UW News

June 24, 2010

School of Dentistry honors two outstanding teachers

School Of Dentistry

Dr. Ahmad “Andy” Marashi and Dr. Philip Worthington received Bruce R. Rothwell Distinguished Teaching Awards, the School of Dentistry’s top faculty recognition June 14.

 

Worthington, professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, received the Rothwell lifetime achievement award. He is the Washington Dental Service Foundation Distinguished Professor in Dentistry, and his career has included the vice presidency of the International Association for Maxillofacial Surgery. He has also contributed to or edited more than a dozen textbooks.

 

Marashi, a lecturer in the school’s Department of Restorative Dentistry, received the Rothwell award for innovative or distinguished teaching. A faculty member since 2002, he received his DDS from the UW in 2001. Previous honors include the Charles L. Bolender Prosthetic Award and Academy of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities Award.

 

The awards are named for the late Dr. Bruce R. Rothwell, chair of Restorative Dentistry from 1993 until his death in 2000 at the age of 52. He was also longtime director of the school’s Graduate Practice Residency program.

 

Highly regarded for his intellect and warmth by colleagues and students alike, Rothwell was also a leader in forensic dentistry. Working with Dr. Thomas Morton of the School of Dentistry, he won national recognition in the mid-1980s for spurring creation of a computer program that used dental records to identify victims of the Green River killer. Rothwell also won acclaim for creating a painkilling mouthwash for oral cancer patients undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.

 

An endowment was created in 2001 to establish the teaching awards in his honor, and drew more than 300 donors. This year’s awards were presented by his son, Barrett, at the conclusion of the school’s annual faculty retreat, held at the Husky Union Building.