William G.
Sprague
President, 1970-1971
©American
Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology. Used with permission.
Photo: circa 1975
William Sprague, born in Cleveland on April 15, 1923, attended Ohio University and Case--Western Reserve University where he received a B.S. (1945) and D.D.S. (1947). He was on active duty in the U.S. Army (1942- 44). A graduate student at Case- Western University (1947--52), he was an intern at Cleveland State Hospital(1947-48) and Pathology Resident at Case-Western Reserve University. In 1952 he became an officer in the U.S. Air Force Dental Corps until separated with the rank of Colonel in 1976. He was Instructor in Operative Dentistry (1947-48) and in Oral Pathology (1948-52) at Case-Western Reserve University, Instructor in Oral Pathology at Georgetown University School of Dentistry(1954-57) and Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston (1957--65). He was Visiting Lecturer in Oral Pathology at Howard University, Clinical Assistant Professor of Oral Pathology at the dental school of Medical College of Virginia and Visiting Lecturer in Oral Pathology at the University of Puerto Rico. In 1976 he became Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Oral Bio logy at the University of Nebraska School of Dentistry. In 1980 the title was changed to Associate Professor of Oral Diagnosis, Pathology and Radiology. He was appointed Instructor in Dental Hygiene in the Central Technical College at Hastings, Nebraska, and Visiting Lecturer in the dental assisting program at Southeast Community College in Lincoln. He was made Associate Professor at the College of Medicine of the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and has had an Oral Pathology Consultation Practice in the Dental Service Plan of the College of Dentistry since 1981.
Bill was President of the Federation of Dental Diagnostic Sciences. While he was President of the Academy during the 25th Anniversary Meeting, an uproar arose between two individuals not born in the United States. One, who resided in the U.S., addressed the other as a "foreigner". It was difficult to convince the aggressor that no pathologists are foreigners but that we just speak a common language that may sound like "tongues" to the uninitiated. Ever since, the Academy has had a Parliamentarian.
Bills publications include Observations on lactobacillus counts and dental caries in mental patients, J. Dent. Res., 1949; A survey of the use of the term "leukoplakia" by oral pathologists, Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol, 1963; Benign and malignant melanocytic lesions of the oral mucosa, Cancer, 1970; Laser and the dental pulp, J Am Dent Assoc, 1971; and Oral manifestations associated with metabolic deficiency changes, in Oral Pathology , edited by R. W. Tiecke, 1965.
These notes and photos are from: Robinson HBG. History of the American Academy of Oral Pathology 1946-1987. The American Academy of Oral Pathology, Chicago, 1988, pp. 1-100. Used with permission.