Rhodus added to Scholars Walk on Foreign Academies

Nelson Rhodus, DMD, MPH, professor and director of the Division of Oral Medicine, Diagnosis and Radiology, was added to the University of Minnesota’s Scholar’s Walk on Foreign Academies in honor of his election to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The honor is the second time Rhodus’s name appears on the Scholar’s Walk, and he is one of two School of Dentistry faculty to appear. 

The University of Minnesota Scholars Walk is a physical and online monument celebrating the research and classroom accomplishments of award-winning faculty, alumni and students. Created with a gift from the University Gateway Corporation in 2006, the physical Scholars Walk spans nearly 2,200 feet across campus. Members and honorary members of foreign academies are honored on the virtual version of the Scholars Walk.

Rhodus was elected to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2021. Formed in 1505, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is the oldest Surgical College in the world, with approximately 30,000 members spanning disciplines. The College focuses on “ensur(ing) the safety of our patients and providing them with the best possible care...by championing the highest standards of surgical and dental practice,” according to the Society. Membership in the Royal College is an academic distinction. 

Typically reserved for researchers in the United Kingdom, the College extended Fellowship to Rhodus due to his work across specialties and borders on oral cancer research, detection and screening. Rhodus is the first and only faculty member from the University of Minnesota to be named a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. 

Rhodus was first named on the Scholars Walk in 2000, as part of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, alongside Larry Wolff, MS, PhD, DDS, professor of periodontology. 

Seeing his name appear in recognition of his great achievements is “indeed a wonderful and unique honor” for Rhodus.

In the years since his induction into the Royal College, Rhodus has continued to speak at conferences, share information about early detection of oral cancer and continue his research and teaching. 

And while he’s honored to have been elected to the Royal College and added a second time to the Scholars Walk, his focus remains ever on his work, and the impact it can have. 

“I hope in some way these honors will shed light on the important issue: earlier detection and prevention of oral cancer,” he said. “Perhaps it will serve as motivation for others to undergo screenings.”