Keep reading for the final part of Pankey co-founder Dr. John A. Anderson’s story: 

A quote by philosopher Soren Kierkegaard that can help us gain perspective from Dr. Anderson’s path –

Life can only be understood backwards;

but it must be lived forwards!

This fact is of such central, profound, and fundamentally urgent importance for each human being to realize!

Joining the Pankey Institute

In the late ‘60s, Dr. John Anderson was in the prime of his dental career and about to turn fifty years of age when the LD Pankey Foundation was signed into being. Roughly one year later, John had already turned down an invitation to be the Dean of NUDS. He was finishing his sixth year in his third office when the ORS group met in November 1970.

John Anderson and Loren Miller said “Yes” to Co-Directing The Pankey Institute. Looking back, it is easier to see the defining work and moments that shaped their lives, character, ethic, education, and intent from the inside out.

The mark of an outstanding educator is the ability to create experiences in a learning process that invites participants into an opportunity of discovery. 

After an Advisory Class, or “test run” as John and Loren liked to call it, the Institute officially opened the first week of October 1972 with a C-1 Class. As The Pankey Institute matured, Dr. Anderson took on the role of directing education process and Dr. Miller directed administration. Both sold their practices and became full-time at The Pankey Institute.

John and Loren jointly invited twelve individuals of various ages in November 1974 and an additional three in early 1975 to join the Cadre – the Pankey Institute’s original Visiting Faculty. Dr. Henry Tanner joined the full-time Faculty in 1974.

John, Loren, and Henry continued to develop the next generations in dentistry and an Experiential Educational Process. They dedicated their lives to refining it with and for others.

A Pankey Legacy

Dr. Anderson died of a sudden and surprising heart attack on 12/31/1978, having celebrated his fifty-ninth birthday on November 18, 1978. He was and still is a significant mentor to me.

Within our relationship, there was the opportunity for multi-event dosing of purposefulness, commitment, integral ethic, authenticity, passion, responsibility, demonstrated excellence in relationship building, human understanding, acceptance, discovery, inventiveness, and excellence in clinical dentistry.

A story: As John was becoming more and more full-time in Florida, after the beginning of The Pankey Institute in 1972, he sold his practice in Glenview, IL about forty miles from my practice in Hinsdale, IL.

He would call and ask if it was OK to refer a patient to me for continuing care. I would gladly accept. I would find out while interviewing the new patients that many were from Hinsdale and neighboring suburbs. Most had traveled past my office on their way to John’s for years!  

The gift of those patients was not the dental work I was able to do for them. Rather it was listening to their story of when and how they found John.

Some of their work was done in the late 40s and early 50s prior to John meeting Dr. Pankey. Other’s was done in the middle 50s to ’62 and I witnessed the influence of Drs. Pankey, Mann, and Schuyler on John’s dental work.

And then, in the work done from ’62 to ’74, I could see the influence of Dr. Henry Tanner. It was a confirmation of being and becoming a continual student – the learning and growing of an outstanding professional.

This gradual unfolding is a shining example of doing the best you can each day and being open to your own learning along the way. I cared for many of those individuals for the next twenty-plus years. About the only work I needed to do was an occasional “freeing-up” of the occlusion on posterior teeth due to natural wear on anterior teeth. This required smoothing of leading edge bevels and trailing edge sharpening. Re-beveling diminished the chance of chipping and fracture.

These experiences gave me a sense of hope as I reviewed my own work throughout the years. I noticed my growth and development reflected in it. What a gift!

Here we continue a Pankey founder’s life story …

Meeting Dr. LD Pankey

The 1950s held many experiences that shaped Dr. Anderon’s personality, inventiveness, and professional growth. He formed the Saunders Milwaukee study club with Dr. David Hoffman. They began studying Practice Management and brought Dutch Wohler in from California to spend a life-changing week with the group.

This led to an invitation for John to attend a Practice Management Meeting at the University of Michigan in ’52. It became the founding meeting of the American Academy of Dental Practice Administration (AADPA). Its speaker was none other than Dr. LD Pankey.

