Awards

School of Dentistry Certificate of Appreciation - 2012

About Shelly K. Schmelzer

Shelly Schmelzer of Henderson, KY, received the 2012 Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of her work as executive director of the Indiana Dental Association’s First District Dental Society, including collaborations on a variety of community projects that have helped to raise the profile of the dental

profession in southern Indiana.

Members of organized dentistry throughout the nation understand that expert organizational leadership is as important locally as it is at the state and national levels. Dentists composing the IDA’s First District Dental Society have found such a leader in Schmelzer. She has devoted more than 10 years to her work with the society, collaborating on a variety of community projects that have helped to raise the profile of the dental profession in southern Indiana. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Southern Indiana and a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Evansville.

Schmelzer joined a team of physicians and community leaders in the planning and development of the Vanderburgh County Community Dental Clinic, a nonprofit facility that opened its doors in 2006 to serve impoverished and low-income patients in the Tri-State area. She also helped to establish the Southwestern Indiana Oral Health Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to disease prevention, patient education, and access to oral healthcare

for those in need. The foundation has, for example, assisted youngsters through community outreach programs, provided oral cancer screenings to battered women, and contributed to the dental hygiene program at the University of Southern Indiana.

Over the years, Schmelzer has served as an outstanding liaison between the FDDS and the IUSD Alumni Association, having worked on several joint continuing education projects in tandem with the association to bring high quality programming to the membership. When it was learned that prominent FDDS member Kenneth Braun (DDS’84) was terminally ill, she worked with the society and the IUSDAA board of directors to facilitate Dr. Braun’s recognition as a Distinguished Alumnus, an honor bestowed on the Rockport, Ind., dentist shortly before his death in 2010.