DEVELOPMENT

Dr. Colin Mayers

"I don't consider my 'gift' as a gift. Instead, I think it's our duty, our responsibility, as oral health care professionals to give back to the profession so we can continue to have outstanding teachers like Dr. Lysle Johnston," said Dr. Colin Mayers (DDS 1975).

Mayers has gifted $25,000 for the endowed collegiate professorship that will bear Johnston's name.

After earning his dental degree at Michigan, Mayers went to Case Western Reserve University where he earned his master's degree in orthodontics in 1977.

The chair of the department at the time was Dr. Lysle Johnston.

"He was one of the best teachers I ever had," Mayers said. "He was a great lecturer, made subject matter clear and understandable, and, as others have said, was difficult, but fair."

Mayers, who practices in Hillsdale, Michigan and is an adjunct clinical associate professor in the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry at U-M, said Johnston taught him valuable lessons.

"He stressed the importance of being a critical thinker, especially scientifically, in how we practice and the techniques we use that I, in turn, have tried to pass along to students when I'm in the clinic," Mayers said.