The Ontario Dental Association was founded in 1867. There have been 135 Presidents.

Election of Board Members and Executives
As a matter of procedure, at the General Council Meeting held in the spring and fall, ODA General Councillors select ODA Board members. The Board, in turn, elects the vice-president from among its members.

The vice-president succeeds to the office of president-elect in the year following their election. The president-elect succeeds to the office of president. The president succeeds to the office of immediate past-president.

The president and president-elect, along with the Past-President, will be among the spokespeople on important topics for the ODA.

Dr. Ira Kirshen is President of the Ontario Dental Association.

Dr. Larry Levin is Past-President of the Ontario Dental Association.

Dr. Lynn Tomkins is President-Elect of the Ontario Dental Association.

Past Presidents of the Ontario Dental Association

• 1963 Dr. L.E. Hastings
• 1964 Dr. W.W. Philp (deceased)
• 1965 Dr. E.E. Johns (deceased)
• 1966 Dr. M.G. Boyes (deceased)
• 1967 Dr. J.B. Taylor (deceased)
• 1968 Dr. W.J. Spence (deceased)
• 1969 Dr. G.K. Chapman (deceased)
• 1970 Dr. H.N. Beach
• 1971 Dr. I. Hrabowsky
• 1972 Dr. L.J. Schiller (deceased)
• 1973 Dr. W.L. Heaslip
• 1974 Dr. R.L. Moran (deceased)
• 1975 Dr. M.D. Charendoff
• 1976 Dr. P.R. Shunock (deceased)
• 1977 Dr. R.F. Evans (deceased)
• 1978 Dr. A.J. Harris
• 1979 Dr. A.A. Stoyshin
• 1980 Dr. G.E. Pitkin
• 1981 Dr. B.W. Holmes
• 1982 Dr. R.R. Schiewe
• 1983 Dr. D.B. Smith
• 1984 Dr. K.L. Roach
• 1985 Dr. R.J. Bell
• 1986 Dr. R.D. Wells
• 1987 Dr. B.H. Dolansky
• 1988 Dr. J.R. Brookfield
• 1989 Dr. W.A. Glave
• q990 Dr. R.M. Balfour
• 1991 Dr. W.G. Leggett
• 1992 Dr. D.J. Somer
• 1993 Dr. P. Fendrich
• 1994 Dr. G.H. Sweetnam
• 1995 Dr. R.M. Bossin
• 1996 Dr. R.F. Howard
• 1997 Dr. E.R. MacSween
• 1998 Dr. J.E. Cottrell
• 1999 Dr. W.H. Pulver
• 2000 Dr. D.A. Friedlander
• 2001 Dr. J.D. Perlus
• 2002 Dr. P. Trainor
• 2003 Dr. R.B. Sutherland
• 2004 Dr. K. Blake Clemes
• 2005 Dr. S. Goren
• 2006 Dr. J.A. Pearce
• 2007 Dr. I. McConnachie
• 2008 Dr. D. Russell
• 2009 Dr. Larry Levin
  
• Mrs. A.M. Durham - Honorary Past President (deceased)

Dr. Ira Kirshen, President, ODA
Dr. Ira Kirshen is President of the Ontario Dental Association.

His involvement in organized dentistry began at the local level when he joined the executive of the York Region Dental Society. He was elected to the ODA General Council in 1996 and served as Society President in 1998.

Since his election to the ODA Board of Directors in 2002, Dr. Kirshen has chaired the Audit and Nominations Committees, two Honoraria & Per Diem Task Forces, and the Budget Oversight Committee. In 2006, he served on the ODA/RCDSO Relationship Working Group. He currently is a member of the CDA General Assembly Representatives Committee, and chairs the Staffing, Administration & Finance Committee and Board of Directors.

An active member in his community, Dr. Kirshen is a member of numerous professional dental organizations. He has held several positions at the York South Association of Community Living including Board Member, Chair of the Finance and Indirect Services Committees, and President from 1984 to 1986. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Association for Community Living, and fulfilled a one year government appointment on the York Region District Health Council. He is a Past President of Chai Tikvah, an association that assists schizophrenics. Dr. Kirshen was Chief of Dentistry at York Central Hospital, a position he held for seven years, while serving at the hospital for 25 years.

Dr. Kirshen is a graduate of the University of Toronto (1980) and is in general private practice in Richmond Hill. Dr. Kirshen is married to his lovely wife Esther and has three children, Carly, a resident in dermatology, Dustin, a first-year dental student at the University of Toronto, and Jeffrey, a third-year undergrad at the University of Western Ontario.

His involvement at the ODA committee level began in 1982 as a member of the Auxiliary Services Committee. He also served on the Strategic Planning Task Force, Dental Hygiene Working Group, Audit Committee and two Governance Review Task Forces
.

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Dr. Larry Levin, Past-President, ODA
Dr. Larry Levin is Past-President of the Ontario Dental Association.

Since joining the ODA Board of Directors in 2003, Dr. Levin has chaired the Presidential Workload Task Force and Nominations Committee. He currently is a member of the Staffing, Administration & Finance Committee and chairs the Budget Oversight Committee.

In addition to his service with the ODA, Dr. Levin served on all of the executive positions with the Ontario Society of Preventive Dentistry, including a term as President. He has an extensive background with the Hamilton Academy of Dentistry and has held all executive positions, including President from 1994 to 1995. He is a fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry, the Pierre Fauchard Academy, the International College of Dentists, and the American College of Dentistry. In 2000, Dr. Levin was elected to the ODA General Council representing the Hamilton Academy of Dentistry.

An active member in his community, he also served on the Board of Education of the Hamilton Hebrew Academy, the Board and Executive of the Hamilton Jewish Federation and Chair of the Hamilton section of the United Jewish Appeal. He has been a Cub Leader and Dr. Levin has participated on the Medical School Admissions Committee at McMaster University.

Dr. Levin is a graduate of the University of Toronto (1969) and is in general private practice in Hamilton.


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Dr. Lynn Tomkins, President-Elect, ODA
Dr. Lynn Tomkins is President-Elect of the Ontario Dental Association.

Born and raised in the Toronto area, Dr. Tomkins graduated from the University of Toronto in 1981, earning a Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree with Honours. She has practiced general dentistry since that time, assuming ownership of her practice in 1985. She is joined in her practice by her husband and partner, Dr. Daniel Kmiecik.

Dr. Tomkins also serves as an Associate in Dentistry and Clinical Instructor in the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Oral Medicine in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry. In 2006, the University of Toronto honoured Dr. Tomkins with the Dr. A. Bruce Hord Master Teaching Award for excellence in clinical teaching and for making a significant contribution to the students’ educational experience. She has received numerous other awards from the Toronto Central Dental Society, the RCDSO, the CDA, the ODA, and the University of Toronto, as well as a number of academic awards throughout her education, including the Dean’s Gold Medal for standing first in the class of Dentistry 8T1.

Dr. Tomkins has held all Executive positions within the Toronto Central Dental Society. Within the ODA, she has served on the Economics Core Committee, General Council, Committee on Intra-Professional Relations, Dental Hygiene Negotiations Task Force, and Audit Committee. In 2008, Dr. Tomkins chaired the Nominations Committee. She currently is Treasurer of the ODA and chairs the Budget Oversight Committee. She serves as a member of the Staffing, Administration and Finance Committee, Board of Directors, and as an ODA representative on the CDA’s Dental Leadership Task Force.


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