Brian Burt

The John W. Knutson Distinguished Service Award has been presented by the American Public Health Association, Oral Health Section each year since 1982, to honor an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to improve oral health in the United States. Its recipients have demonstrated sustained and exemplary accomplishments in the field of dental public health.

John W. Knutson was the first dentist to be president of the APHA. He collaborated with Klein in the 1937-47 Hagerstown studies of the epidemiology of dental caries. In the 1940’s he studied outcomes of dental referral programs and systematically researched topical fluoride effectiveness. He made seminal contributions to the understanding and implementation of the roles of dental health and dentistry in public health.

2007 Awardee: Brian A. Burt, BDS, MPH, PhD

The awardee, Brian A. Burt, BDS, MPH, PhD, is Professor Emeritus, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health; and Professor Emeritus, School of Dentistry, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. Burt has distinguished himself in multiple capacities in dental public health, including conducting research, lecturing, consulting, publishing, editing and mentoring public health students. It is well recognized that Dr. Burt is responsible for many of our young, energetic dental public health leaders today, some of whom are current directors in various entities of the Dental Public Health community including academia, government, and other public and private organizations.

As a researcher he has been a principal investigator in many ground-breaking studies and has published more than 200 scientific articles, reports, and book chapters. Dr. Burt is the lead editor of “The Dentist, Dental Practice, and the Community” now in its 6th edition (2005); this textbook is an essential resource in the field and read widely by students, educators, and practitioners in dental, medical and public health fields. He also has served for many years as a sharp-minded reviewer and editor of leading journals of our professional field. Since 1997 he has been, and continues as the editor of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology.

Dr. Burt’s contribution to the field of Public Health through research, service, and teaching and mentoring has been well recognized by many other organizations, including receiving the H. Trendly Dean Award for Research Excellence from the International Association for Dental Research and the Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Burt has worked actively to improve the quality of life through improved oral health for millions of people around the world and is particularly deserving of this award.

Previous Award Recipients

Click on a recipient's name to see the report submitted to the Journal of Public Health Dentistry* (note that some links are to very large files and will take some time to download on a slow connection). These reports constitute a history of leadership in dental public health. They will be of special interest to those beginning careers in dental public health and the dental professions, those with an interest in the history of dentistry and of public health in the United States, and those seeking to know and understand our past for guidance in our future. Use your browser's back button to return to this page.

The Oral Health Section acknowledges and thanks Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals for their continued support of the John W. Knutson Award.

* © Journal of Public Health Dentistry, as submitted by American Public Health Association, Oral Health Section. Reproduced with permission of the Editor.

Recipients of the John W Knutson Distinguished Service Award