For more than thirty years, Dr. Paul Major has been a leader in dental education, research, and professional leadership in Alberta.
In recognition of his work, Dr. Major is the 2025 recipient of the Alberta Dental Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes members who have provided at least 25 years of outstanding service towards improving oral health and developing their profession.
Dr. Major graduated from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Dentistry in 1980. After completing his graduate training, he discovered a passion for academia that shaped the rest of his career
“I actually really quite fell in love with academia,” he says. “I like the curiosity that goes with it, the creative side of things, the exploration, the development of new knowledge.”
Since joining the University of Alberta as full-time faculty in 1988, Dr. Major has played an essential role in dental education. He began by overseeing the undergraduate orthodontic curriculum and teaching undergraduate students, later becoming head of the orthodontic graduate program for ten years. His focus then shifted to specialty training for orthodontists, and since 2010, he has served as Chair of the Mike Petryk School of Dentistry.
Today, Dr. Major continues to teach in the orthodontic graduate program, leading seminars, providing clinical instruction, and supervising master’s and PhD students. His work also includes research and publication.
“The greatest joy I have is watching not just students, but even staff and other people around me develop and become the best that they could be.”
“The greatest joy I have is watching not just students, but even staff and other people around me develop and become the best that they could be,” he says. “And then what’s really interesting—and very gratifying—is watching them exceed what I did.”
Dr. Major’s research spans two main areas. The first looks at how braces move teeth; he works with engineers to study the forces involved so dentists can predict how teeth will shift and design treatments that work more precisely. The second explores new ways to take and analyze images inside the mouth. Recently, he’s been working with experts in biomedical engineering and radiology to develop ultrasound technology that can capture diagnostic images of intra-oral structures, including teeth, alveolar bone, and gingiva, without using X-rays.
In addition to his efforts in research and education, Dr. Major has been a long-time supporter of organized dentistry. He was president of the Canadian Association for Orthodontists and, more recently, president of the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry. He has been extensively involved in national projects where the dental schools of Canada come together to work on mutual problems and relations with the government. In this work, Dr. Major helped obtain an $8.2 million federal grant to develop a training track for dentists who were trained abroad in non-accredited programs.
“I think it’s our obligation to contribute to the profession and to organized dentistry,” he says. “Dentistry is still an exciting place. The whole technology transformation that’s occurring now—the integration of AI into many aspects of what we do—it’s very exciting.”
Throughout his career, Dr. Major has mentored around 70 master’s students, 13 PhD students, and five postdoctoral fellows. “It’s just a privilege to be able to contribute to them,” he says. “It’s always amazing to be recognized by your colleagues. It’s so touching that they show they care and appreciate what people do for them.”
Article by Amir Grozdanic
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