John Walter Stanford (1927-2011)

Dr. John Stanford was born on March 22, 1927 in Nashville, TN. He and his loving wife Joan were married for 61 years. They had four children (Margo, Brent, Clark and Joy), 7 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. John served active duty in the U.S. Army from 1945-1946, U.S. Army active reserve from 1946-1949, U.S. Air Force reserve from 1952 – 1965, and retired as Captain in 1965. He received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Maryland and from Georgetown University his M.S. in Dental Materials and Ph.D. in Medical and Dental Science.

John began working for the American Dental Association as a Research Associate in 1952 and later as Assistant Director (1961) for the ADA’s Research Division at the National Bureau of Standards. At the Bureau, he was involved in the certification and testing program of the ADA and conducted research in the mechanical properties of the tooth structure. In 1965, he moved to the Chicago area and became Secretary of the ADA Council on Dental Materials, Instruments and Equipment (CDMIE). He administered the activities of CDMIE to determine the safety and effectiveness of dental products and to disseminate that information to the dental profession and public.

Throughout his career, he was author or co-author of over 85 publications. John retired from the ADA in 1992 after 40 years of service.His many honors included being inducted as an honorary member of the ADA (1994), the Bernard J.Conway Award (1987), an honorary doctorate in Odontology from the Umea University in Sweden (1995), the Wilmer Souder Award, IADR (1981); the ANSI Astin-Polk International Standards Medal (1992) and the Pierre Fauchard Academy Michinosyke Nakayama Memorial Award (2002).

John was a driving force in the world of national and international standards for dental products. He was responsible for the establishment of the current standards program still in existence today at the ADA. He was also one of the founding members of the ISO Technical Committee 106 Dentistry where he served as Secretariat of Subcommittee 2 for Prosthodontics for many years and later as chairman of ISO/TC106 for nine years from 1991 – 1999 and appointed Chairman Emeritus in 2000. He also served as chairman of ANSI’s Medical Device Standards Board and as chairman of the FDA’s Panel for Review and Classification of Dental Devices.John was also passionate about his years of service in the Federation Dentaire Internationale. During his tenure in FDI, he served on the FDI’s Commission on Dental Products as Chairman (1972 – 1984) and Secretariat (1984 -1991), and as Chairman of the FDI’s Commission on Dental Products’ Standing Committee on Relations between the Profession, Trade, and Industry. John also received the FDI Award of Merit in 1986 and again in 2000.He always enjoyed the many friends and colleagues he worked with throughout the years in the world of dental products. He cherished those friendships and the memories of many trips shared abroad.