One needs to spend only a few minutes with Dr . Gary Davis to feel his intense passion he has for causes close to the heart , as a dentist , as a leader , as a mentor , and perhaps most of all , as a philanthropist and humanitarian . He ’ s perpetually working toward the next mission and his PDA presidency is centered on an ambitious slate of goals , built not on just a personal wish list , but on the vision and values presented in PDA ’ s Strategic Plan .
He has a great focus on leadership development , promotion of diversity and inclusion and increasing member benefits , along with continuing PDA ’ s intense efforts on achieving legislative and regulatory victories , among other items on the 2021-22 slate .
Dr . Davis is a general dentist in Shippensburg . After graduating from Albright College and earning his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the Georgetown University School of Dentistry in 1988 , he opened his private practice in Shippensburg in 1990 .
He quickly made an impact for PDA , beginning with numerous council and committee roles in 1994 . After serving as president of the Cumberland Valley Dental Society and Fifth District Dental Society ( 1996-97 ), he took on a national role with his term on the ADA ’ s Council on Membership from 1997-2001 and on ADA ’ s Council on Access , Prevention and Interprofessional Relations , where he served as chair in 2011 .
For so many years , Dr . Davis has been a constant , driving force behind so many of PDA ’ s efforts in membership and government relations . He has been recognized for his outstanding efforts , as a 1997 ADA New Dentist of the year nominee , and as PDA ’ s Public Service Award recipient in 2014 . He is a Fellow of both the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the International College of Dentists .
Leading up to his term as PDA president , in addition to all of his committee and task force work , he served as PDA Secretary from 2005-2010 , Vice President in 2010-2011 , Access to Care Committee chair in 2012-2014 and Fifth District ’ s Trustee in 2017-2020 .
Community and charitable service have always been extremely important to Dr . Davis and he continues to strive to better the lives of people in all corners of the globe . He is President and General Chair of MOM-n-PA dental missions since 2011 and has helped guide this extraordinary effort through seven missions . He and his colleagues are hard at work preparing for the eighth free dental mission this fall , Sept . 24-25 in Philadelphia , the site of the inaugural mission back in 2013 .
Dr . Davis has been a member of the Rotary Club of Shippensburg since 1991 , serving three terms as its president during that time . He has been a head coach for both youth volleyball and basketball teams . And for the past 22 years he has been involved in international dental missions , including being Dental Director for Ecuadent Dental Missions since 2002 .
After the recent PDA Leadership Conference , Dr . Davis is now looking forward to helping mentor the next wave of PDA leaders via his new Leadership Academy initiative .
JULY / AUGUST 2021 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 15