Alumnus gives Penn. dental school $17.3 million

Apr 12, 2010

Louis Schoenleber Jr., D.D.S., an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, has left the majority of proceeds from his multimillion-dollar estate to Penn Dental Medicine's Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

The bequest, totaling $17.3 million, is the largest gift in the school's history and one of the largest gifts ever to a U.S. dental school.

Dr. Schoenleber died on January 7, 2005, at the age of 84, but the full amount of the gift was only recently realized upon final settlement of the estate, according to the university.

The gift will provide funding specifically for the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery and its dual-degree residency program, a six-year program in which students earn a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, a two-year certificate of general surgery, and a certificate in oral and maxillofacial surgery from Penn Dental Medicine. Established in 1986 as one of only a handful of such programs in the U.S. to offer a combined medical degree and oral and maxillofacial surgery certificate, the program draws approximately 80 to 100 applicants each year for its three highly competitive residency spots.

Dr. Schoenleber greatly admired the dual-degree training program and the advanced research and clinical care conducted within the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, and intended his gift to continue the school's position as one of the premier oral surgery programs in the U.S., according to the university. His will states that the funds can be used by the department for funding research, facility construction and renovation, continuing education, new technology and equipment, and endowed professorships and faculty positions.

Dr. Schoenleber first attended Penn as an undergraduate in 1938. In 1940, he began his studies at Penn Dental Medicine at a time when students could be admitted to the dental school after completing two years at an undergraduate college. Upon graduation from Penn Dental Medicine in 1943, Dr. Schoenleber entered the Navy, gaining much of his oral surgery experience during World War II. Following his time in the service, he maintained an oral surgery practice in Ridgewood, NJ, where he practiced for 35 years.