supreme chapter of OKU. The Junior Faculty Research Grant has seen substantial growth in its endowment base.  I would like to thank Dr. James L. Delahanty, Editor for the supreme chapter, for his initial contribution to this endowment. He was the initial catalyst behind the creation of this endowment.  Through his generous donation and his initial concept, we were able to start the core of this endowment.  To date, the endowment stands at approximately $10,000. I would like to personally thank each and every institution who contributed to the endowment over this last year.  Through your generosity we have seen substantial growth in our endowment. My hope is that we reach our goal of $100,000 in the next two to three years.

I have two challenges for all the delegates to take back to their parent institutions.  First of all, if you have not yet contributed to the Junior Faculty Research Grant consider doing so, either individually or through your chapter.  If each institutional chapter of OKU contributes $1000 and we are able to match those funds with corporate donations, we will reach our goal of $100,000 very quickly.  We would then have enough endowment base to begin spinning off annual faculty awards.  Please ask your chapter leadership to consider donating to this worthy cause.  This endowment will eventually help young educators achieve their goals in research and scholarship.

Second, start something new at your institution.  New programs sponsored by your component chapter of OKU will bring recognition and student awareness of our organization.  At Pacific, six years ago we started Clinical Excellence Day, a day dedicated to the student's efforts in clinical dentistry.  This event, sponsored by OKU, allowed each senior student to showcase their achievements in clinical dentistry.  Each student was given the opportunity to present their case to the community through a clinical presentation.  This event has quickly become the crowning jewel at the end of the student's clinical experience at our institution and it bears OKU’s name.  By logging on to the supreme chapter's web site you will be able to see what other component organizations are doing with OKU sponsored events.  There's a good chance you'll find an idea for an event that is a good fit for your institution. Try something new.

Thank you for your continued support and for making OKU the exemplary organization is at each of your institutions.  Without your continued support and leadership OKU would not be a thriving organization is today.