SIU SDM Dean’s and Lowe Scholarships Enhance Student Opportunities

EDWARDSVILLE - The Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine (SIU SDM) has honored four distinguished students with its annual Dean’s Scholarship. The SDM also announced the Dr. Larry A. Lowe Memorial Scholarship to two recipients.

The Dean’s Scholarship was created with the goal of rewarding academic merit, assisting with financial need and increasing student diversity at the SIU SDM. Recipients include Alexis Polczynski, of Venedy, Adam Falasz, of Bloomington, Mary Beth Di Lisio, of Edwardsville, and Karolina Migus, of Prospect Heights. Each has been awarded $5,000 for the 2019-20 academic year.

“Upon completion of their doctor of dental medicine degrees, these outstanding students most certainly will make significant contributions to the communities they serve,” said SIU SDM Dean Bruce Rotter, DMD.

The Dean’s Scholarship Award is largely supported through the SIU SDM’s annual Dean’s Scholarship Gala. The 2019 gala will be held Saturday, Nov. 2 at The Westin St. Louis.

“We appreciate our alumni, faculty and friends, who have contributed funding for this scholarship, and their continued belief in our high-quality dental students,” Rotter added.

Polczynski was filled with a sense of pride and gratitude upon receiving the award. “This has furthered the belief that my hard work, dedication, and persistence is well-founded, as this achievement will help fulfill my dream of becoming an orthodontist,” she said. “The award is a critical asset to my education, as I hope to start an orthodontic residency following graduation. This will lessen the burden of my application fees to residency programs, and now I can put forth all of my time and energy into applying for residency programs, as I won't have the angst of how to afford the application fees.”

As an orthodontist, Polczynski is passionate about providing healthiness and well-being to her patients. Falasz is also preparing for a future in the same field.

“I hope this award will assist in making my application competitive with other dental students around the country vying for the same few positions in residency programs,” Falasz said. “The funding will make completing the application and traveling to interviews more fiscally feasible. I look forward to finding the program that best suits my professional desires, while worrying less about the financial implications of visiting schools.”

Falasz sees the scholarship as a meaningful recognition of hard work and dedication to the dental profession. “It is reassuring to know that our mentors, faculty, and benefactors appreciate commitment to continuing the art of dental medicine and efforts towards improving patient treatment,” he said. “The award represents an opportunity to interact closely with those who have shaped the practice of dentistry today.”

Falasz’s long-term goal is to open a private practice specializing in orthodontic treatment to help patients with average and advanced orthodontic needs. “It is my goal that through orthodontic treatment, I can prevent the problems of some patients while relieving symptoms in others,” he said. “It is so rewarding to observe individuals’ increase in self-esteem and confidence as the result of an attractive smile.”

Di Lisio also weighed in on the award’s impact on her expenses. “I am grateful to be part of a community that invests in the next generation of dentists,” she said. “I am thankful the School of Dental Medicine has this scholarship and for the generosity of the contributors investing in my future. Following graduation, I would like to practice general dentistry and eventually open my own practice.”

Additionally, Claire Willenborg, of Effingham, and Stefanie Curtis, of Bartlett, are the recipients of the Dr. Larry A. Lowe Memorial Scholarship, which is worth $2,500 for the 2019-20 academic year. Sherry Baker established the annual scholarship in memory of her late husband, a SIU SDM Class of 1977 alumnus.

The SIU School of Dental Medicine students manage approximately 35,000 patient visits each year at its patient clinics in Alton and East St. Louis. In addition, students offer oral health treatment, screenings and education to more than 10,000 people annually through a wide variety of off-campus community outreach events. These opportunities provide students the training they need to graduate and become highly skilled dentists. The School of Dental Medicine is a vital oral health care provider for residents of southern and central Illinois, and the St. Louis metropolitan region.

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