Greetings and Happy New Year,

I hope everyone had a joyous and restful holiday season, and that you are ready for what promises to be another successful and opportunity-filled year at the School of Dentistry. I am enthusiastic about the prospects for 2006, which marks the School's 125th-year anniversary. Looking back at 2005, I cannot help but be impressed by all that we achieved together. Here are just some of the highlights.

• The School attained a goal that far exceeded anyone's most optimistic expectations with respect to accreditation, receiving 17 commendations without a single recommendation. This result was the culmination of many months of hard work by members of the faculty, staff, students and administration, and reflects well on the outstanding nature of education, clinical care and scientific research found at the School of Dentistry.

• For the 14th consecutive year, we maintained the top ranking among all dental schools for greatest number and monetary amount of National Institutes of Health grants.

• An exceptionally strong incoming class of dental students, the class of 2009 and the IDP class of 2007, joined the School. The 80 D1 students admitted had a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.46 and a science GPA of 3.40; the mean class scores on the Dental Aptitude Test were 20.3 for ACA and 18 for PAT. The 24 International Dentist Program enrollees presented an outstanding mean score of 89 on Part I of the National Board examination.

• The D1 class also exhibited the diversity for which the School of Dentistry has become known, with 21 percent of the class from underrepresented minority groups.

• The class of 2007 (D3) obtained an average score of 88.5 on the National Board Part I exam; that was the fourth-highest score nationwide during the recent examination period, which ran from November 1, 2004 through October 31, 2005.

• All pre-doctoral and postgraduate clinics generated over $14 million in revenue and provided more than 118,000 patient visits.

• The School hosted not just one, but two extremely successful Research Days, with an unprecedented level of attendance. Featured presenters were all world-renowned researchers: Elizabeth Blackburn, Sol Silverman and David Pashley.

• Ninety-nine students graduated in the class of 2005; 34 members of the class now attend postgraduate education programs.

• Paperless charting is now used in the predoctoral dental clinics, allowing students and faculty members instant, centralized access to patient records.

• The School of Dentistry, along with the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy at UCSF, launched the Institute for Stem Cell and Tissue Biology, and announced key faculty recruits for a stem cell training program. School of Dentistry faculty member Rik Derynck is now co-director of the Institute.

I am equally optimistic about myriad new opportunities in the coming year. One exciting development is the announcement of our new concurrent DDS/MBA degree program with the University of San Francisco. More details on this unique initiative will be unveiled in the coming weeks, as a number of dental students are set to commence classes at USF this month.

I know that by working together to achieve our mutual goals, we can make 2006 even more successful than last year. I look forward to meeting our challenges head on, and striving for continued excellence in teaching, scientific research and patient care.

Best regards,

Charles N. Bertolami, DDS, DMedSc

Dean