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Late Dental Branch Dean Honored with Street
Faculty, staff, alumni and administrators of The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston joined representatives of the Texas Medical Center (TMC) and UT Health Science Center at Houston for the unveiling of Frederick C. Elliott, D.D.S., Avenue, named after the late Dental Branch dean and one of the founders of the TMC.
Celebrating a street naming are UT Dental Branch at Houston faculty, from left: Phil Pierpont, D.D.S.; Paula O’Neill, Ed.D.; Leslie Roeder, D.D.S.; Dean Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S.; Kenneth Abramovitch, D.D.S.; Peggy O’Neil, Ph.D., D.D.S.; John R. Ludington, D.D.S.; and Les Fullerton, D.D.S.
Photo by Brian Schnupp
Elliott served as dean from 1932-52 and was instrumental in restoring the school’s financial stability, as well as orchestrating its merger into The University of Texas System. After serving dentistry, he became president of the TMC, for which he and eight others had signed the original charter.
The street, located off Holcombe Blvd., just west of M. D. Anderson Blvd., is the first street in the TMC named for a dentist. It is also the first street to include the honorees’ credentials, an aspect on which TMC officials insisted. TMC President Richard Wainerdi, Ph.D., who knew Elliott during his lifetime, said, “DD- S were three letters Elliott was extremely proud of.”
Jerry Long, D.D.S., president of the UTDB Alumni Association, said he can identify with the passion for the degree. As a dental student, Long had practiced how he would write his new name: Dr. Jerry Long or Jerry Long, D.D.S. “I chose D.D.S. because it is a show of pride for the profession, and I understand why Dr. Elliott would emphasize it, as well.”
Speaking at the street naming ceremony, Dental Branch Dean Catherine M. Flaitz, D.D.S., said, “Some would say a street in the Texas Medical Center bearing the name of Dr. Frederick Elliott is long overdue. Since he was one of the Texas Medical Center’s renowned founders and visionaries, they would question why it arrives only now. But timing is everything, and I say the timing of this dedication is impeccable.
“By dedicating this street in the centennial year of The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston, we have the opportunity to recognize how much Dr. Elliott meant not only to the Texas Medical Center, but also to the success of his beloved dental school and the advancement of dentistry in Texas,” she said.
Other speakers were Wainerdi and Michael McKinney, M.D., senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of the UT Health Science Center. Ron Collins, D.D.S., represented the UTDB Parents Association.
The outdoor ceremony was followed by a celebration in the Cooley Conference Room of the Dental Branch, named for the late Ralph Cooley, D.D.S., an alumnus and the father of famed heart surgeon Denton Cooley, M.D., who attended the ceremony. Denton Cooley is president of the Texas Heart Institute and clinical professor of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at the UT Medical School at Houston.
By Erika E. Durham, Public Affairs