The American Student Dental Association (ASDA) is mourning the death of the group's immediate past president, Jiwon Lee.
Lee, 29, was a fourth-year dental student at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine in New York who served as the 2013-2014 ASDA president, according to the association.
During her term, ASDA implemented an advocacy alert system and collaborated with other groups within organized dentistry. Lee also served as an appointed member of the ADA's Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations and a member of ASDA's delegation to the ADA's 2013 House of Delegates. Before serving as president of ASDA, Lee served as the 2012-2013 speaker of the House of Delegates.
Lee had been a middle school math teacher with AmeriCorps before enrolling in dental school.
Current ASDA President Kristopher Mendoza, University of California Los Angeles School of Dentistry class of 2015, said, "ASDA is about the dental profession and creating policy, but more than anything, it is about people. It is about our community, our family known as ASDA that brings us closer than any words on a document can. Please keep Jiwon and her family in your thoughts and prayers during these difficult times."
Lee's body was found floating in the Hudson River on May 3, according to news reports.
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