Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Profile

B.F. "Tod" Dewel, 25DDS, entered the practice of orthodontics shortly after it was born as a dental specialty when he agreed to serve as a member of the dental faculty at the University of Iowa following his graduation. During the four years he served as teaching assistant for orthodontic chairman J. Elon Rose, Dr. Dewel had a major influence on the formation of Iowa's graduate program in orthodontics, one of the first programs associated with and recognized by a university graduate college in this country.

Throughout his long and diverse career, Dr. Dewel has distinguished both himself and his profession in many ways. When he left the University of Iowa in 1929, he established a private practice in orthodontics in Evanston, Illinois, where he continued to practice until his retirement in 1969. He was elected president of the American Board of Orthodontics in 1963; was editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Orthodontics from 1969 to 1979; became well known for his numerous publications, particularly in the area of serial extraction in underdeveloped dental arches; traveled extensively, presenting papers and conducting continuing education courses at 14 American universities and 13 professional societies in Europe and Japan.

Dr. Dewel has received every national and international award of major significance that can be given to an American orthodontist. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Scroll by the American Association of Orthodontists in 1966 and the Albert H. Ketcham Memorial Award in 1972, the highest awards presented in orthodontics in this country. In 1973, he became the second Iowa alumnus to receive the Iowa Dental Alumnus of the Year Award. In addition, Dr. Dewel was elected a Fellow in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1973 and he was the vice president of London's 1973 Third International Orthodontic Congress. He also is an honorary member of the European Orthodontic Society, as well as of the Spanish, Italian, and Mexican orthodontic societies.

During this century, the practice of orthodontics has undergone dramatic changes, most of which Dr. Dewel has not only observed, but also recorded. He is the primary contributor and editorial consultant for a book on the history of the University of Iowa orthodontics department that is presently being written.

Dr. Dewel's ability to conduct a private practice, serve as editor of a major journal, publish nearly 200 articles, and teach part-time at Northwestern University are concrete evidence of this exceptional intellectual curiosity, which was developed and nurtured during his time at Iowa.