Dental Assisting Program Director Dr. Lori Gagliardi was recently elected to the newly-incorporated Dental Assisting Learning and Education Foundation Board of Trustees. The DALE Foundation is a branch of the Dental Assisting National Board, which created the foundation to provide supplemental educational programs for the dental community.
As one of nine trustees elected, Gagliardi will help develop learning modules for people in the dental health industry. In addition to traditional methods, the foundation hopes to make information readily available through use of web broadcasts and online tutorials.
“I like working with people,” Gagliardi said of the appointment. “I like the variety teaching offers me. The field is always changing as there are always new technologies. Teaching keeps me informed on cutting edge developments.”
Gagliardi is a PCC alumna. She graduated in 1979 with a dental assisting certificate and associate degree.
After working 10 years at USC’s Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, she completed USC’s dental hygiene program in 1990. Gagliardi later went on to get her masters and doctorate in education.
“I like to watch the impact on students that know nothing at the beginning and watch as they blossom while they learn,” Gagliardi said. “I always learn from students as they learn from me.”
PCC’s Dental Hygiene Clinic clerk Stacey Wlasiuk, a PCC laboratory technology graduate, was Gagliardi’s lab technician for two years. She is thrilled with her former supervisor’s appointment.
“[Gagliardi] is very conscientious to what the students need. She puts their concerns first,” Wlasiuk said. “She loves what she does and it shows through her enthusiasm for her profession.”
Dean of Health Sciences Dr. Barbara Freund echoes Wlasiuk’s sentiments.
“As a practitioner, educator and program administrator, Lori’s contributions to the Board will be significant,” Freund said. “I have personally observed her interactions with both current and future members of the profession. She is an excellent teacher and faculty colleague and is highly regarded by all who interact with her. She is an ambassador for the profession and for Pasadena City College.”
Gagliardi has worked at PCC for 18 years. In addition to teaching, she consults and volunteers by performing dental screenings for the San Gabriel Valley Dental Society. She works alongside dentists and hygienists to “give kids a smile” – the moniker for the American Dental Association program that provides oral health care services free of charge to children from low-income families across America.
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