J. Daniel Subtelny: A man of Thought, Action and Vision

‘‘I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.’’ On September 27, 2014, hundreds of alumni, faculty, administrators, and fellow Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists (EHASO) members came to Pittsford, NY to celebrate the life of Dr. J. Daniel Subtelny. They came from Hong Kong, Iceland, Mexico, Korea, Canada, and all points in the United States to honor and pay tribute to a man who has dedicated his life to our profession of orthodontics as a practitioner, researcher and educator. One alumnus drove from Illinois when she discovered she couldn’t get a flight because of a fire at the Chicago air traffic control center. It was standing room only during the memorial service in which Dr. Subtelny was eulogized by several colleagues and family members. In between strident organ refrains, everyone recalled his zest of life, learning, Joanne (his first wife—with whom he wrote the early books on cleft palate treatment), and the department he chaired for 55+ years. We were all reminded of how he made us better orthodontists and people. The current residents will perhaps most keenly feel this poignant grief because they will not have the benefit of his counsel for as long as the rest of us. His legacy lives on in the hundreds of former orthodontic residents he clinically educated, supervised and guided the research of —resulting in the publication of scores of important contributions to our literature. Rest assured that, even though he was 92 when his body failed to wake up on September 17th, he still had a lot to offer. He remained vibrant and active until the end. At the spring meeting of the North Atlantic Component of EHASO, in Rome, Dr. Subtelny kept up with the rest of the group as we walked 3.7 miles (a member of the group had a pedometer) up and down steps of the Vatican and the Coliseum. Immediately following the memorial service, a New Orleans style band led a processional, followed by the family and then the rest of the congregation, to Dr. Subtelny’s home for a celebration of his life. And what a rich life it was. After serving in both the US Army and the US Public Health Service, Dr. Subtelny began his career in dental education. Subtelny graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry, earning a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. He received his orthodontic certificate and Master of Science degree from the University of Illinois, perhaps the most rigorous program and the world leader in orthodontic thought at the time, operating under the tutelage of Dr. Allan Brodie. In 1915, George Eastman donated the funds to build the Rochester Dental Dispensary—which later morphed into the Eastman Dental Center (EDC). In 1955, the second director, Dr. Basil Bibby, asked Dr. Dan Subtelny to organize the first accredited Department of Orthodontics. The fifth director of EDC, Dr. Cyril Meyerowitz, consolidated all branches of dental education and research at the University of Rochester under the umbrella that is now known as the Eastman Institute for Oral Health. Dr. Meyerowitz has said of Dan, ‘‘Dr. Subtelny is an excellent educator who has contributed significantly ... He is revered by his G 2015 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, Inc.