Murdock Receives Hunt Teaching Award

William Murdock, DDS, received the school's most prestigious teaching award, the Richard F. Hunt Memorial Award for Excellence in Predoctoral Teaching at the Spurgeon Banquet at the Hill Alumni Center. Dean John Stamm made the following remarks and presented the award.

"I am honored to be at the 2001 Spurgeon Dental Students Awards Banquet tonight to present the Richard F. Hunt Memorial Award for Excellence in Pre-Doctoral Teaching. As many of you know, the Hunt Award is the most prestigious teaching award given annually at the UNC School of Dentistry. The award is particularly special because the nominees and the eventual award recipient are selected entirely by students. Nominees are identified using five basic criteria: fostering intellect, demonstrating competence and perspective in all aspects of dentistry, respecting patients and students, preparing superbly for classes, and offering appropriate and timely feedback. In short, our students nominate professors who represent the very best in teaching. The Hunt Award is sponsored by the Dental Foundation of North Carolina and is one way that the Foundation carries out its mission of supporting excellence in teaching, research, patient care, and service at the UNC School of Dentistry. The award itself is given in memory of Dr. Richard F. Hunt, a member of the Dental School class of 1955 who died in South America in a tragic plane crash in 1968. Dr. Hunt's son Richard, a 1989 graduate of our School, practices dentistry with his wife Amy in Rocky Mount, N.C. Tonight marks the 33rd time the Dr. Richard F. Hunt Award is being bestowed on one of our teaching faculty.

Tonight's winner is an outstanding teacher and richly deserving of this honor. Let me read you just two excerpts from the nominations received for him. They well sum up student attitudes towards him: Our winner "is an amazing man and teacher. 'He is a great friend to students and he is always there to support us. When we are having a bad day, he reminds us of our potential and why we are in school. He always has time for students and is genuinely interested in our well-being. Our winner is always willing to go out of his way to help each student he teaches and each patient he attends. He not only meets, but far exceeds the criteria for this award.' This year's Hunt Award recipient hales originally from Statesville, N.C. He is a two-time UNC graduate, earning both his AB in Chemistry and his DDS from this university. During his undergraduate study, our recipient was also named a Morehead scholar. At the UNC School of Dentistry he has been a simply outstanding faculty member to each and every student he encountered. I am delighted this evening to announce that the UNC dental students have chosen to recognize Dr. William Murdock as the 2001 Richard F. Hunt Memorial Award recipient for excellence in teaching.

Prior to his return to the UNC School of Dentistry, Dr. Murdock worked for 20 years in private practice in Kodiak, Alaska. While there he has also served as Director of Dental Services for the Kodiak Area Native Association, a group that provides high-quality care to the 2500 Native Alaskans on Kodiak Island. Previous to that, Dr. Murdock has served as the Director of Dental Services at Broughton Hospital in Morganton, N. C, and he worked in the private practice of dentistry in Black Mountain, N. C. Dr. Murdock is a great general dentist, but he is also a committed outdoorsman whose interests include mountaineering, fishing, crabbing, kayaking, and traveling. The underlying characteristics demonstrated by such varied interests, namely energy, enthusiasm, inspiration, and adventure, are the very same qualities that the dental students mentioned time and again when referring to Dr. Murdock's teaching. It is with immense pleasure that I call forward Dr. William Murdock to receive the 2001 Richard F. Hunt Memorial Award for teaching excellence at the UNC School of Dentistry. "

Dean John Stamm, April 3, 2001

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