From the Spring/Summer 2020 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association
CDA Exceptional Service Award
Dr. F. Robert Murphy, Boulder, CO
Dr. Bob Murphy is an asset to our profession, a constant presence in organized dentistry and an incredible human being.
Dr. Murphy graduated from the Loyola University College of Dentistry in 1981 and completed his dental practice residency at Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver, B.C. in 1982. He came to Colorado after that where he started his practice in Boulder in 1983.
Dr. Murphy has served as a delegate in the CDA House of Delegates for 12 years and has been a member of the ADA and CDA for 38 years. He was a board member of the Dentist’s Professional Liability Trust from 1999 to 2005.
In 2005, he was appointed by the governor of Colorado to serve on the Colorado Dental Board and was chairman of the board from 2007-2012. His invaluable experience on the dental board advancing the dental profession and protecting the public transitioned to his commitment to lead the CDA Council on Ethics and Professional Conduct for the past five years.
He has been a Board Examiner for the Central Regional Dental Testing Service since 2006. He has been a fellow of both the International College of Dentists and Pierre Fauchard Academy since 2007.
Dr. Murphy is a service-minded professional who participates in countless charitable programs. He has volunteered for Give Kids a Smile Day since its inception in 2003 and can almost always be found at the annual Colorado Mission of Mercy literally putting a smile on patients’ faces.
Dr. Murphy is compassionate, empathetic, objective, kind, sincere and dedicated to anything he commits to. The profession is better with Dr. Murphy in it and the CDA is grateful for everything that he has done for organized dentistry, the dental profession in Colorado and the safety of patients.
Exceptional Leadership Award
Dr. Kevin Patterson, Denver, CO
Chances are, in the last several months, if you have seen a COVID-related webinar, you’ve seen Dr. Kevin Patterson’s knowledge and expertise firsthand. Dr. Patterson possesses a commitment to organized dentistry and our profession that is unmatched. He works tirelessly to help others and to lead by example. The number of phone calls, emails and conversations he had one-on-one with both members and non-members during these past few months was in the hundreds. And this was in between seeing emergency patients and being on-call at one of several hospitals.
Dr. Patterson received his dental degree from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine in 1989 and his GPR certificate in 1990. In 1998 Dr. Patterson completed his oral and maxillofacial surgery training at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and, in addition, obtained his M.D. in 1996.
Dr. Patterson has been practicing full-scope oral-maxillofacial surgery in Denver since 1998. In addition, he is an associate professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in the Department of Surgical Dentistry and the General Practice Residency Program. He is also a member of the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine Leadership Council. Dr. Patterson is the past-president of the Colorado Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and is currently the president of MDDS. Dr. Patterson is a board member of Kids in Need of Dentistry and the JP Opioid Interaction Awareness Alliance.
He has been a member of the ADA for 31 years and a member of the CDA for 25 years. He is also a member of the American Medical Association and American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
Dr. Patterson leads a very full life, but he never says no when his help is needed. He led our profession this year with an inspiring level of commitment and dedication during the height of the COVID crisis. He puts others before himself without expecting anything in return. If Dr. Patterson is part of the leadership team, you know you are in good hands.
CDA Foundation Dental Student Scholarship
Jakob Holtzmann, DS-3
CU 2020 Grads 
Since 2005, the CDA Foundation has been supporting a scholarship endowment that recognizes outstanding CU School of Dental Medicine students.
This year, the CDA Foundation supported a truly outstanding student with its scholarship award to support his dental education. This year’s CU dental student scholarship recipient is Jakob Holtzmann. Jake will be a third-year dental student this fall and has already committed himself to bettering our profession.
He is the legislative coordinator for districts 8 and 9 for National ASDA, and the chair of events for District 9 ASDA and Colorado ASDA.
Prior to dental school, Jake went to DU and majored in biology and minored in both chemistry and business. He pushed the boundaries of what it meant to be a student-athlete. While recovering from two hip surgeries following his freshman basketball season with the Pioneers, he reached beyond the walls of the athletic complex and engaged with his campus community during a turbulent time, agitated by division and a series of racially charged incidents on campus. Seeking to heal the divide, Jake nurtured relationships with student organization leaders and administration officials. He founded and helped lead a campus-wide organization to bring unity to DU by supporting education and advocacy efforts that valued diversity and built on individual strengths.
Deciding to pursue his passion for science, healthcare and personal relationships, Jake chose to attend the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine. During the first two years of didactic coursework, Jake committed himself to doing the best he could to prepare himself for patient care in the coming semesters. While his work in didactic courses has earned him the ranking of #4 in his class, he gradually began to catch the “ASDA Fever” of organized dentistry. Seeking to serve his classmates, Jake now holds several positions and leadership roles in ASDA. In addition to ASDA, Jake served as this past year’s CU Delta Sigma Delta Rush Chairman, published a paper with Dr. Tamanna Tiwari on the current gender inequalities that exist in dentistry, and was asked by the CU School of Dental Medicine administration to help coordinate dental student volunteer activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. During his time as a volunteer coordinator, Jake has developed partnerships with local school districts where dental students volunteer as tutors to make sure that no one gets left behind during online learning.
The practice of dentistry is more than just a job for Jake. Just as he did during his time as an undergraduate student, and during his time as a dental student, Jake looks forward to doing his part to push our profession forward, to care for our communities, and to fight for our colleagues and patients. To him, the practice of dentistry is a profession that is absolutely critical to a brighter future, and better tomorrow.
