Essay Contest Winners Announced

From left to right: James Otani (2023), Emily Duong (2023), Urvashi Keswani (2021), and Christina Light (2022)
From left to right: James Otani (2023), Emily Duong (2023), Urvashi Keswani (2021), and Christina Light (2022)
February 9, 2021

We are always eager to share positive news of our dental students’ accomplishments and we couldn’t be prouder of the following individuals for winning an essay competition honoring Dr. Clifton O. Dummett, Sr. surrounding diversity in dentistry. The competition honors the late Dr. Dummett, a pioneer in dentistry and dental education. Essays addressed race relations in the profession through the lens of editorials written in the National Dental Association Bulletin from 1953-1975.

Out of the 22 awards across 12 dental schools, five of our UCLA students were award recipients!

  • James Otani (1 of 3 top awards) (2023) - $1000 (Summa Honors)
  • Emily Duong (2023) - $500 (Magna Honors)
  • Urvashi Keswani (2021) - $500 (Magna Honors)
  • Christina Light (2022) - $500 (Magna Honors)
  • Dong Jin Oh (2024) - $500 (Magna Honors)

The essay competition was a joint collaboration between UCLA and UCSF. We would also like to thank the CARE committee (Committee for the Advancement of Racial Equity) for their park in coordinating UCLA’s participation.