Reidar Sognnaes (November 6, 1911 – September 21, 1984) was Dean of the

Harvard School of Dental Medicine The Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) is the dental school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to the DMD degree, HSDM offers specialty training programs, advanced train ...

, founding Dean of the

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School of Dentistry and scholar in the field of

oral pathology Oral and maxillofacial pathology refers to the diseases of the mouth ("oral cavity" or "stoma"), jaws ("maxillae" or "gnath") and related structures such as salivary glands, temporomandibular joints, facial muscles and perioral skin (the skin arou ...

Biography

Reidar Fauske Sognnaes was born in

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Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Sognnæs grew up in Bergen and took his final exams at Tanks gymnas in 1931. He took the first part of dental education in

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, and concluded with an examination at the Norwegian Dental School (''Norges Tannlegehøyskole'') in 1936. He participated in a Norwegian scientific expedition to

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcano, volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascensi ...

during 1937-38. Sognnaes came to America in 1938 as an intern at the Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children in

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. He continued on as a Carnegie Dental Fellow at the

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School of Medicine and Dentistry in

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, where he earned a master of science degree in

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and a Ph.D. in

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

in 1941. Following

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, in which he served in the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted ...

, Sognnaes accepted a teaching position at

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. There he occupied an endowed chair as the Charles A. Brackett professor of oral pathology and eventually served Director of Postdoctoral Studies at the

between 1956 and 1960, when he came to UCLA. Sognnaes guided the founding of the UCLA School of Dentistry, which was established in 1960. Sognnæs also put his name on scientific publications, primarily on research on tooth enamel and fluoride. Later he published several articles on education and research. He stepped down as dean in 1968, but continued as professor. Sognnaes is credited with identifying the remains of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and

Martin Bormann Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, and a war criminal. Bormann gained immense power by using his position as Hitler ...

, through examination of

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and

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documents. Sognnaes also disproved the theory that President

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

had wooden teeth. When the original dentures were stolen from the

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during 1981, he was able to produce a duplicate. Reidar Sognnaes was President of the

International Association for Dental Research The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a professional association, founded in 1920 by William Gies, that focuses on research in the field of dentistry. The aim of this association by constitution is to promote research in all f ...

, a member of the

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and held an honorary doctorate from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

. The Reidar Sognnaes Award of Excellence is awarded annually by the

American Academy of Forensic Sciences The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is a society for forensic science professionals, and was founded in 1948. The society is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. The AAFS is a multi-disciplinary professional organization that ...

in honor of Sognnaes.

Personal life

Sognnaes married Edel Marie Johanna Holand (1916–2010), the daughter of Jorgen Kristian Holand and Annette Marthea Foldvik in Kristiania (now Oslo) Norway on June 29, 1939. They were the parents of four children, Solveig, Reidun, Thor, and Annelise.''Edel Marie Johanna Sognnaes'' (Half Moon Bay Review)
/ref>

Selected works

*''Oral health survey of Tristan da Cunha )'' (1954) *''Microstructure and histochemical characteristics of the mineralized tissues'' (1955) *''Calcification in Biological Systems'' (1960) *''Chemistry and prevention of dental caries'' (1962) *''Mechanisms of Hard Tissue Destruction'' (1963) *''America's most famous teeth'' (1974) *''Dental evidence in the postmortem identification of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, and Martin Bormann'' (1977)

References

Other sources

* ''In memoriam, Reidar Sognnaes (1911-1984)--34th President of the IADR, 1957-58'' (''Journal of Dental Research''. 1984 Nov; 63. 11) * ''Reidar Fauske Sognnaes, MA, DMD, PhD, schools of medicine and dentistry University of California, Los Angeles''. (''Scanodont''. 1975 May;3(2):20.) PMID
801292
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sognnaes, Reidar Fauske 1911 births 1984 deaths American forensic scientists Harvard Medical School faculty UCLA School of Dentistry faculty Norwegian emigrants to the United States Health professionals from Bergen Members of the National Academy of Medicine