May Receives N.C. Dental Society Honor

Dr. Ken May, vice dean of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry, has received the North Carolina Dental Society’s 2009 Meritorious Achievement Award.

This honor, presented at the organization’s recent annual meeting, recognizes significant achievement in dentistry. Recipients are members of the North Carolina Dental Society who demonstrate excellence in leadership, academics, research, health care delivery and/or professionalism.

May, who received his DDS degree from the School of Dentistry in 1973, had previously received the School’s Richard F. Hunt Memorial Award for Excellence in Predoctoral Teaching and the UNC Dental Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award, among his other honors.

A UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member since 1976, May has served in a variety of roles in his School of Dentistry career, including associate professor and professor in the student dental clinics and graduate clinics, director of admissions and student affairs, associate dean for administration and planning, Dental Faculty Practice practitioner and interim dean. In his role as vice dean, he serves as the School’s chief operating officer.

May’s service to dentistry in the state has included a term as delegate to the North Carolina Dental Society House of Delegates and several leadership roles in the Third District Dental Society and Durham-Orange County Dental Society. May is a fellow in the American College of Dentists, International College of Dentists, Academy of Dentistry International and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He has served as treasurer of the Dental Foundation of North Carolina.

“I feel Ken May is very deserving of the NCDS’s Meritorious Achievement Award for 2009,” said Dr. Billy Williams, chairman of the organization’s awards committee. “Ken has been so instrumental in making the dental school at UNC one of the best in the nation.”

Williams, a 1985 UNC-Chapel Hill DDS graduate, added that he remembered May “having a smile on his face and his willingness to help guide us through the process of learning the skills needed to be good dentists.

“His commitment to both education and organized dentistry has helped make the state of North Carolina a great place to live and work for all our citizens.”

Other North Carolina Dental Society 2009 award recipients are:

• Dr. Junius H. Rose Jr., who received the Citizenship Award for outstanding service that reflects favorably upon the profession of dentistry;
• Dr. Jasper L. Lewis, who received the Distinguished Service Scroll Award for a career exemplifying outstanding service, leadership and dedication to the profession of dentistry and/or improvement of health for North Carolina citizens; and
• Dr. C. Scott Davenport, who received the Special Recognition Award for specific achievement or an extraordinary deed related or unrelated to dentistry.