Reidar Fauske Sognnaes
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Reidar Sognnaes (1911-1984) was a Dean of Harvard School of Dental Medicine, founding Dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry, and world-renowned scholar in the field of oral pathology.
Sognnaes came to America from Norway in 1938 as an intern at the Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children in Boston. He continued on as a Carnegie Dental Fellow at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York, where he earned a master of science degree in physiology and a Ph.D. in pathology in 1941.
Following WWII, in which he served in the Royal Norwegian Air Force, Sognnaes accepted a teaching position at Harvard University. There he occupied an endowed chair as the Charles A. Brackett professor of oral pathology and eventually served as the associate and acting dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine between 1952 and 1960, when he came to UCLA. Sognnaes guided the founding of the UCLA School of Dentistry, which was established in 1960. He stepped down as dean in 1968, but continued as professor.
Sognnaes will perhaps be best remembered for his work as a gifted forensic scientist. He is credited with identifying the remains of Adolf Hitler and Martin Bormann, the Nazi Party secretary, through examnination of classified American and Soviet dental record. Sognnaes also disproved the theory that President George Washington had wooden teeth.
[edit] References
- ^ "In memoriam, Reidar Sognnaes (1911-1984)--34th President of the IADR, 1957-58." Jounal of Dental Research. 1984 Nov; 63(11): inside front cover. No author.
- ^ "Hitler and Bormann identifications compared by postmortem craniofacial and dental characteristics." American Journal Forensic Medical Pathology. 1980 Jun; 1(2): 105-15. Sognnaes RF.
