Albert H. Ketcham (August 3, 1870 – December 5, 1935) was an American orthodontist and a past president of the American Society of Orthodontists.

Life and career

He was born in

Whiting, Vermont Whiting is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for John Whiting, a landholder. The population was 405 at the 2020 census. Geography Whiting is located in southern Addison County, in the southern reaches of the Cha ...

, and attended high school at

Vermont Academy Vermont Academy (VA) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory, boarding and day school in Saxtons River, Vermont, serving students from ninth through twelfth grade, as well as postgraduates. Founded in 1876, the campus was listed on the ...

, Saxtons River. In 1892, Albert graduate from Boston Dental College and then served as a clinical instructor until 1895. In 1894 he married Mary E. Hickson and had two children, Arthur and May. He later married Flora B. Smith and moved to Colorado after contracting pulmonary tuberculosis. Ketcham was a student of

Edward Angle Edward Hartley Angle (June 1, 1855 – August 11, 1930) was an American dentist, widely regarded as "the father of American orthodontics". He was trained as a dentist, but made orthodontics his speciality and dedicated his life to standardizing ...

at his

Angle School of Orthodontia Angle School of Orthodontia was the first school of orthodontics in the world, established by Edward Angle in 1899. The school taught its students orthodontics over a period of 3–6 weeks. The school graduated 183 students until it closed in 1927. ...

. He graduated from the school in 1902 and practiced in Colorado until his death. He published more than 40 articles in the Dental and Orthodontic journals between 1902 and 1935. Ketcham served as the first president of the American Society of Orthodontists from 1928 to 1929. He led the pioneering effort to make sure that members also joined local, state, or national dental societies such as the

American Dental Association The American Dental Association (ADA) is an American professional association established in 1859 which has more than 161,000 members. Based in the American Dental Association Building in the Near North Side of Chicago, the ADA is the world's ...

. In 1935, he died due to bronchial pneumonia in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In the year after his death, the

American Board of Orthodontics American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) is a non-profit professional association for orthodontists founded in 1929. History The organization was first established as ''the American Board of Orthodontia'' in 1929 and later changed its name to the A ...

created the Albert H. Ketcham Award to commemorate Ketcham's achievements. This award is currently known has the highest achievement award given in the field of Orthodontics.

References

American orthodontists People from Whiting, Vermont 1870 births 1935 deaths Vermont Academy alumni Tufts University School of Dental Medicine alumni {{US-med-bio-stub

Life and career

See also

References