Message from our President

Message from Our President

Irving J. Naidorf In paying tribute to this incredible man who has recently been taken from us, I know that what I wrde ]s shared by many of you ~n your hearts. Irving Na~dorf was truly a man for all seasons. An adventurer who loved h~s days as a pilot, a devotee of classJcal music, a voracious reader, an esteemed scholar, a dedicated researcher, a canng chn~c~an, an accomphshed administrator, a Iowng lather and a devoted husband. Irv was a "Renaissance M a n in every sense of the word. Yel of all h~s accomphshments, the bile of teacher seems to have fit h~m best. I r v s hfe work of rearn~ng and shanng nol only hfs scholarly knowledge w~th h~s pupils and colleagues but also his values and pnnciples set him apart as the t e a c h e r s teacher He taught us how Io be senous and he showed us the importance of humor His serious s~de was evident in his commitment to the excellence of the Journal of Endodontics and to his responsibilities as an officer of t h e A A E Yet hJs sense of humor and h~s oft quoted " N a ~ d o r f i s m s w~ll be m~ssed by the Board of D~rectors He was a man who took as much delight an a laboratory d~scovery as he did Jn SOlvrng an adm~nJstrahve ddemma. He was a master at gethng to the hearl of a problem and he certainly touched many of our hearts w~lh his many talents and quahties as a caring human being Maybe Irv's greatest role as a teacher was Jn the example he set in the conduct of h~s own life. He taughl us how to cultivate an appetite for all of hfe's bounty and a sense of understanding for evenls over which we had no control. He handled lhe acclaim he recewed from hJs colleagues wdh humphty and he faced lifes bqter moments wdh a resolve that gave us all courage H~s zest for life was contagious and he would not allow those who shared h~s world to be swallowed up ~n the sadness he and Blanche faced ~n the loss of their son. Nor would he allow his ~ntens~ty for living to be dulled by the pa~n he suffered the last few months ot h~s own hfe In spite of the ~nevitability ol his d~sease course. Irv NaJdorf spoke of the future. In a visit wdh him a few weeks before hrs death he endeavored to assure us thal the Journal was well cared for and that he had made provisions so lhat hrs illness would nol adversely affect the pubhcahon he so dearly loved He expressed concern that he could not stand up at the American College of Dentists meet~ng for a colleague he had sponsored He offered suggeshons to be conveyed to the Board of Direclors meeting s~nce he would be unable to attend. Dunng the enhre visit he never menhoned h~s own pain, he never lamented the unfairness of his disease and he never felt that life had cheated him. I t s I r v s famdy and his devoted Blanche, i t s h~s friends and his professional fam~ly who feel cheated thai we have been deprived of all that he shared w~th us and taught us. Yet, the Rabbi, in h~s eulogy, may have said Jt mosl appropriately when he suggested that we should not feel deprived, but rather blessed that men hke Irwng Naidorf were put on this earth to serve as examples for all of us tO emulate. Maybe ~n this trme of reflecbon we will find that this was this great t e a c h e r s most ~mporlant lesson

Stephen E Schwartz. DDS. MS President