The five-year commitment will support the Full-time Faculty Fellowship Campaign to develop educators and researchers at dental schools in the US and Canada.
Align Technology has announced a $1 million, five-year commitment to the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) Foundation. This new funding builds on a previous $1 million pledge made by the company in 2021.
Supporting Orthodontic Educators
The commitment is directed toward the foundation’s mission, specifically supporting its Full-time Faculty Fellowship Campaign. Launched in 2024, the three-year campaign aims to endow three two-year fellowships for orthodontic faculty at dental schools in the US and Canada.
The initiative is designed to strengthen the pipeline of full-time orthodontic faculty, ensuring that programs maintain the educators and researchers required to train future orthodontists and advance the specialty.
“The future of orthodontics depends on the people who teach it,” says Brett Schott, vice president and executive director, AAO Foundation, in a release. “Full-time faculty train our residents, lead the research that moves patient care forward, and mentor the leaders our specialty will rely on for decades. Align’s ongoing commitment helps us invest in those educators when the need is real.”
Long-Term Investment in the Specialty
Since 1994, the AAO Foundation Awards Program has provided $17.7 million in funding, which has supported 297 fellowship awards and 404 research grants. Align Technology is a Platinum Corporate Partner of the foundation.
“Most orthodontists can name a faculty member who helped shape them as the clinician they are now. Those educators give so much to this profession, and the AAO Foundation has done remarkable work making sure that impactful legacy continues,” says Frank Quinn, executive vice president and managing director, Americas, Align Technology, in a release.
Quinn, who also serves on the AAO Foundation Board of Directors, adds that supporting the fellowship campaign is a way of thanking the faculty who inspire professionals across the industry.
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