The School of Dentistry lost a longtime member with the passing of alumnus and faculty member Dr. Jeffory Eaton. Dr. Eaton died Monday, March 15, from complications of COVID-19.
A graduate of UC Riverside, Dr. Eaton was a member of the DDS class of 1983. In 2017, he completed a MAXI dental implant fellowship at Loma Linda University. He also was a Fellow of the American College of Dentists.
Dr. Eaton joined the School of Dentistry faculty, in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, in 1994. The next year, Dr. Eaton began his long association with the school’s student-run Community Dental Clinic. Initially volunteering one evening a week, Dr. Eaton eventually became the faculty director of the CDC. In the early years, “We had three students and all we could do was hand out toothbrushes and clean teeth,” Dr. Eaton recalled in a 2016 feature on the clinic. By then, it had grown into a full-service clinic, serving San Franciscans with few other options for dental care.
Dr. Eaton also gave much of his time to student mentoring. His dedication to students culminated in the graduating class of 2017 selecting him to give their commencement address. That was a banner year for Dr. Eaton; he was one of two recipients in 2017 of the Dental Alumni Association’s Medal of Honor, the association’s most prestigious award.
Music also was a great love of Dr. Eaton’s. He had an accomplished career as a musician before entering dental school and performed with such stars as the Righteous Brothers, Lou Rawls, Dionne Warwick, the Doobie Brothers and Carlos Santana. He was a founding member of the UCSF School of Dentistry Matrix Band, begun as a student ensemble and continuing to perform over the decades. The name of Dr. Eaton’s private practice in Redwood City also reflected his love of music: Dentistry and All That Jazz.
Video Links
- 2017 School of Dentistry commencement address
- Matrix Band performance at Dean John Featherstone’s retirement party
