A Note from Joseph W. Gray (PCSO/CA), AAOF Founder and Keystone Society Member

I have a special interest in the AAO Foundation and am looking into ways to support the Foundation above the Fellow ($50,000) level that I have already pledged, and here's why:

When I entered the Graduate School of Dentistry at Northwestern University, I had very little resources and my wife, Robin, was 3 months pregnant. I was unable to work, and Robin was not able to continue in her career as a Deputy Sheriff for Los Angeles County after she delivered our first-born son, Braden. We had our second child, Chelsea, during my second year in residency. Robin and I literally lived on $700 per month after tuition and books. If it were not for the discretionary funds of the department, I may have not been able to complete my residency due to the necessary expenses related to my biochemical research.

After graduation, I worked part-time until I found a practice to purchase. During the first five years after graduation, Robin and I had two more children, Taylor and Carter. During that time, I had to remodel the practice facility, only to move it to a new location a couple of years later. Needless to say, I was unable to support my program and the faculty that were so instrumental to my achievements professionally. At about the time that I became financially capable of supporting my program, Northwestern University closed the Dental School and the esteemed orthodontic program was dissolved.

I can think of no better way to honor the persons most responsible for my professional development, Dr. Patrick Turley, of UCLA, and Drs. David Forbes and Harold Perry of Northwestern University. Although neither of them are full-time faculty now, their dedication to their student's welfare and professional development was and remains unsurpassed. They have profoundly influenced many lives and professional careers with their sincere personal interest in their lives and careers. Their profession is nearest and dearest to their hearts, as it is mine. I am thankful to them for giving me the opportunity to specialize as an orthodontist. I am thankful to them for assisting and supporting me and my family in order to finish a childhood dream to become one among a great community of the world's greatest specialty.

My personal experience and my ten years of teaching at UCLA have given me a unique perspective in the absoluteness of the need for the AAOF. I whole-heartedly support the AAOF and my profession through my pledges and in my structured estate. I encourage anyone that I know to also support the AAOF in any capacity that they can. Only through the AAOF can we be certain of the quality education and clinical research that our specialty needs in order to remain the greatest specialty.