DEVELOPMENT

Dr. Eric Hannapel

"Being a student of Dr. Lysle Johnston holds a lot more weight in the orthodontic community as a practicing professional than I thought it would when I was at Michigan studying and working for my degree in orthodontics," said Dr. Eric Hannapel (DDS 1992, orthodontics 1996).

Hannapel said he has pledged $25,000 for the Lysle Johnston Collegiate Professorship "because I want to see the School of Dentistry continue the excellence that Lysle established scientifically and didactically. And although he was not a clinical instructor, per se, his instruction helped us in clinics, along with nationally-recognized leaders in orthodontics he would bring to Michigan."

Recalling his three years of study in the orthodontics program, Hannapel said, "Lysle had high standards and if you didn't live up to them, you felt it. He really was a beacon that all of us tried to follow, and sometimes we hated it, but we didn't want to let him down or the department down."

Hannapel recalled once traveling to St. Louis for data collection for his thesis with Johnston. "He was meeting some of his former colleagues while I was measuring models for three consecutive days for twelve hours a day," Hannapel said with a laugh. "But if that's what you needed to do, you did it."

Now in private practice in Caledonia, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, Hannapel said his interest in dentistry, ironically, began with his family's orthodontist.

"I'm the son of a printer, but my orthodontist knew of my interest in dentistry at an early age and encouraged me to pursue dentistry as a career," he said.

After earning his dental degree, Hannapel did a general practice residency for 16 months at U-M Hospital.

"I think those experiences gave me a step up in getting into Michigan's ortho program because I was involved with a lot of facial surgeries and reconstructions," he said.

Being involved in the orofacial cleft department at U-M Hospital "was also a great experience that gave me the confidence and experience that I have been able to use in my private practice," Hannapel said. Last year, he joined the Grand Rapids Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic that serves patients in western Michigan.

Hannapel said he is urging others to participate in the Lysle Johnston Collegiate Professorship. "I've told my classmates when I see them that 'this is something you have to do because none of us would be where we are without Lysle'," he said.