WDA Dental Excellence Awards
WDA Dental Excellence Awards overview
The WDA Dental Excellence Awards are given annually to member dentists, organizations and others who have demonstrated exemplary commitment, service and achievement in regard to dentistry and the oral health of Wisconsin residents. Awards are presented at a special dinner in conjunction with the WDA House of Delegates every fall.
Judging of all awards, with the exception of the WDA Foundation Philanthropic Award, is done by the WDA Board of Trustees. The WDA Foundation Philanthropic Award is selected by the WDA Foundation Executive Committee.
All nominations must include a completed nomination
form and a letter from the nominator indicating how the nominee meets
the criteria and why they should be considered for the award. In
addition, nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award must include a
current curriculum vitae. A dentist nominated in any of the award
categories must be an American Dental Association member in good
standing.
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Current & past award recipients
The WDA will honor 9 award recipients during the WDA House of Delegates at a
special dinner Friday, Nov. 13, 2026 at the Brookfield Conference Center in Brookfield.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dr. Patrick Tepe (Dodgeville)
COMMUNITY OUTREACH AWARD
Dr. Seth Ebben (Madison)
FRIENDS OF DENTISTRY
Lani Becker
MEDIA RELATIONS AWARD
Benjamin Jordan, TMJ4
NEW DENTIST LEADERSHIP AWARD
Dr. Turner Schmidt (Appleton)
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP IN MENTORING AWARD
Dr. Karen Johnson (Clintonville)
POLITICAL ACTION AWARD
Dr. Emily Eckdahl (Brookfield)
WDA AWARD OF HONOR
Dr. Glenn Gequillana (Greenfield)
WDA FOUNDATION PHILANTHROPIC AWARD
Mark Paget
Congratulations to all recipients!
WDA Dental Excellence Award categories
The WDA presents awards in 10 categories with one recipient in each:
- Lifetime Achievement
- Communications
- Community Outreach
- Friends of Dentistry
- Media Awareness
- New Dentist Leadership
- Outstanding Leadership in Mentoring
- Political Action
- WDA Award of Honor
- WDA Foundation Philanthropic (selected by the WDA Foundation Executive Committee)
Award descriptions and criteria
Nominate a colleague
Nominations for a deserving dentist, organization or friend(s) of dentistry are accepted throughout the year. To qualify for that year’s program, nominations must be submitted by July 15. For any questions, please contact Christine Jacobs at cjacobs@wda.org.
Nominations are open for the 2027 Dental Excellence Awards program.
