BENCO DENTAL, LUCY HOBBS AWARD WINNERS AND MANY MORE GATHERED IN DALLAS THIS JUNE TO CELEBRATE WOMEN IN DENTISTRY.

THE LUCY HOBBS PROJECT might have started as a small initiative to promote women in our profession, but it has since grown into a robust professional network all its own.

This year’s Annual Celebration, held in June in Dallas, brought together five of this year’s six honorees, along with their guests, dental professionals from across the country and the Benco Dental family for two days of networking, innovation, giving back… and lauding the half-dozen winners.

By now, the story of Lucy Hobbs is well-known: Born in 1833 in upstate New York, Hobbs — after overcoming innumerable roadblocks along the way — became, in 1866, the first American woman to earn a dental degree. She remained active in the industry until her death in October 1910.

She was also deeply involved in the nascent women’s professional organizations of her day, joining her local chapter of the Queen Isabella Association — perhaps the first group of its kind in the U.S., it worked to promote women’s rights in both the home and the workplace — in the late 1800s.

For more information about The Lucy Hobbs Project, please visit TheLucyHobbsProject.com. If you’d like to nominate someone for 2017, e-mail submit@incisaledgemagazine.com.

2016 Lucy Hobbs Award Winners

MENTOR AWARD
Dr. Susan Maples
INNOVATOR AWARD
Dr. Pamela Schmidt
HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Dr. Mary Teddy Wray
INDUSTRY ICON AWARD
Col. Theresa Gonzales
WOMAN TO WATCH AWARD
Dr. Kady Rawal
CLINICAL EXPERTISE AWARD
Dr. Joyce Bassett

2016 Lucy Hobbs Award winners Dr. Susan Maples, Dr. Kady Rawal, Dr. Mary Teddy Wray, Dr. Pamela Schmidt and Dr. Joyce Bassett. Fellow winner Dr. Theresa Gonzales was unfortunately unable to attend

Dr. Luz Marina Aguirre, one of the 2015 Lucy Hobbs Award winners, reconnects with fellow Hispanic Dental Association leader Dr. Angela Hernandez

Guests hold ’em high for keynote speaker Libby Gill

An attendee holds the Lucy Hobbs Awards issue of Incisal Edge, featuring Dr. Kady Rawal on the cover

Led by Dr. Rita F. Ne (back row, third from left), root-canal dentists show their stuff

Keynote speaker and executive coach Libby Gill

American Association of Women Dentists president Dr. Mary Martin with Dr. Kady Rawal

2016 Lucy Hobbs Award winner Dr. Pamela Schmidt (second from right) with her husband, Roger, and the couple’s three daughters, who were surprise attendees

CE Presenter Robb Zbierski

Benco Dental’s Kathleen Bird (left) presents the Lucy Hobbs and Benco Family Foundation give-back to Mary Sprute of the National Head Start Association.