PhD, PDM 1962
Dr. Benjamin Hammond
Educator, Researcher, and Academic Leader
Dr. Benjamin Hammond earned his PhD from Penn Dental Medicine in 1962, the same year he joined the faculty as an assistant instructor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1965 and served as a full professor from 1970 to 1991. He chaired the Department of Microbiology from 1972 to 1985 and directed the Periodontal Microbiology Laboratory from 1980 to 1991.
In 1969, Dr. Hammond received the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching, recognizing his dedication to student learning. From 1984 to 1991, he served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Pennsylvania.
A leader in national research initiatives, Dr. Hammond was president of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) and served on the National Advisory Dental Research Council of the National Institutes of Health.
Image source: University of Pennsylvania Almanac
“Until the contributions and needs of dental research are spelled out, made known, and separated from those of the other health professions, notably medicine, it is difficult to see how the true potential of dental research can be realized...There are needs specific to dental research which are different from those of medicine, and I submit that the long-established policy of linking the two areas together has been to the detriment of dental research.”
- Dr. Benjamin Hammond in his 1978 AADR inaugural speech
