This means that we have to at least match other programs in paying the tuition of our incoming residents if we are to continue to attract the bestcandidates available.

To this end, the School has launched the Selipsky Endowed Fellowship in Periodontics. I am extremely honored and humbled that the UW has seen fit to attach my name to this fund. However, this is not about me – it is about our graduate program, which has always been so close to my heart, and I'm sure to yours too. I see this endowed fellowship as a way to honor the vision of all our great teachers and alumni who built and have maintained this program with an eye always toward the future. The ultimate goal of this endowment is to be able to pay the full tuition for all post-graduate residents in our program for the duration of their residencies.

With this important financial assistance added to the quality of our outstanding interdisciplinary training program, I fully expect that we will be able to continue to attract the top students.

To meet current tuition rates for 12 residents every year while preserving the capital (i.e., drawing only from the fund’s income), we would need a fund of $10 million to allow for inflation, increased tuition, and the possibility to do even greater things for the program. This whole concept is a game changer, but for it to be successful, we simply cannot think small; we have to think big – very big - every one of us. Most of us owe so much of what we have achieved in professional recognition and financial success to having gone through our UW program - a bond we share.

Imagine if others could step up and donate $100,000 also. We know this may not be possible for many, but we’d love to have you join us in this “100 Club”! Whatever amount you feel is appropriate for your circumstances would be appreciated.

I know that it is a big ask, but this is a very big and important project that is vital to our future. To establish the fund, the Selipsky family has gifted the fund $200,000 to start things off. We are asking you to join us in support of our Graduate Program. Please consider stretching to keep the UW at the top!

Our less established alumni may not be able to contribute immediately at that level, and so the fund will be flexible and kept open-ended. We also anticipate that they, as well as future recipients of our fellowship program, will feel inspired to add to this fund when they themselves become financially stable.

Now truly is the time to give back to our program that was so instrumental in shaping our futures. Please join me in becoming a Founding Member of this endowed fellowship at the UW. Donors at the Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond levels will be honored on a Donor Board in the Graduate Clinic.

Together I see us ensuring a great legacy of which we can all justly be so proud, a legacy that promises we will always have a truly pre-eminent, world class program and Periodontics center. So let us forge ahead, open wide our hearts and our purses, and become known as "The Miracle at Washington!”

Thank you in advance for your generous support for this innovative vision of the future. Your colleague and friend,

Herbert Selipsky DDS, HDD, MSD

Diplomate, American Board of Periodontology

Affiliate Professor, UW School of Dentistry