Building on Strong Foundations: Postle Hall Phase I Replacement

For more than 125 years, The Ohio State University College of Dentistry has embraced its public purpose of educating exceptionally capable and compassionate dentists, providing care to patients, conducting research at the forefront of dentistry and oral health, and serving the community.
Computer rendering of a future Postle Hall expansion

As we plan for the college’s future, we take stock of our strengths of today:

  • Nearly two-thirds of Ohio’s dentists are our alumni.
  • At least one College of Dentistry graduate is practicing in every state in the country.
  • Alumni are leaders in their communities and nationally in the profession; for example, Joseph Crowley, ’76 DDS, is president-elect of the American Dental Association.
  • Admission is competitive, with 1 in 10 applicants gaining admission.
  • The college’s clinics have treated Medicaid patients from 84 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
  • Research funding has doubled during the past five years, to $6.4 million, with leading-edge inquiry in areas such as mineralized tissues, biomaterials, and neuroscience. 
  • The college’s research ranking among all U.S. dental schools has risen to 15th from 35th.

Our building was constructed in a vastly different era – before penicillin’s use was widespread, before gloves were standard for care-providers.

One of the most significant measures of the college’s excellence – one that is difficult to quantify – is the general and specialty dental care we deliver to patients with myriad treatment needs, including those patients who are the most vulnerable. Each day, the college treats more than 400 patients in one of its many campus-based clinics. In addition, through the OHIO Project, all fourth-year students spend 50 days – under faculty supervision – working in community clinics, hospitals, and private practices that provide care to underserved populations. Our mobile Coach travels to Columbus City elementary schools, delivering dental care to children who have difficulty accessing care and have substantial unmet needs. We partner with our medical colleagues at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to treat particularly fragile patients undergoing cancer and heart care. And, in our General Practice Residency clinic and at the university’s Nisonger Center, faculty and students provide individualized treatment to developmentally disabled patients. As Ohio’s only state-supported dental college, all of this is our mission and our calling. 

Model of Postal Hall Phase 1 replacement

Why Now: The Needs of Tomorrow

In the nearly seven decades since Postle Hall was built, the world has changed at a hastening pace. Our building was constructed in a vastly different era – before penicillin’s use was widespread, before gloves were standard for care-providers. Years of retrofitting and renovating have ensured that the College of Dentistry has been able to maintain a very high standard of education, research, and patient care. But, Postle Hall’s age and building configuration now limit our future growth and aspirations. 

Our Vision for the Future: A Facility to Accelerate Excellence

Our Building on Strong Foundations campaign is about our future. About realizing the college’s enormous potential – to expand our position as a national leader in dental education, research, and patient care. Funds will be used in a Phase I replacement of Postle Hall – on the same ground where more than 11,000 living alumni have been educated – to create a transformative facility. One that will be admired by others throughout the world. 

This campaign is part of a public-private partnership among the State of Ohio, the university, and private philanthropy. In spring 2016, the state appropriated $26 million for the project. The university has committed $34 million. Alumni and friends of the College of Dentistry have previously given $10 million to the reconstruction effort. The additional $25 million we seek in private gifts is critical to ensuring our success.

Through the College of Dentistry’s $25 million Building on Strong Foundations campaign, we seek private resources to support construction of:

  • Three high-tech classrooms. 
  • Pre-clinical simulation and technology labs. 
  • Eight small-group student practice clinics. 
  • Four ambulatory surgery clinics.
  •  An expanded, state-of-the-art radiology center.
  • A highly visible Office of Student Admissions.
  • A new student commons.
  • An upgraded sterilization facility for new clinics.
  • Improved public access and greater campus visibility. 

Partnership for a New Era

The Building on Strong Foundations campaign presents the opportunity to accelerate our excellence and to do so in partnership with alumni and friends. 

For more information about the Building on Strong Foundations campaign, contact Ted Backus, Senior Director of Development, Ohio State College of Dentistry Development Office, at 614-292-9307 or email DentalAlumni@osu.edu

Dental Emergency Care Clinic

Monday-Thursday
7:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Friday
7:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.

Student Dental Clinics

Monday-Friday
8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Ohio State Dental Faculty Practice

Monday-Friday
7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Upper Arlington Dental Clinic

Monday
7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Tuesday-Thursday
7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Friday
7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.