Announcing the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Awardees
The School of Dentistry is pleased to announce Deborah Lien, DDS ’83, MS, and Judy Danielson, GDH ’73, BSDH ’80, MSDH ’13, as the recipients of the 2021 Distinguished Dental and Dental Hygiene Alumni Awards.
The Distinguished Dental and Dental Hygiene Alumni Awards are honors given annually to outstanding alumni in recognition of exceptional achievement. Candidates must be a graduate of any program of the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry and are judged based on their participation, service, and leadership in the advancement of dentistry and oral health, their public service, community service, and/or civic affairs, and their dedication to continuing education.
Deborah Lien, DDS ’83, MS, is the owner of Lien Orthodontics in Blooming Prairie, MN. After graduating summa cum laude with high distinction with her Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1983, she attended the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine to pursue her Masters of Science in Orthodontics. She practiced in Rochester, Owatonna and most recently opened her practice in Blooming Prairie, MN in 2000. Lien also does locum tenens for her colleagues needing medical, disability or maternity leave. A fierce advocate for rural communities like the ones in which she grew up, Lien has made whole-body wellness for patients in outstate and rural Minnesota a priority.
Lien received the American Association of Periodontists Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement and the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Award for Outstanding Achievements in Undergraduate Study and Clinical Training during her time at the School of Dentistry. After her graduation, she was inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon, and was recently inducted into the American College of Dentists. Lien received the Roger Fredsall Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Service from the Minnesota Association of Orthodontists in 2013 and the Midwestern Society of Orthodontics Earl E. Shepard Distinguished Service Award in 2021. She is an active member of the Minnesota Association of Orthodontics, the Midwest Society of Orthodontics and the American Association of Orthodontics and is a 2022 inductee to the International College of Dentists.
“When you get Deb to volunteer for your organization, you get someone who will contribute for years to come,” said Arnold Hill, DDS, and Stephen Litton, DDS, in her nomination letter. This is evidenced in her work with Smiles Change Lives, the Salvation Army Good Samaritan Dental Clinic in Rochester, Give Kids a Smile and the Minnesota Mission of Mercy, as well as her involvement in community organizations from sports leagues to service opportunities and even as a Veterans of Foreign Wars Honor Flight Guardian.
Judy Danielson, GDH ’77, BSDH ’80, MSDH ’13, is a dental hygiene educator and clinical professor in the Division of Periodontology at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, where she has taught since 1999. She has also taught at the University of Colorado and Normandale Community College. Danielson is a member of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, the American Dental Education Association, the Minnesota Dental Hygienists’ Association, the Minnesota Dental Hygiene Educators’ Association and the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society. Danielson is a dedicated educator whom students and colleagues trust to be a mentor and a confidant. She co-directs the Periodontology Technique course for first year dental students at the School of Dentistry, where she facilitates and instructs the students in the fundamentals of periodontal instrumentation.“Judy has had an impact on thousands of students at the School of Dentistry over the past 23 years,” said Carol Dahlke, BSDH ’07, MSDH ’10, and Elham Akhlaghi, DDS, in their nomination letter. “She is a quiet leader and an advocate for all students, who listens to students and is always cognizant of their needs.”
In addition to her excellence in teaching and mentoring, Danielson makes it a point to engage her students in active learning, ensuring no one is left behind or disengaged. She has worked clinically and has advanced the field in research, including her involvement in a 2021 study at the School of Dentistry to explore aerosol mitigation in dental visits amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This work, completed in coordination with Gary Anderson, DDS,MS, Paul Olin, DDS, MS, Paul Jardine, PhD, and other dentistry and engineering researchers, led to key discoveries in how aerosols travel during common dental procedures.
Danielson is a leader in dental hygiene. She has been recognized for her excellence in practice and education with the Ione Jackson Scholarship Award in 2009, the AkerNewell Scholarship Award in 2012 and the Thank a Teacher Project Award in 2018. She has an excellent reputation as an educator and a colleague.
Lien and Danielson will be honored at the 2022 Alumni Weekend, September 16-17.