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Dr. Seymour H. Yale, Dean of the UIC College of Dentistry died on Aug. 28, 2008

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Posted: September 10, 2008
Yale (WinCE).jpgDr. Seymour H. Yale, Philanthropist, Collector of Antiquities, Builder of University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry Facility, Dead at 87

Dr. Seymour H. Yale, who as Dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Dentistry built the College’s current facility and who also established a rare collection of historic coins and maps at the University of Illinois, died on Aug. 28, 2008, at age 87.
            Born Nov. 27, 1920 in Chicago to Henry and Dorothy Kulwin Yalowitz, Dr. Yale lived in Chicago his entire life. He married Muriel Jane Cohen in 1943 while attending dental school at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. (She preceded him in death in 1995.) He earned his BS in dentistry in 1944 and his DDS degree in 1945.
            Dr. Yale began practicing dentistry in Chicago in 1945, continuing to practice well into his 80s and serving as Senior Dental Director of Dental Care Plus Management Corp. in Chicago. He joined the faculty of the UIC College of Dentistry in 1948, serving in various faculty roles in Clinical Dentistry and in the Department of Radiology until 1957, when he was named Department Head of Radiology. Dr. Yale was named Assistant to the Dean in 1961, Assistant Dean in 1963, Acting Dean in 1964, and served as Dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry from 1965 to 1987. He held the title of Professor Emeritus from 1987 until his death.
            It was during his Deanship that Dr. Yale scored his greatest achievement for UIC, acquiring federal funds for and helping design the UIC College of Dentistry building at 801 S. Paulina St., which opened in 1972.
            “Our building is one of the largest and sturdiest dental schools in the country, and that is thanks to the foresight, planning, and hard work of Dr. Seymour Yale,” said Dr. Bruce Graham, current Dean of the College.
            When the building opened, Dr. Yale said that because of it “expanded community service, intensification of research, and above all, implementation of the most promising teaching methods in dentistry are the rewards which will accrue to the people of Illinois for this major investment in the future.”
            “Dean Yale was absolutely right about that, and today the UIC College of Dentistry is a leader in community service, research, and dental education,” Dr. Graham said.
“Dean Yale's vision of the future of clinical education, as reflected in our building's design, was remarkably prescient. In 1972, the group practice design of the clinical education facilities was unique in dental education, and it later provided the physical foundation for the College's recent clinical education innovations, which we implemented, beginning in 2002, 30 years later,” Dean Graham continued.
 “Because of his decades of service to the College and his work as the driving force behind creation of our building, Dean Yale is honored in the College’s Kottemann Gallery of Dental History as one of the institution’s all-time greats,” Dean Graham said.
            Dr. and Mrs. Yale enjoyed the history of the Middle East, and collected coins, maps, and books of the old Ottoman Empire and related Muslim states. They donated the Seymour and Muriel Yale collection to the University of Illinois’ Spurlock World Heritage Museum and joined its Board of Directors in 1987.
            “He acquired his collection during his travels on behalf of the UIC College of Dentistry while he was a faculty, administrator, and Dean,” Dr. Graham said.
Because of his interest in the Middle East and in his Jewish heritage, Dr. Yale attended the Spertus College of Judaica, taking classes in Jewish literature beginning in 1995. Earlier, he helped found the Egyptian Dental Congress in 1984.
Dr. Yale also served as Director of Training at the Dental Technicians School at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Bainbridge, MD, from 1954 to 1956; on the Radiation Protection Advisory Board for the State of Illinois in the 1970s; and as a faculty member in UIC’s College of Medicine and School of Public Health, and at Northeastern Illinois University’s Center for Exercise Science and Cardiovascular Research. He also worked on the National Commission on Radiation Protection.
Dr. Yale also served as Chairman of the Council of Dental Deans for the State of Illinois; was a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry, the American College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy; and was a member of many dental organizations.
He earned the Centennial Research Award from the Chicago Dental Society in 1959, Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Illinois in 1973, the Odontographic Society of Chicago Award of Merit in 1982, the Harry Sicher Memorial Lecture Award from the American College of Stomologic Surgeons in 1983, the Loyalty Award from the University in 1988, and the Man of the Year Award from the Illinois Section of the Pierre Fauchard Academy in 1988.
Dr. and Mrs. Yale’s daughter Patricia Ruth Yale Shapiro was born in 1951. She earned a BA in the history of architecture in 1971 from UIC and is married to attorney Steven A. Shapiro, a partner in the firm of Katten Muchin Rosenmann, who earned his BS in management from UIC in 1971. Mr. and Mrs. Shapiro have two children, Elizabeth Shapiro Abrams and Andrew J. Shapiro.
Dr. Yale also is survived by a son, Dr. Russell S. Yale; he and his wife, Susan, have two children, Erin and Matthew. The Russell Yale branch was estranged from the rest of the family.
            Dr. Seymour H. Yale’s funeral was held on Sept. 2 at the chapel Shalom Memorial Park, Arlington Heights, IL.
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