11 March 2025

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Spolnik Family provides lead gift for dental school “Commons”

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Dr. Kenneth (DDS’75, Endo’78) and Beverly Spolnik have donated a large gift that will enable the renovation and construction of a dental school commons, a gathering space in the former Clinics A, B, C clinics overlooking Michigan Street.

 “We are deeply grateful for the generosity of the Spolnik family,” said Dean Carol Anne Murdoch-Kinch. “The Spolnik Family Commons will be a wonderful space for our school community to gather, eat, and study, and serve as a venue for hosting dental school events.”

Dr. Spolnik retired in 2024 after more than half a century in the dental field and an entire career at IUSD beginning as a D1 in 1971.

After completing his MSD in endodontics in 1978, Dr. Spolnik served on the IUSD endodontics faculty for the next 46 years. The first 31 years he was adjunct faculty while he operated his private practice. Then in 2009, he flipped his schedule, working full-time at the dental school and one day a week in private practice. He became chairperson of the Department of Endodontics the same year, serving until his retirement. 

Dr. Spolnik was honored with the Samuel S. Patterson Professorship of Endodontics and earned the 2024 IUSD Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching.

The Spolniks’ lead gift is a continuation of their giving throughout Dr. Spolnik’s career. When he retired, they wanted to make a special gift. “Bev and I have been looking to do something for the school,” Dr. Spolnik said. “When we realized we could help make this renovated space become a reality, we thought this project would be a really meaningful way to help the dental students and the school community.”

As a DDS student in the 1970s, Dr. Spolnik learned his profession in this former clinical space, located on the third floor of the original dental school building with iconic windows overlooking Michigan Street. “The faculty would stand on the balcony on the fourth floor, overlooking the clinic and watch us work,” he said. “It’s particularly special to me that it was in this room I learned to become a dentist.”

Dr. Spolnik added that he thinks the Spolnik Family Commons will be a wonderful asset for recruitment. “With the Fritts Clinical Center, we have a wonderful new clinical facility,” he said. “This could be the final piece to really make our school stand out, with a beautiful, multipurpose room that can be enjoyed for years to come. There are not a lot of dental schools in the country that have this kind of beautiful gathering space.”

The Spolniks said their giving to the dental school is an expression of their gratitude for Kenneth’s long endodontics career. “It is part of our faith to be charitable,” Dr. Spolnik said. “This gift gives us the opportunity to live that out.”

Author: Leslie Flowers

Source: https://dentistry.iu.edu/