Susan Seger Receives Outstanding Alumnae Award

Photo by Per Kjeldsen

Katrina Schwarz (right), president of the School of Dentistry’s Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association prepares to present Susan Seger with the Outstanding Alumnae Award. [Listen here]

“She is best known for building one of the oldest, largest, and most complete dental collections and rare book collections in the world,” Katrina Schwarz said of former School of Dentistry librarian Susan Seger.

Schwarz, president of the School’s Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association, made the remark prior to presenting Seger with the Outstanding Alumnae Award at May commencement ceremonies.

Seger was head librarian at the dental school for 31 years (1966–1997), helping the School to physically relocate the library from a building that was constructed in 1907.

Her education included receiving three degrees from U–M: dental hygiene (1957), elementary education (1962), and a master’s degree in library sciences (1964).

“Her practical dental hygiene experience and unique background made her a perfect match for the position of head librarian at the dental school,” Schwarz said.

Seger told graduates her dental hygiene career began as a student who was taught by Dorothy Hard. In an interview that appeared in DentalUM in 1995, Seger spoke of what it was like to receive her dental hygiene education:

• Dr. Hard was quite a disciplinarian, setting high standards for job performance and stressing hard work. Attendance was taken in all classes. We were not permitted to wear slacks or shorts in the building, not even in the evening. There were strict rules for classroom decorum.
  
• When Dr. Hard walked into the classroom, the students rose and remained standing until she was seated. And unlike today, few hygiene students were married. It was easier to postpone the wedding than to inform Dr. Hard.

At the podium, Seger mentioned a more than century old connection to the School of Dentistry – her grandfather’s brother, Frank, graduated from the Michigan Dental College, as it was called then, with the Class of 1882.

“It was an honor to be caretaker of the oldest and second largest dental collection in the country, and to select materials for current and future needs,” Seger said.