| IN MEMORIAM
Samuel E. Allerton,
scientist and educator, died August 27 at the age of 71. He
was a member of the basic science faculty at the USC School of
Dentistry for 33 years and was promoted to the rank of
associate professor with tenure in 1969. He served as the
chairman of the department of biochemistry from 1975 to 1977
and the department of basic sciences from 1977 to 1984.
A native of Three Rivers,
Michigan, Allerton graduated summa cum laude with an A.B. from
Kalamazoo College. With the support of a National Science
Foundation scholarship, he earned his Ph.D. in medical
sciences and biochemistry at Harvard University in 1962. From
1961 to 1965, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller
University in New York and then taught biophysics to graduate
students at USC for four years. He joined the School of
Dentistry faculty in 1967.
“Sam had a passion to use his
exquisite doctoral training in physical chemistry—first in
biophysics, then childhood cancers and finally the ‘nutrition-health
connection’,” says Dean Slavkin.
Allerton conducted studies and
published papers on phosphorproteins, plasma albumin,
inorganic iron polymers, Wilms Tumor and heterogeneity of high
density lipoproteins. He was an invited lecturer on
biochemistry and physiology of human nutrition.
A friend and mentor to many
students, he was repeatedly recognized with teaching awards.
He taught biochemistry and nutrition to dental, dental hygiene
and graduate students, and specialty residents.
An active participant in
numerous school and university committees, Allerton was
chairman of the university’s radiation safety committee for
16 years and served a two-year term as chairman of the
university health and safety advisory committee. He served
four terms as a member of the USC Faculty Senate. He was an
honorary member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon, a Fellow of the
American College of Nutrition and member of numerous
professional organizations.
Long-time School of Dentistry
staff member Jeanette Ichiriu passed away September 8
after an extended battle with cancer.
Ichiriu was an aide in the
first-floor dispensary, a position she held for over thirty
years. Friends and colleagues remember Ichiriu for her
uncompromising work ethic and unabashed love of all things
Trojan.
“Jeanette never called in
sick. Never. You couldn’t make her go home,” says Ichiriu’s
supervisor and friend, Jane Watanabe. “She really loved her
job and the university.”
Ichiriu was born in Honolulu,
Hawaii on September 26, 1917. In 1946, she married Kazuo
Ichiriu—her childhood sweetheart and member of the School of
Dentistry Class of 1957. Tragically, Ichiriu’s husband
passed away in 1963, leaving her to care for their two sons.
“The only thing she loved
more than USC was her grandson. The only thing she loved more
than USC was her grandson. There’s pictures of him all over
the dental school,” adds Manny Juarez of clinic supply.
Lester D. Kaneko, a
valuable member of the school’s part-time faculty for 18
years, died August 16 at the age of 61. Kaneko earned his
bachelor’s degree at USC and graduated with his dental
degree from USC in 1968.
A native of Honolulu, Hawaii,
Kaneko practiced dentistry in Monterey Park for 35 years. As a
clinical associate professor at the school, he volunteered his
time as a restorative faculty member and helped prepare many
dental students for clinical practice.
From 1981 to 1989, he was an
expert examiner for the California Board of Dental Examiners.
He was a member of CDA, ADA and his local San Gabriel Valley
Dental Society. His other professional affiliations included
the Academy of Operative Dentistry and the Academy for
Excellence in Dentistry. He supported his alma mater as a
member of the Dental Alumni Association and of the USC support
group, Cardinal and Gold.
Kaneko is survived by his wife,
Sharon; daughter, Leslie and her husband Richard Furuichi;
son, Michael; daughter, Lori; mother, Alice Kaneko; and many
nieces, nephews and other relatives.
Shigeo R. Kishi, who
served on the school’s part-faculty in the departments of
operative dentistry and fixed prosthodontics at various times
throughout his career, died August 15, 2003 at the age of 60.
Kishi was born in Amache,
Colorado, a relocation camp during World War II. After
the war, he and his family returned to Southern California.
While an undergraduate at USC, Kishi received a fellowship
from the National Science Foundation for cancer research. He
graduated from USC School of Dentistry in 1969 and was
inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon at that time. In 1991, he
returned to USC to study computer applications in dentistry.
At the time of his death, Kishi
served as the executive director of the Foundation of the
Pierre Fauchard Academy and a member of the board of directors
of the Southern California Section of the American College of
Dentists. Active in numerous professional organizations, he
was a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and past
president of the Southern California Section, and a Fellow of
the Pierre Fauchard Academy and international past president
of that organization. He was also a Fellow of the
International College of Dentists, the Academy of Dentistry
International and the Academy of General Dentistry. The Order
of the French National Dental Council honored him with their
Gold Medal in 1998.
Kishi maintained a practice in
Fountain Valley, California. Donations in his name can be made
to the USC School of Dentistry Memorial Fund in room 203 or to
the Pierre Fauchard Academy Foundation, P.O. Box 80330, Las
Vegas, NV 89180-0330.
Henry M. Tanner, a noted
innovator and educator in restorative dentistry, died
September 6 at the age of 80. A native of Salt Lake City,
Utah, Tanner earned his dental degree at USC in 1945 and
joined the faculty following graduation.
It was a time that would change
the way dentistry was practiced with such advances as
high-speed handpieces, carbide burs and diamond
instruments. As noted in the school’s history book, Centennial,
Tanner’s studies of high-speed cutting and abrading of tooth
structure led to changes in the design of rotary instruments.
He pioneered acrylic resin provisional restorations and
invented the 5-T Tanner amalgam carver.
USC was the first dental school
to introduce high-speed handpieces into their doctoral dental
program as a result of the efforts of Tanner and Rex Ingraham.
He and Ingraham traveled throughout the country giving courses
on these new advances.
In 1954, Tanner left USC to
teach dentistry as a lieutenant commander at the National
Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He returned to USC
in 1956 and served as chairman of fixed prosthodontics from
1957 to 1965. Following retirement from USC in 1965, he
continued to maintain a part-time practice in Southern
California until 1973.
From 1974 to 1980, he was the
assistant director of education at the L.D. Pankey Institute
for Advanced Dental Education in Miami, Florida. He returned
to Salt Lake City in 1980 and established a full-time
restorative practice there in 1986 while continuing to teach
and lecture extensively. His teaching and consulting continued
after he retired from practice in 1994.
Tanner’s first wife, Sarah,
died in 1980. He is survived by his wife, Joan; eight
children, including Henry S. Tanner, a USC dental graduate;
two sisters and three brothers; 34 grandchildren; and 20
great-grandchildren. |
