Temple University School of Dentistry - Odontolog Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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President’s Message... ROBERT LIVINGSTON JOHNSON A.B.. L.L.D. President of Temple University To the Class of 19$3: I have been asked to supply a foreword for your yearbook. Instead, I am going to write a postscript to the course of instruction that you of the class of 1953 have just completed. This has all been said before b the members of your faculty, and they have said it better, but it can stand repetition. You are about to enter a profession in which people must put themselves unquestioningly in your hands. Be worthy of that trust. They are going to ask your advice and they will accept it because you’re the doctor. Let that advice he as selfless ami as considered as you would want it to he if it were going to a member of your own family. You can subject a patient to needless expense and he may never know it. But you will know it, and your monetary gain will be poor pay for the loss of that self-satisfaction which is a profession's greatest reward. Through haste, laziness or indifference, you can do work that would never pass your instructors' inspection, and for a long time nobody will he wiser. But each time you do it, you will have vitiated the training that you spent years to acquire and that Temple University and the Commonweath of Pennsylvania spent thousands of dollars to provide. I say you can do these things. Any dentist can. My confidence in you tells me you will not. In recommending you for a degree, your faculty certifies to your professional character as well as your professional skill. Those elements are equally important. You will not. I know, let Temple University down. You will not let your best self down. These, then, are the words I would leave with you as your last lesson. God bless you.

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DMINISTRATION 9

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GERALD D. TIMMONS PH.5.. D.D.S., D.S.C., F.A.C.D. Dean. School of Dentistry To the Class of 1953: Just four short years ago each of you were asked the reasons why you desired to enter dental school. Each of you tried in various ways, some with conviction and some with considerable hesitation, to voice your thoughts and aspirations. Now, the four years have passed and it is the sincere hope of both the Faculty and I that there now remains no doubt in the mind of a single one of you as to the validity of your decision. We have tried, during these four years, to give you a solid foundation on which to build. We hope that each of you will realize that you have but begun to learn the art and science of dentistry and that the indelible fact that your “Graduation is just your “Commencement will be stamped eternally in your minds. In accepting the responsibilities coincident with your entrance into the profession your major responsibility is one about which not many of you have thought. It is the responsibility of leaving things better than you found them. Your predecessors have worked long and hard for more than a century to make the profession what it is in the United States and unless you strive, as they did before you, you are not discharging the full measure of your obligation. That is your charge. We shall always be interested in your progress, from a purely selfish standpoint, because it means progress for ns and for the school. We stand ready to help where w'e can and in every effort we w'ish you the best. ¥