Receiving to give back

Leadership looks different for everyone. To lead is to become one’s authentic self, embracing humility, living and working with value at the forefront. It is the School of Dentistry’s goal to ensure every one of our learners has the chance to become a leader and pave the way for excellence in oral health care. That’s why we are making scholarships a priority—doing what we can to recruit the best learners and shape them into tomorrow’s leaders. 

Learners to Leaders, the Drive for School of Dentistry students, is a bold initiative that seeks to raise $1 million in scholarship funds for our learners.

Isaac Tadé, DDS ’25, always wanted to attend the University of Minnesota for his graduate education—but financial barriers made him unsure if that would ever happen. 

Tadé values the whole-health, personal approach that dentistry offers. “I appreciate that dentistry involves an intimate connection between the doctor and the patient,” he said. “I want to gain patient trust and be involved in the community where I end up practicing.” 

That community-centric approach led him to the National Health Service Corps scholarship, which dictates that he will work in an underserved area upon graduation. “I’ll be working with populations that desperately need more oral health care, and that’s something I’m really excited about,” he said. 

Receiving scholarship funds allowed Tadé to enter the field, and to have the freedom to serve communities that need him most upon graduation. 

“This career requires accumulating a significant amount of debt just to get in the door,” he said. “Receiving a scholarship has really freed up possibilities. It means I can give back to my community, and be a donor in the future. I’m looking forward to giving.” 

“Donors make dreams possible, and they made this career path possible for me.”