Matthew Swan looks like an extraordinary dentist, public health worker, and man. His interest in other people and cultures is clear by his living in Mexico for two years and learning to speak Spanish fluently and by working with Latino farm workers in the United States. Tony had, and I still have, a special affinity and gratitude for those people who work
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| (l to r) Scott Presson, Mathew Swan, Judith Barker, Amos Deinard |
hard for very long hours to grow and pick our food and yet often, or usually, live near the poverty line. The work that Matt has proposed, working with dads re their knowledge of and attitudes toward dental hygiene for their children, sounds like a wonderful project that has great potential to improve the oral health of underprivileged children ― some of whom, themselves, may work part time helping their families grow and pick our food.
It's also great to see that Matt is able to manage all he does and still find the time to play sports ,including tennis ― Tony loved to play tennis and believed in the value of regular exercise. And I believe in the nourishing value of music, so I hope Matt can continue to find time to sing and play his guitar. What an impressive man. It's exciting that someone so multi-talented and dedicated as Matthew Swan has received the Anthony Westwater Jong Memorial Community Dental Public Health Pre-professional Award, and I wish him best of luck with this project and his work in the future.