Dr. Heisler named Citizen of the Year for 2000 by Loma Linda Chamber
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| William H. Heisler, accepts the Citizen of the Year for 2000 award from the Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce. |
William H. Heisler, SD’59, professor of restorative dentistry, was named Citizen of the Year for 2000 during the Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce Annual Community Awards and Installation Dinner Thursday, January 18, 2001.
The award was given to Dr. Heisler for his outstanding service to the community and enhancement of the city’s reputation internationally. Barbara Bostwick, director of development, and Judson Klooster, DDS, dean emeritus, presented the award.
A biographical sketch highlighted Dr. Heisler’s career, beginning with his graduation from the School in 1959.
He and his wife, Barbara, returned to Oregon after graduation, where he practiced for three years before being drafted into the U.S. Army. The Heislers lived in Mainz, Germany, for four years where he served in the Army Dental Corps.
After practicing dentistry in a general dental practice in Novato, California, he joined the School in 1980.
His teaching career has included pre-clinical and clinical teaching of dental students, and several years as associate dean for clinic administration. He teaches in the School’s International Dentist Program. Dr. Heisler has served locally and at the state level in Sacramento. He is a past president of the Marin County Dental Society and more recently, the 1,200-member Tri-County Dental Society.
He served for many years on the California Dental Association Council on Education and Professional Relations, and has served on a Task Force for the California Board of Dentistry to develop criteria for licensure of dentists California.
Dr. Heisler has long had an interest in international service to the medically underserved. His overseas experiences have included treating patients in Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnamese boat people in refugee camps in Singapore.
He has served locally as past president of the San Bernardino Crossroads Rotary Club. He has served as an ambassador from the city of Loma Linda to Russia with extensive efforts to bring quality dental health care to citizens, particularly children, of the remote areas of Magadan and Palatka in the far east of Russia. Dr. Heisler made two trips to Russia under grants from Rotary International. On the most recent trip in 1999, he led a group of five dentists and three others for a two-week mission, providing dental care to about 150 children, and dental lectures to students and dentists in Magadan Regional Medical College.
Cultivating many friends there and seeing the living conditions for children in two local orphanages, Dr. Heisler was instrumental in fundraising to provide independent heating sources for those facilities so they are no longer dependent on sporadic city services.
Dr. Heisler presented a lecture in Moscow in February on “Modern Dental Materials” at a dental conference held in the Moscow World Trade Center. In March, he coordinated the visit of a group of Russian dentists to Loma Linda and the Inland Empire as part of an educational program.
Due to his efforts, his Rotary club has received a $25,000 grant to supply dental equipment for children in Magadan and Palatka, Russia, and he will lead a team of dentist to the area in June to oversee the installation and initial use of the equipment. He has been involved in a smaller grant to send engineers to the area to study environmental effects of mining efforts.
The Heislers have four children and six grandchildren. He chairs the board of the Redlands Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Barbara recently retired from more than 30 years of teaching.
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