who is credited with founding the first dental school in america
Chapin A. Harris Undaunted, Harris persevered in his efforts, and during the winter of 1839â€“40, almost singlehandedly he gathered the signatures of representative citizens for a petition to the legislature of the state of Maryland for the incorporation of a College of Dental Surgery at Baltimore. Surmounting the opposition of jealous medical rivals, he successfully managed to obtain the charter and with the aid of Horace H. Hayden, Thomas E. Bond, H. Willis Baxley, S. Brown, E. Parmly and others, he organized the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1840. He was the school's first dean and professor of practical dentistry. After Hayden's death in 1844, he became the school's second president.