Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Health Sciences) Professor Paul Brunton is honoured and humbled to have received three fellowships over the past year.
Three fellowships from three major international dentistry organisations have been awarded to the University's Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Health Sciences) Professor Paul Brunton in the past year.
The International College of Dentists (ICD) extended its invitation to Professor Brunton last year. The College describes the invitation to become a Fellow as “a distinct honour which is recognised both locally and internationally”, and is extended “only after very careful consideration”.
The ICD was conceived in 1920 and is the oldest and largest honorary society for dentists in the world.
The College told Professor Brunton his invitation to become a fellow was “recognition of your substantial and sustained contribution as a dental professional”.
"An environment like we have here at Otago encourages and supports good work, and I've been lucky to be in such good environments, surrounded by very good people, for a long time."
The Pierre Fauchard Academy inducted Professor Brunton as a fellow in May this year at an event in Australia. Founded in 1936, the Academy comprises more than 11,000 Fellows from around the world. Fellowship serves as recognition of excellence and progress within the profession, and is extended to those “who we believe will bring credit to dentistry”.
The Academy cited Professor Brunton's experience, leadership roles and his significant body of published clinical research.
Earlier this month Professor Brunton was welcomed as a Fellow of the American College of Dentists at an event in California for “contributions to dentistry and the community”. The College was established in 1920 and, since its inception, has helped define and shape the dental profession.
The College's Fellows encompass a diverse group representing communities of every size and variety, as well as countries from all over the globe. Each Fellow has in common “a commitment to leadership, excellence, ethics, and professionalism”, the College says.
Professor Brunton says the awards were a chance to both reflect on his time in dentistry to date, and to reflect on the people he has worked with, especially at the University of Otago.
“I'm very humbled by these awards, but I'm also very aware they aren't just a reflection on any one person. An environment like we have here at Otago encourages and supports good work, and I've been lucky to be in such good environments, surrounded by very good people, for a long time.”