Educator Scholarships

Two $12,000 scholarships are awarded annually to provide financial support for periodontal residents committed to careers as full-time educators.

Full-time faculty are the backbone of the dental professional educational process, bearing responsibility for predoctoral and postdoctoral periodontal education. Significant educational debt is a disincentive to talented, qualified individuals when considering academic careers. The Educator Scholarships were first established to address this concern by a major grant to the AAP Foundation by the American Academy of Periodontology, whose members continue to support it through their unrestricted support and gifts to the Education Action Fund. Educator Scholarships provide support for tuition and living expenses during residency and may also be used for debt reduction.

Eligibility

Applicants must be accepted into or currently enrolled in any year of a U.S. postdoctoral periodontics residency program and must intend to teach full-time in a U.S. periodontal program upon graduation.

Previous recipients of the Educator Scholarship may not re-apply. Immediate family members of the Foundation Board of Directors, officers, and selection committee members are not eligible to apply.

Application and Selection Procedure

Recipients are selected by an award committee appointed by the AAP Foundation president. Finalists are required to attend a personal interview with the selection committee, conducted via videoconference.

Application Deadline

June 1, 2027
Payment Schedule

Funds are disbursed in three payments of $4,000 in December of each year following awarding of the scholarship at the AAP Annual Meeting, contingent upon the recipient remaining enrolled in their residency or engaged in a full-time teaching postiion.
Founded

2006

Selection Committee

Ahmed Refaat El-Awady
Satish Kumar
David T. Wu
Srinivas Myneni
Amanda Finger Stadler

Recipients

2026	Gregory A. Farris, University of Iowa
2026	Nika Mehrnia, Harvard University
2025	Y. W. Stacy Cho, Harvard University
2025	Tanay V. Chaubal, University of Oklahoma
2024	Prita Dhaimade, University of Oklahoma
2024	Sandrine M. Couldwell, Tufts University
2023	Zhaozhao Chen, University of Michigan
2023	Halide Namli Kilic, Indiana University
2022	Farahnaz Fahimipour, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2022	David T. Wu, Harvard University
2021	Mohamed M. Meghil, Augusta University
2021	Andrea Ravidà, University of Michigan
2020	Martinna Bertolini, University of Connecticut
2020	Kyle Diehl, University of Colorado
2019	Amanda Finger Stadler, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2019	Sing-Wai Wong, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2018	Kang I. Ko, University of Pennsylvania
2018	Amarpreet Sabharwal, University at Buffalo
2017	Kevin Byrd, University of North Carolina
2017	Fatemeh Momen Heravi, Columbia University
2016	Ann Decker, University of Michigan
2016	Bruno S. Herrera, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2015	Ahmed Refaat El-Awady, Georgia Regents University
2015	Chin-Wei (Jeff) Wang, Harvard University
2014	Georgios Kotsakis, University of Minnesota
2014	Srinivas Myneni, University at Buffalo
2013	Satish Kumar, University of Southern California
2013	Shaoping Zhang, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2012	Roger Arce, University of North Carolina
2012	Jingyuan Fan, University of Rochester
2011	Jennifer L. Bain, University of Alabama
2011	Soo-Woo Kim, Harvard University
2010	Ioanna Tsolaki, Ohio State University
2009	Julio A. Carrion, State University of New York at Stony Brook
2008	Hector Rios, University of Michigan
2007	Flavia Q. Pirih, University of Michigan
2007	Meggan M.H. Wehmeyer, University of North Carolina
2006	Patricia I. Diaz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2006	Stephanie Mullins, University of Missouri, Kansas City