Selected from faculty members representing the entire nation, Dixie State University Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene Brenda Armstrong was honored as the American Dental Hygienists’ Association 2020 Educator of the Year.
Armstrong waited a full year to receive her award after the association’s 2020 in-person conference was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Annually sponsored by the association and Crest/Oral B, the award recognizes a dental hygiene faculty member who provides students with high-quality education and comes with $1,000 to use toward teaching endeavors.
“I am humbled and grateful,” Armstrong said. “I was educated by wonderful mentors at the University of Minnesota, had a fabulous experience at a community college helping to open a new dental hygiene program and then came to Dixie State, where I have been supported by department and College of Health Sciences colleagues. Additionally, I have been mentored by teaching experts at Dixie State’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Importantly, it has always been about the students, and Dixie State has some of the best.”
Armstrong, who began teaching at Dixie State in 2013, has been a dental hygienist for 36 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Weber State and a Master of Dental Hygiene with an emphasis in education from the University of Minnesota. Prior to coming to Dixie State, Armstrong taught at Thomas Nelson Community College in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Dixie State’s Dental Hygiene Program instructs students in the theoretical knowledge and clinical skills essential for dental hygiene practice and is fully accredited by the Commission of Dental Accreditation. Additionally, students develop clinical skills in the university’s Public Dental Hygiene Clinic, where they provide low-cost oral health care education and dental hygiene services under faculty supervision.
“We have a strong presence in the community by providing access to oral health care to vulnerable populations in Washington County at the Dixie State Public Dental Hygiene Clinic,” Armstrong said. “The department’s faculty and staff truly care about the students and the community we serve.”
To learn more about Dixie State University’s Dental Hygiene Program and Public Dental Hygiene Clinic, visit health.utahtech.edu/dental-hygiene.