b'A YEAR IN REVIEWAnother Son of Tupelo Takes Center StageBorn in Georgia and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, the newJeffcoat, he also developed a love of research through National Institutes AmericanAcademyofPeriodontologypresidentDr.Chrisof Health Research Fellowships. Richardson had his career path preordained at an early age.Dr. Richardsons next stop was the graduate periodontics program at the I knew I was going to be a healthcare provider from the time IUniversity of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 1995. There was five years old. My mother worked as an administrator forhe was greatly influenced by Program Director Dr. James Mellonig and a neurosurgeon for 35 years, and my father is a presbyterianDepartment Chair Dr. David Cochran. When Dr. Mellonig was asked by ministerandformerchaplainatTupelosNorthMississippiDr. Gary Maynard, Jr. of Richmond, Virginia to recommend a resident to Medical Center, he recalled. I started working in landscapingjoin his practice, he suggested Dr. Richardson. My at the hospital as a teenager, and the hotwife and I had a wonderful visit with Dr. Maynard and humid Mississippi summers taught meand his wife Sally, and fell in love with Richmond, I would rather be working on the inside ofhe recalled. 23 years laterand 14 years after Dr. the building. Maynards retirementDr. Richardson continues to run what is now a two-office practice along During the summers of his college years atwithhisthreeyoungerbusinesspartners:Drs. theUniversityofMississippi,andpriorto Ben Overstreet, Thomas Glazier, and John White. beginning dental school, Chris worked as anI really enjoyInterestingly, Drs. Mellonig, Cochran, and Maynard operating room surgeons assistant at the are all past presidents of the AAP. Ive clearly been hospital. It was the best summer job ever,teaching, It helpsblessed to have so many amazing mentors, said he said. I got to assist in just about every Dr. Richardson, and I think its pretty special to type of surgery imaginable: general surgery,me stay connectedhave had two AAP presidents come from the same plasticsurgery,neurosurgery,obstetrics, andorthopedics.Notsurprisingly,thisto education, andperiodontal practice.exposure led Chris to initially set his sightsInadditiontotreatingpatients,Dr.Richardson on a career as a general surgeon. Eventually,it really keepsisabletoindulgehisloveofresearchby the lure of that profession began to lose a bitperformingprivatepracticebasedclinicaltrials of its luster. Several of my friends parentsme on my classicandwasarecipientofthe2017AAPClinical were physicians and surgeons, and I cameResearchAward.Typically,theseprojectsare to see the degree to which their lives wereliterature toes. conductedformanufacturerslookingforclinical really tied to the hospital. Between the earlydatadocumentingtheperformanceoftheir mornings and late nights, they didnt get toperiodontalsurgicalproducts.Youdontseea spend a lot of time with their families, helot of research in private practices because its so said. I decided that I would want a differenttime-consuming to perform and manage the data, lifestyle for my family and myself.said Dr. Richardson. It is very meaningful to see the results of these different trials, and we follow He then decided to redirect his love of surgery toward thestringent guidelines to get the information published.dental arena. Fortunately, periodontics presented the perfect opportunity for me. First and foremost, it would allow me toDr.Richardsonhasalsofoundthetimetoserveasapart-time do intricate, detail-oriented surgical care and develop long- clinical faculty member in the graduate periodontics clinic at Virginia term friendships with my patients. Beyond that, Id be able toCommonwealth University School of Dentistry for the past 22 years. I determine my own schedule, and most importantly, spend timereally enjoy teaching, he said. It helps me stay connected to education, with my family. and it really keeps me on my classic literature toes.Chris began his dental career at the University of AlabamaPrior to attaining leadership positions within the AAP, Dr. Richardson at Birmingham School of Dentistry in 1991. His inclination toservedaspresidentofboththeRichmondDentalSocietyandthe pursue a career in periodontics was reinforced by his fortuitousSouthern Academy of Periodontology. His first role at the AAP was to exposure to Dr. Marjorie Jeffcoat, Chair of the Department ofserve on what was then called the New Periodontist Committee in 2000, Periodontics, and Dr. Michael Reddy. Under the guidance of Dr.and he has since served on numerous committees for the Academy. I AAP Periospectives| 12'