Awa rds & A chievement s
Penn Dental Student Elected ASDA President
Craig McKenzie, second-year dental student at the University Of
Pennsylvania School Of Dental Medicine, was elected president
of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) on March 2
during its annual meeting in Pittsburgh. McKenzie succeeds
Roopali Kularni, also from Penn, as ASDA president. This is the
first time since 1979-1980 that there have been back-to-back
ASDA presidents from the same school.
McKenzie recently held the role of District 3 trustee to the
national ASDA Board. Prior to his term on the board, he served
as national predental consultant and chapter development
chair for ASDA District 3. As an undergraduate, McKenzie
(photo credit: ASDA/Caught in the Moment Photography)
founded and led the ASDA predental chapter at Virginia Tech
University. McKenzie is completing a dual degree at Penn,
working towards his Master of Science in Education in
conjunction with his dental degree. He is a member of both the
Penn Dental Pediatric Society and the Psi Omega dental
fraternity. McKenzie was born in Melbourne, Australia, and grew
up in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Craig McKenzie receiving the ASDA president’s pin from his
predecessor Roopali Kulkarni, also a Penn Dental student .
(photo credit: ASDA/Caught in the Moment Photography)
McKenzie is committed to building the relationship between
ASDA and dental school administrations, as well as ensuring
that ASDA’s programming supplements the dental school
curriculum, stating, “We must market the benefits of ASDA to
administrations as an opportunity to increase student success
without increasing the financial burden to schools. We must
focus on ASDA’s commitment to wellness and teaching dental
students what they don’t learn in the classroom.”
MAY/JU N E 2019 | P EN N SYLVAN IA DEN TAL JOURNAL
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