UK College of Dentistry Alumni Association Presents Distinguished Alumni Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 28, 2014)  -  The University of Kentucky College of Dentistry Alumni Association awarded the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award to Dr. M. Raynor Mullins, during the Fall Symposium and Alumni Weekend held Oct. 2-4, 2014.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award was established 10 years ago to honor alumni of the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry who demonstrate loyalty to the College, community leadership, and excellence and merit in his or her field of our profession of dentistry.

Mullins is a dental public health dentist and a member of the Emeritus Faculty of the UK College of Dentistry. He graduated from the College of Dentistry in 1968 and received a Masters in Public Health degree from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina in 1970. In 1972, he completed a residency in Dental Public Health at UK and was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Community Dentistry, serving as department chair from 1974 to 1988. He has also served as academic dean from 1988 to 1994, and as chief of the Division of Dental Public Health from 1994 to 2004 for the UK College of Dentistry.       

He is working with the UK Center for Oral Health Research and also with the UK College of Medicine to develop education, service and research partnerships aimed at improving oral health literacy and reducing oral health disparities in Appalachia and rural Kentucky.

Currently, he is serving as the UK project leader for an ARC project, the Appalachian Rural Dental Education Partnership with Morehead State University. The goals of this project include improving oral health literacy, improving the dental careers pipeline and access to dental care in Kentucky’s ARC counties. He is also a member of the 2014 Health Work Group for the Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) initiative begun by Gov. Steve Beshear and Congressman Hal Rogers.

Mullins is also a member of the Friedell Committee, a state citizens group working to improve health in the Commonwealth. He has received numerous professional honors, including induction into the American College of Dentists, Kentucky Public Hall of Fame, president of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry, president of the Kentucky Section of the American College of Dentists and multiple dental service awards from the Kentucky Dental Association and the Blue Grass Dental Society. This year, he also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Pikeville.

Media Contact: Ann Blackford at 859-323-6442 or ann.blackford@uky.edu