The American Association of Orthodontists, the American Board of Orthodontics, and the AAO Foundation will present their highest awards on April 30.

The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO), the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO), and the AAO Foundation will present their highest-level awards to seven individuals on April 30, 2026. The ceremony will take place just before the start of the 2026 Annual Session.

2026 Award Recipients

The individuals to be recognized for their contributions to the specialty include:

  • Dr Larry Tadlock will receive the James E Brophy AAO Distinguished Service Award. Tadlock is department head and a clinical professor at the Texas A&M School of Dentistry Department of Orthodontics. He is a past president of the Southwestern Society of Orthodontists and served as general chair of the 2022 AAO Annual Session. He was also a director of the ABO and served as its president from 2018-19.
  • Dr Rolf Behrents will receive the AAO Lifetime Achievement Award in Orthodontic Research. Behrents served as editor-in-chief of the AJO-DO from 2014 to 2025 and was the orthodontic program director at Saint Louis University from 2003 until 2018. He has over 100 published scientific articles.
  • Dr Thomas Cangialosi will receive the AAO Foundation Louise Ada Jarabak Memorial International Teaching and Research Award. Cangialosi is a professor at the Rutgers Health School of Dental Medicine and previously led the Department of Orthodontics at Columbia University. He is a past president of the ABO and has authored 55 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
  • Dr Judah Garfinkle will receive the AAO Humanitarian Award. Garfinkle is the director of Craniofacial Orthodontics at Oregon Health and Science University and an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Plastic Surgery. He is a state-level political advocate for patients with cleft and craniofacial conditions.
  • Dr Sunil Kapila will receive the AAO Inclusion & Engagement Award. Kapila is the chair of the Section of Orthodontics at the UCLA School of Dentistry. In 2020, he became the inaugural chair of the AAO task force that became the Special Committee on Inclusion and Engagement (SCIE).
  • Dr Richard Kulbersh will receive the American Board of Orthodontics Albert H Ketcham Memorial Award. Kulbersh became the Detroit-Mercy orthodontic chairman and program director in 1985. As an educator, he encouraged his faculty to pursue ABO certification and initiated resident grading based on ABO standards.
  • Ms Lynne Thomas Gordon will receive the AAO Outstanding Contribution Award, designated for a non-orthodontist. As AAO CEO from 2018 until her retirement in 2024, Gordon led updates to AAO policy-making and strategic planning, basing direction on metrics and best practices. She also helped grow non-dues revenue and introduced Trustee At-Large positions.

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