Goal in sight for James S. Cole Professorship funding excellence at TAMBCD
Giving has been a core value at the dental school since its inception in 1905. The decades have brought progress and change, but one constant has remained: the legacy that members of the TAMBCD family provide for those who come after them.
One alumnus, now Dean Emeritus Dr. James Cole, spent most of his professional career at A&M Baylor College of Dentistry. A graduate of the Class of 1975, Cole served his alma mater for 36 years, first as a part-time faculty member and then as a full-time faculty member who would dedicate evenings to writing computer programs for the school to monitor clinics, average grades and track students’ academic progress. His commitment, financial acumen and innovation set him on a course culminating with a decade as dean that was marked with a myriad of technological advancements, the very thing the James S. Cole Professorship — created in 2011 and now entering a final push for fundraising — will support.
Cole’s deanship from 2000 to 2011 saw the transition to electronic patient records and digital radiography, integration of dental simulation in the curriculum and the addition of state-of-the-art clinics. In anticipation of Cole’s 2011 retirement, the college formed its first professorship in his honor. Once the remaining $48,000 is generated to reach the $500,000 endowment requirement, funds will be available to the dean to address technology needs critical to dental education and the delivery of contemporary oral health care.