Following dental school graduation and a two-year tour in the U.S. Navy, Dr. Jack Dillenberg spent two years as the staff dentist at the Southbury Training School’s residential facility for severely developmentally-disabled individuals in Connecticut. This was a life-changing experience in many ways and emphasized the critical oral health needs of this special population.
Dr. Dillenberg then relocated to Negril, Jamaica, West Indies where he worked for the Jamaican Ministry of Health in a health clinic in Green Island, a small fishing village on the west side of the island. Living and working in rural Jamaica was an incredible and enjoyable experience. Realizing, however, that he wanted to steer rather than row the boat, Dr. Dillenberg decided to pursue a Master of Public Health from Harvard and subsequently joined its Dental School faculty in Public Health. Simultaneously, he worked as a Public Health Specialist for the World Bank travelling to Calcutta, India twice a year for six years.
Dr. Dillenberg relocated to Phoenix, AZ and began his journey in the Arizona Department of Health Services initially as Chief of the Office of Oral Health and ultimately as its Director for over four years. He then moved to California and worked in LA County as a Public Health Area Director. Four years later, Dr. Dillenberg returned to Arizona where he helped formulate the unique vision and mission of the state’s first dental school, A.T. Still University, Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH), Mesa, Arizona. He was selected as its inaugural Dean and recently retired after fifteen years, having been awarded the status of Dean Emeritus.