LLU School of Dentistry Dentalgram

Bernard C. Byrd remembered

Bernard Byrd was born in 1926 to Benjamin and Ruth Byrd in Savannah, Georgia, the youngest of two brothers and one sister.

He decided to become a dentist in the sixth grade. After graduating from Savannah High School in 1944, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. While in the military he received several honors: the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon with a Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, Victory Ribbon, and the Army of Occupation Ribbon (Japan). He was honorably discharged in November, 1946, with the rank of sergeant.

Before entering Emory University’s dental school in 1949, he completed prerequisites at University of Georgia and Southern Missionary College (now Southern Adventist University).

Dr. Byrd graduated from Emory University with a DDS degree in 1953, and entered private practice in Decatur, Georgia. While in Decatur, he met Mary Ellen Carden, and they married in 1958.

In 1959 Dr. Byrd responded to a query from NASDAD for members interested in academic dentistry at College of Medical Evangelists (now LLU), and the Byrds moved to Loma Linda in August, 1959.

Interested in dental pain control and oral surgery, Dr. Byrd entered the University of Southern California oral surgery residency program in 1961. When he completed the program in 1964, he was named chair of the School’s oral surgery department, a title he held until his retirement in 1995. Dr. Byrd and colleague Dr. Elmer Kelln started the residency program in this specialty, with the first graduate in 1968.

The clinic was named in his honor during a ceremony held as part of the 2000 Alumni–Student Convention.