OKU’s Mu Mu Chapter inducts Class of 2022

Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society’s Mu Mu Chapter at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry welcomed its Class of 2022 inductees in late April. The 15-member class featured 13 soon-to-be graduating dental students and two faculty members.

The ceremony was held April 26 in the Denton A. Cooley, MD, and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS, University Life Center. A PDF of the program is available online.

New alumni members included Michael Andrews, Noah Falls, Kimberly Heaton, Jillian Huffman, Lucia Karam, Dooyeol Kim, Selma Mahmoud, Julianna Masabni, Chandler Pruitt, Dane Risinger, Ann Marie Seelbach, Nicholas Ward, and Melissa Wong. OKU confers alumni membership on senior dental students who, in addition to scholarship, have exemplary traits of character and ethics.

Assistant Professor Elizabeth Scott Hamilton, DDS; and Professor Ben F. Warner, DDS, MD, MS, were extended faculty membership, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the art, science, or literature of dentistry.

In addition, Assistant Professor Lynn Hammond, DDS; and Clinical Assistant Professor Phillip A. Kattchee, DDS, received life membership status for being an active member in the honor society for 35 years and reached the age of 60.

Twelve first-year dental students were honored with $500 scholarships for being in the top 10% of the Class of 2025. Honored DS1 students included Jack Cherry, Allison Day, Nour Hilal, Austin Iturralde, Eshah Mansuri, Keaton Moore, Christine Nguyen, Stanton Pruitt, Salem Rabadi, Shreyas Suresh, Duy Vu, and Cara Zou.

Third-year dental student Jason Workman was named the recipient of the 2022 Dr. William S. Kramer Award, which is given annually to a DS3 who embodies the ideals of scholarship, character, ethics, and potential promise for the advancement of the profession of dentistry and service to humanity.

OKU was organized in 1914; the Mu Mu Chapter at the School of Dentistry was organized in 1940.

OKU was organized by faculty of the Northwestern University Dental School to encourage and develop a spirit of emulation among students in dentistry and to recognize in an appropriate manner those who distinguish themselves by a high level of scholarship. In addition to outstanding academic achievement, criteria for election to membership in Omicron Kappa Upsilon include exemplary traits of character and potential for future professional growth and attainments.