Study Clubs and Teaching

John continued to seek out Dr. Pankey’s philosophy courses, where he met Dr. Loren Miller. In 1957, Drs. Pankey, Mann, and Schuyler invited John Anderson and other dentists to be part of the Oral Rehabilitation Seminars (ORS).

The major purpose of the ORS was to create the Teaching Manuals. They used Dr. Anderson’s Case Slides in their presentations. This ORS group traveled and taught the PMS Technique and Course to study clubs from ’58 to ’72. These study club members became early adopters and LD Pankey Foundation supporters later on.

The experience of teaching ignited in John a passion for learning about how people learn best. He wondered, what is the best process?

Sit-Down Dentistry

During the ’55-‘65 time period, Dr. Anderson and Dr. David Hoffman were studying “Time and Motion” principles in dentistry with memo-motion photography.

In the 40s and 50s, John had not yet met Dr. Henry Tanner, who was part of the development of the High-Speed Air Turbine Handpiece at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Dutch Wohler introduced them in ‘62, while John and his family were spending vacation time in California – small world!

Henry and John found ways to teach together over the next 16 years. Henry joined The Pankey Institute’s Faculty from ’74 to ’80.

Communicator and Educator

By the time I entered my pre-dental education at North Park College in ’60, John was in his second office across the street from Swedish Covenant Hospital. This was five blocks from my dorm.  

I saw his innovative efforts with sit-down dentistry and four- and six-handed dentistry. During this period, John was continuing to develop as a communicator and educator. Twice a year he would spend an evening with dental students at NUDS talking about “The Profession You Are About to Enter”!

His time commitments to the ORS group, Chicago Mid-Winter Meeting, and Branch Chicago Dental Society meetings featured his cutting edge concepts. These included restorative dentistry, dental materials selection, practice management, and equipment selection for sit-down dentistry.

At the end of my second year at NUDS and starting the summer clinic in ‘64, John was moving into his third office in Glenview, IL. The new office was based on his research involvement, which came from the aforementioned Time and Motion Studies.

Curious what happens next in the history of a Pankey founder? Check out Part 3 in this series …

I was asked to write an article about Dr. John A. Anderson, Sr., one of two men who said “yes” to stepping up in November 1970 to co-create The Pankey Institute. As I put together a timeline of his life, I noticed the import of his early life experiences, many of which commonly shape a person’s Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

These qualities are often found in boundary pushers, leaders, and dentists committed to continuing their education throughout their lives. They do so while folding their learning back into their practice of dentistry for the benefit of others.

I first met Dr. Anderson in December 1956 when he and his family were visiting cousins. They attended a Christmas choral concert at our church in Hinsdale, IL. I was a freshman in high school at the time.

As I was introduced, I can remember his handshake and warm greeting. When he heard I wanted to be a dentist and go to Northwestern University Dental School, his words were very encouraging.

Life Experiences That Shaped Dr. Anderson’s Life

Dr. Anderson was born November 18, 1919 in Wonju, Korea. His parents Dr. A. G. and Hattie Anderson were medical missionaries – Hattie had a teaching degree. John’s schooling occurred at Pyongyang Academy in Korea.

John was sent to the USA to continue his education with two years at Baldwin-Wallace College, OH. In the fall of 1938 he entered Northwestern University Dental School (NUDS). He then graduated three years later in 1941.

John became a Clinical Instructor at NUDS from the summer of ’41 to the summer of ’42. After marrying his wife Eleanor in ’42, he was commissioned in the Army Air Corps, Dental Division and sent to India. After returning from India, where he contracted malaria, John recovered and was released from active duty.

He opened his first practice on N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL in 1945. His uncle was a dentist in the area of Chicago called “Andersonville” due to the large population of Swedish immigrants.

While he and Eleanor lived in Andersonville they had three children: Denise ’47, Jay ’49, and Jill ’53.

Keep an eye out for Part 2 in this story of a Pankey founder …