H. Trendley Dean

Trendley Dean was the 20th century's most influential dental scientist and administrator. In the 1930s, Dean was the first dental officer at NIH. In the 1940s his studies proved fluoridated water curbed dental caries. After becoming NIDR director in 1948, Dean put in place the structure prevailing today, although his focus was more on training and intramural research than extramural activities. Dean won the Lasker Award in 1952 and retired the next year.