Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022 - 18

PCSO News and Events
PCSO 2022 AAO Honorees
AAO James E. Brophy Distinguished
Service Award
Dr. Ron Wolk
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
In addition to the 2022 James E. Brophy Award, Dr.
Ron Wolk was named as a PCSO Annual Session
Honoree in 2013. These recognitions pay tribute to
his governance experience and leadership qualifications.
He is an example of how one doesn't have to be
forceful to be powerful. All of us who have collaborated
with or benefited from Dr. Wolk's achievements
and contributions to our specialty offer our congratulations
for this much-deserved honor.
" The Long Winding Road " -The Beatles
Dr. Ron Wolk was raised and educated in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada, the youngest of three children.
He attended public schools and graduated with his
dental degree from the University of Manitoba. After
a year of general practice in Winnipeg, he attended
the University of Minnesota for his graduate studies in
orthodontics, obtaining a master's degree in anatomy
in 1978. Dr. Wolk then began his private orthodontic
practice in Calgary, Alberta, along with his partner, Dr.
Barry Hoffman. In 1990, Dr. Wolk became a diplomate
of the American Board of Orthodontics.
Dr. Wolk has been an active member of AAO, PCSO,
and Canadian Association of Orthodontists (CAO) for
his entire career. He served his local provincial association
in the Alberta Society of Orthodontists and the
then Western Canadian Society of Orthodontists as its
president in 1985. His dedication and commitment
to organized orthodontics has been continuous since
In a specialty blessed with an abundance of
high-achieving individuals willing to share their skills
and time with our association, those being recognized
for extraordinary effort is especially relevant.
Each year, one individual is selected for the AAO
James E. Brophy Distinguished Service Award. The
2022 honor goes to PCSO member Dr. Ron Wolk. Recognized
for his continuous service to the orthodontic
community, Dr. Wolk has distinguished himself during
his entire career for service to the AAO membership
by virtue of his leadership nationally and internationally.
The James E. Brophy Award is presented to
those who have made contributions to orthodontics
in addition to other valuable and devoted services to
the association and to its membership.
1983, demonstrated by his multiple leadership positions
during the following 38 years. Dr. Wolk sat on the
national board of the CAO, which culminated in his
being elected to its executive council and serving as
CAO president from 1999 to 2000. Following the CAO
presidency, he served as president of the Canadian
Foundation for the Advancement of Orthodontics
for three years. These terms were in concert with a
four-year term as provincial director with the PCSO.
Following those presidential terms, he was elected
to the PCSO executive council, which culminated in
serving as PCSO president from 2007 to 2008. During
the years in various PCSO positions, he served as Canadian
liaison to the AAO as well as a PCSO delegate
in the AAO House of Delegates. Dr. Wolk has continued
to sit on the PCSO delegation since 2006, having
the distinct honor to serve as the delegation's chair
for six years. Dr. Wolk has participated in the following
three AAO national task forces: the AAO Affiliation
Agreements Task Force, the Task Force for National
Volunteerism, and the AAO Global Strategy Planning
Committee. Dr. Wolk also served on the AAO Council
on Membership, Ethical, and Judicial Concerns as
PCSO representative for eight years, the last two of
which were as the sitting chair. During those years in
leadership, Dr. Wolk's commitment to bettering and
advancing the benefits to members in their professional
careers remained first and foremost.
Comments From Dr. Wolk: " A Little Help From My
Friends " -The Beatles
This award is given for lifetime service to the AAO and
the specialty. I am so humbled, honored, and grateful
to be recognized and included in this select group
of former award recipients. Those of us who serve in
these positions know one cannot be effective without
standing on the broad shoulders of so many others. I
feel the many hours, trips, times away from home, and
long nights have been recognized and valued by my
own colleagues.
During the 40 years of dedication, there have been
so many I have to be thankful to for their invaluable
support and encouragement. I cannot let this
moment go by without recognizing my orthodontic
chairman, Dr. Robert Isaacson, who instilled the
18
PCSO Bulletin Spring 2022
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Spring 2022
