John P. Anderson, DMD of Rainsville, Ala was named the 2022 H. Moren Fuller Award winner by the University of Alabama School of Dentistry Alumni Association.
Dr. Barry Langley presents the 2022 Fuller Award to Dr. John P. Anderson of RainsvilleThe award is the highest honor in Alabama dentistry and is bestowed by the Alumni Association in recognition of outstanding contributions to the dental profession. Dr. Anderson received the award in June at a special Alabama Dental Alumni Association reception held during the Gulf Coast Dental Conference in Orange Beach.
Dr. Anderson earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the UAB School of Dentistry in 1973. He moved to Rainsville after graduation to start a general dentistry practice. He retired from dentistry after having served his patients and the community for 48 years. His volunteerism and involvement in organized dentistry is only rivaled by the care he gave his patients.
“Dr. Anderson has left a lasting mark on dentistry and the Rainsville community,” said Dr. Barry Langley of Mobile, Ala who nominated Anderson. “Though we began practice about the same time, John was quite accomplished by the time I became seriously active in organized dentistry back in the mid-nineties and was the most influential mentor for me in my development in organized dentistry.”
Dr. Anderson was awarded the School of Dentistry’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2004. He served as Alumni President in 1985 and lectured at the school for nearly ten years. Dr. Anderson is an active participant in organized dentistry and has held multiple leadership positions including Alabama Dental Association (ALDA) president and Fifth District ALDA president. Not only has he been a leader in regional and state organized dentistry, he was heavily involved in helping all the other dentists in his small town start their own offices, with all four of them renting office space in his building at some point in their careers.
Dr. Anderson has also dedicated countless hours to grow the DeKalb County area. He served on the DeKalb Economic Development Authority for twenty years and he served as president of the Rainsville Chamber of Commerce twice. He was also awarded the Rainsville Person of the Year award in 1993. Additionally, he is currently in his 28th year on the Economic Development Committee of Dekalb County where he has served as Chairman since 2000. He has also treated hundreds if not thousands of patients with free dental services in Alabama and abroad. Dr. Anderson and his wife, Mimi of fifty plus years, have one daughter, Dr. Mary Stuart Anderson Gallian who followed in her father’s footsteps and practices dentistry in Fairfax, Virginia. In a surprise twist at the reception, Dr. Langley presented wife, Mimi, with the Mrs. Fuller Award, to recognize her for the many years of partnership with John.
The Fuller Award is named for Dr. Moren H. Fuller, of Centerville, Alabama, one of the first members of the School of Dentistry advisory board. Fuller was not well known by his Alabama colleagues but was highly respected by his community, which earned him his spot on the board. He spent a lot of time at the school during its early years. Many of the first students were World War II veterans with impeccable credentials to enter dental school, but could not find a spot in out-of-state universities. Because of his day-to-day involvement with the school from the beginning, the students saw Fuller as their personal benefactor and the Dental Alumni Association chose to honor Fuller and to make the award his namesake. In 1955, Fuller was the first recipient of the award.