Dr. Michelle Ann Kurpakus Wheater Memorial Scholarship
The Dr. Michelle Ann Kurpakus Wheater Memorial Scholarship honors the talents and legacy of Dr. Wheater, former interim assistant dean of Academic Administration at the School of Dentistry, who died in November 2022.
This scholarship is intended to benefit a first-generation DDS or Dental Hygiene student who is engaging in research or teaching-related activities (for D1 and DH1 students, previous research experiences at an undergraduate level may be considered). In addition, the recipient should exhibit selfless servant leadership and excellence in leadership in an academic setting with dedication to building community between peers and colleagues.
Dr. Wheater joined the School of Dentistry in 2004. She obtained her Bachelor of Science (1982) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and her Doctor of Philosophy (1988) from Iowa State University. She completed post-doctorate fellowships in Ophthalmology and Cell Biology at Northwestern University Medical School (1987-1991).
From 1991 to 2004, Dr. Wheater was an associate professor at Wayne State University where she received many teaching awards, managed research and served as program director for graduate recruitment from 2000-2004.
At Detroit Mercy Dental, Dr. Wheater achieved the rank of professor in the School of Dentistry Division of Biomedical Sciences and later served as the director of the Division of Integrated Biomedical Sciences and assistant dean of Research and Scholarly Achievement. In these roles, she mentored junior faculty and greatly expanded Detroit Mercy Dental’s basic science laboratory space and research output. Near the end of Dr. Wheater’s career, she served as interim assistant dean of Academic Administration and helped guide Detroit Mercy Dental through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Wheater was the course director for general and oral histology courses in the predoctoral and dental hygiene programs as well as the dental hygiene research courses. She has over 45 peer-reviewed research publications and has presented her findings at both national and international meetings.
Throughout her tenure at the School of Dentistry, Dr. Wheater was instrumental in the development of student leadership programs in research and education, for which she was highly regarded. She coordinated numerous student research projects from multiple institutions. Dr. Wheater was one of the key leaders in the School of Dentistry research strategic plan (2017-2022), implementing numerous initiatives which resulted in ongoing, funded support of research activities, extramural grant and/or foundation support, and an increased number of School of Dentistry publications.
Dr. Wheater also served in leadership roles on behalf of the University, representing the School of Dentistry on various committees and University-wide initiatives. Dr. Wheater also was the chair of the University of Detroit Mercy Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Dr. Wheater was very devoted to serving others at a national level as well. She held leadership roles for the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and was associate editor for the MedEdPORTAL for Building Oral Health Capacity in Medical Education. Dr. Wheater was also associate editor of ADEA weTeach, a web-based collection of content on teaching, learning and assessment of MedEdPORTAL and dedicated many years as a mentor in the ADEA Academic Dental Careers Fellowship Program.
You can honor Dr. Wheater's memory by making a gift now to this memorial scholarship fund.
