AO- Nurturing Our Future Leaders

Every time I have the pleasure of seeing our wonderful Fraters from the Boston area, I am reminded of what makes Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity so great! This chapter knows how to combine all three sides of our triangle - - they continuously run some of the finest scientific and education programs (PROFESSIONALISM) under the leadership of Brian Miller; they support the students at three dental schools, and have a kinship and a warmth that is exemplified by the inimitable Murray Miller (FRATERNALISM); and they generously support numerous charitable endeavors both in Israel and elsewhere (JUDAIC values of tzedakah and tikun olam). This past weekend condensed all of these three aspects into one great fraternal weekend. It began with a fabulous all-day program on Friday, conducted generously by the wonderful and energetic Steve Anderson (an AO International Board member). Steve, of course was his usual wonderful self, and Brian Miller made sure that all details were fully prepared. Friday night, Steve Spitz opened up his lovely home for a traditional Shabbat dinner (even if over 60 people were there). All day, Saturday, until mid-day Sunday, approximately 70 enthusiastic fraters attended our Leadership Summit. This program, organized by President- Elect Mike Tenenbaum, and facilitated by Nicole and Ayelet from our Headquarters Office, was amazingly well attended, especially by students. Students from as far away as California to the west, and Florida to the south, north from Buffalo and of course from Boston schools came to be part of this conference. I found that individuals that attended were a true indication of how motivated our next generation of potential Alpha Omega leaders are, and how invested they are in contributing toward Alpha Omega’s future.
Our Student Activities Committee (SAC) is composed of three of the most enthusiastic, hard working co-chairs in recent memory. Andrea Heckler, Rachel Davis, and Richard Halpern. They work closely and in coordination with our motivated and energetic ISR’s Matt Rossen and Whitney Mostafiz. Matt and Whitney spent countless hours making phone calls, sending e-mails, and reaching out to students to motivate them to attend this seminar. These two ISR’s deserve the thanks of each and every member of Alpha Omega.
Bobby Geiman, Columbia’s President and Matt Schorr, Yoni Moskowitz ( our singer) and many others from his chapter took the Bolt bus to Boston and contributed their enthusiasm and input. I have come to know several of the members of this chapter in the past couple of years, and this is one of the most terrific group of students I have seen in quite some time. Justin Ohnigan from this chapter carried over his enthusiasm from this program to plan a Chemlog implant (Alpha Omega Winery) and cheese program for students and alumni on November 7th.
Many of us know Harvey Quinton as the New Yorker turned Floridian, who left our four seasons to depart for the south where he could scuba dive year around. Harvey has worked very closely with the students from Nova chapter, and brought eight students to the seminar from Nova. What an outstanding group, who learned and listened to make AO the best at NOVA. Jessica Blanco, and Sal Colombo stand out as great participants at the seminar. They initiated 65 new students this year.
Student Representative to AO Foundation Jonathan Miller brought along t-shirts and scrubs, as a Foundation fundraiser. The students enthusiastically believe in tzedakah and tikun olam, and are some of our strongest advocates for GOHI. Our student webmaster Nat Lawson traveled up from Alabama to participate and share. For those of you that do not know Nat, he is related to the incredible Alpha Omega “Shaw” family, and is following in the glorious AO tradition of his relatives!
Heather Stephens traveled all the way from the west coast for the Summit, and is very much looking forward to encourage many others in her chapter to come to the San Diego Convention, especially because their esteemed dean, Dr. Avishai Sadan, end their Periodontics Professor Hessam Nowzari, will be giving a Continuing Ed seminar on December 31st. The last time I saw Dean Sadan and Professor Nowzari was at Hebrew University, where they were amongst a group of alumni from the Class of 1991, many of which have become deans and other leaders of the profession. However, this time, Avishai and Hessam will be presenting their seminar in English (at Hebrew University, they had English slides, but conducted the seminar in Hebrew).I look forward to being able to follow the lecture with ease the second time around.
All those in attendance left the seminar with warm fraternal feelings, and a better understanding of what Alpha Omega is all about. Leadership Seminars are essential for Alpha Omega to develop leaders, and accomplish its mission.
We are now only approximately two months before the Yearly International Convention in San Diego, from December 25- January 1st. We have great group rates at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay, and Marshal Bob Simon and his committee have planned an eventful, fraternal, community-oriented, value-packed, Continuing Ed loaded week. I urge you to consider attending if you have not yet finalized your plans. Go to: http://aosunnydays2010.ao.org, for details and to register. If you’ve never been to an AO Convention, go to one and “you’ll be hooked.” If you haven’t been in a while, come to this Convention, and you’ll see what you’ve been missing. If you are a “regular,” you’ll love what Bob and his committee have in store for you this year! I look forward to seeing you all in San Diego.


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