Buckeye Bash

By Kevin Fitzsimons Ohio State football fan Erica Malone, 9, of Pickerington, gets a shoulder ride from cheerleader Andrew Master during the Buckeye Bash in Tampa, Fla., on Dec. 31, a day before the Buckeyes took on South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. Despite a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback to tie the score at 28, Ohio State lost the game 31-28.

Dentist drills good practice into students

When he was just 12 or 13, Donald Bowers used to enjoy riding his bike from Upper Arlington to explore Ohio State's campus with his buddies. His memories include climbing up on the roof of Postle Hall when it was still under construction, and tossing pebbles to the ground below.

A bit of the mischievous child is still present in Bowers, who went on to earn his DDS from Ohio State's College of Dentistry in 1959 and has spent 30-some years teaching and conducting research inside the same building in which he once played. He brings a good-natured personality to his role as an instructor, and a genuine affection for his profession and the institution at which he continues his practice.

"I owe a tremendous amount to this University. Ohio State has been a big part of my life," Bowers said recently, taking a few minutes to reflect back on his career.

By Jo McCulty Donald Bowers works with students in the University's Dental Clinic.

His father was a physician, and although he admired him, the younger Bowers felt his father's career kept him away from home too much.

"I didn't want to go into medicine, but I had a lot of pressure," Bowers said.

After taking a journalism course at Upper Arlington High School and writing a few articles for the school newspaper, Bowers was infected with the writing bug.

"I interviewed the football coach and wrote the article and the paper came out," he said. "I saw my name and thought, 'God, that's really neat.'"

Bowers spent a couple of summers working for the Ohio State Journal, first doing odd jobs, then writing some unbylined items. As an undergraduate journalism major at Ohio State, he wrote a column about the University for a weekly newspaper, the Columbus Star.

"One day, the executive editor called me in and said, 'What will you do with your life?' I said, 'Newspapering!' He said, 'If you really want to do something in journalism, go get a degree in a special area.'"

Bowers took the advice to heart and began taking science courses, preparing to be a medical reporter.

He found his calling as a dentist because of a chance conversation with a neighbor.

"One day I started talking to a dentist who lived down the street," he said. The dentist was able to give him some insights into a career Bowers had never really given much thought to. "I liked the idea of working with my hands. So, I went to dental school."

The choice to pursue dentistry proved to be a good one.

After finishing dental school at Ohio State, Bowers completed an internship at Children's Hospital, where he specialized in pediatrics and anesthesiology. He worked in a pediatric private practice in Dayton for 3 1/2 years before deciding he needed more training. After earning a master's degree in dentistry from Indiana University, he returned to Ohio State, this time as a faculty member.

He wasn't back for good, though. He left to run the pediatric dentistry program at the Medical College of Georgia, part of a brand new school of dentistry.

He spent five years there, but decided he'd rather pursue his career in Ohio. "A position opened up at Ohio State, and I came back," he said.

His love of writing has never faded, and he has written for and edited numerous publications throughout his career, including for the Ohio Dental Association and Georgia Dental Association.

He has found himself a niche market. "There are not a lot of dentists who write," he said.

In addition to writing about national issues affecting the field of dentistry, Bowers has written a lot about the field's history. He credits an Ohio State history professor he studied with as an undergraduate for encouraging his enthusiasm for history: "Not just dates, but why things are the way they are."

He is currently working on a history of Ohio State's College of Dentistry and functions informally as the college's historian.

"I have a lot of historical artifacts in the office," he said. "I have photographs from the school and old dental instruments that people have donated. We're working on getting them put back up in a proper place and cared for."

Bowers' responsibilities within the college include currently serving as associate director of admissions, after having served as director for 20 years. He also teaches and supervises students in Ohio State's Dental Clinic and at Children's Hospital.

Accolades over the years include winning the William J. Gies Editorial Award in 1983 and 1992 from the American College of Dentists and being named one of two recipients of the Distinguished Dentist Award in 2000 from the Ohio Dental Association.

He has found his interactions with students to be what he values most. "It is a sense of pride, almost like parenting," he said. "This honor from the Ohio Dental Association was a wonderful thing, but when some alumnus comes up to you and tells you, 'You made a real impact on me,' that's something that gets to you deeply, that someone appreciates what you do."

He looks at students as a perpetual fountain of youth. "I like interacting with young people. If you let it, it will keep you young," he said, and as if to prove it, grinned a smile that wouldn't look out of place on a 12-year-old, out to explore a college campus on a summer afternoon.