The ADEA Distinguished Service Award recognizes significant contributions to ADEA and its members through teaching, research and service.
Henry A. Gremillion, D.D.S. (posthumous)
Dean, Louisiana State University Health New Orleans School of Dentistry
ADEA Past Chair of the Board of Directors
Dr. Gremillion passed away in May 2020 following a brief illness. A 1977 graduate of the Louisiana State University Health New Orleans School of Dentistry (LSUSD), he returned in 2008 to lead his alma mater as the sixth dean of LSUSD.
Dr. Gremillion was adopted at age seven months from an orphanage in north Louisiana and raised in Cottonport, a small Louisiana farming community of about 2,000 people. After he graduated from dental school, Dr. Gremillion returned to Cottonport and set up a general dentistry practice. His service to his community went far beyond taking care of their oral health. Dr. Gremillion was a member of the school board and a volunteer firefighter. He entered politics, successfully running for City Council to implement community fluoridation and move forward with reapportionment to address the disparity in representation.
The quest to learn more to improve the quality of life for his patients led to a two-year craniofacial pain fellowship at the University of Florida College of Dentistry (UF COD). Instead of being a steppingstone to a return to private practice in Louisiana, the fellowship led Dr. Gremillion to academic dentistry.
Rising through the academic ranks, Dr. Gremillion was named the Parker E. Mahan Endowed Professor of Orofacial Pain in the Department of Orthodontics and was a member of the dental staff of Shands Teaching Hospital. He also served as the director of the UF COD Parker E. Mahan Facial Pain Center and its fellowship program in craniomandibular dysfunction.
Along the way, Dr. Gremillion earned distinguished honors. In 2009, the Academy of General Dentistry honored him with the Thaddeus V. Weclew Award for his “exceptional contributions to the art and science of dentistry and for promoting the principles and ideals of the academy.” He received the Dawson Academy Distinguished Service Award in 2009, the American Academy of Orofacial Pain Distinguished Service Award in 2010, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy Gold Medal Award in 2015.
Back at LSUSD, Dr. Gremillion continued to lead the school’s recovery from the devastation that followed Hurricane Katrina. He guided sorely needed renovations to improve the learning environment for students. He enhanced patient care and research by completing the only new building on the dental school campus since it was founded.
One of the programs closest to Dr. Gremillion’s heart was the Summer Enrichment Program. The program’s purpose is to diversify dentistry by identifying and preparing students from underrepresented populations and economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds to be competitive for application to and then succeed in dental school. More than half of the participants in this program have gone on to dental school, many enrolling in LSUSD.
Dr. Gremillion was a dedicated supporter and member of ADEA, serving as Chair of the ADEA Board of Directors from 2019-2020. He has made a lasting impact on dental education and the future dental workforce.