As I begin my last month serving as dean of the College of Dentistry, I want to start by thanking all of you who have been readers of First Thursday. We launched this e-newsletter 10 years ago to help keep our students, staff, faculty, and alumni connected to the college. It was intended to be a monthly snapshot of what was going on in Postle Hall.

Filled with news about what our college community is doing that makes us all proud, First Thursday reaches our readers everywhere. The last time I checked, we sent it out to 6,158 individual email addresses in every state throughout the U.S. and in countries all over the world. This is just one more example of our college’s broad impact.

I am especially grateful to those who have let us know that First Thursday is something they appreciate getting and find interesting. Whether it was an email, a note that came through the regular mail, a phone call, or something that was said during a brief conversation at a professional meeting, your kind and supportive words have meant so much.

This July 1st marks our 120th issue of First Thursday. Thanks to the support of so many, we haven’t missed a single month these past 10 years. How satisfying it has been to complete another issue every four weeks, knowing we had meaningful news to share with our readers -- and something that would keep them engaged with all that was going on in our college.

Please know that I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to share the countless experiences I have had as dean. I have so enjoyed writing my column each month and telling you about what had inspired me, what I learned, and how proud I was of all the people and projects that are part of our college. These were memorable moments that I will always cherish, and I will continue to recall all that we have shared as I move into the next chapter of my career.

With gratitude,