N. Wayne Hiatt Rising Star Award: Dr. George R. Williams
Dr. George R. Williams is the 2024 recipient of the Ohio Dental Association N. Wayne Hiatt Rising Star Award.
Dr. George R. Williams has served as a leader in organized dentistry since his time as a pre-dent student. In recognition of his efforts, he will receive the Ohio Dental Association N. Wayne Hiatt Rising Star Award on Friday, Sept. 13 at the Callahan Celebration of Excellence, held in conjunction with the 158th ODA Annual Session.
“In this time of declining membership in organized dentistry, George R. Williams, DDS has been a leader in recruiting and promoting pre-dental students, dental students and young dentists to organized dentistry,” wrote Dr. Stephen Dowell, president of the Stark County Dental Society, and Dr. Steven Smith, a past president of the Stark County Dental Society, in their nomination letter. “Already, Dr. George R. Williams has an impressive history of service to organized dentistry and is, indeed, a credit to our profession. His impeccable qualifications, selfless service and commitment to the community, organized dentistry and his patients makes it very easy for us to ask you to look favorable at the Society’s nomination of him for the ODA Awards of Excellence N. Wayne Hiatt Rising Star Award.”
Williams said he was shocked when he opened the letter to learn that he had won the award.
“Just like when I opened my acceptance letter from OSU, I thought about my late grandparents,” he said. “They were immigrants from Lebanon and Italy whose dream was for me to live my own. Needless to say, it was an emotional phone call with my parents remembering them. I feel a profound sense of gratitude for all of those who have shaped and developed me, especially my Stark County Dental Society family. It will be an honor to represent Canton in September and I’m humbled to be recognized by my peers at the ODA.
Williams said he knew he wanted to be a dentist from an early age.
“You can’t become an astronaut when you have motion sickness,” he said. “At a very early age, I didn’t know what dentistry was or how to practice it, but I knew why I wanted to be a dentist. I wanted to feel the human connection that I saw between my dad and his patients and have his ability to impact lives daily.”
Williams earned his DDS from The Ohio State University in 2016 and then went on to complete a two-year GPR at Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital. He then spent six years working with his dad, George Sr., and then he and another dentist took over the practice. Since then, they have purchased a second practice and are hoping to merge into a new facility.
Williams said his favorite part about being a dentist is the relationships.
“Walking into a room and seeing someone’s face light up, whether it be a patient or a member of our devoted team,” he said. “It’s the same thrill I get when my kids run to me after getting home for the day. Building and enjoying meaningful relationships is what brings me fulfillment. I’m blessed to use dentistry as the vehicle.”
Williams’ involvement in organized dentistry started when he was a pre-dent student at Ohio State. During undergrad, Williams helped organize a dinner with the ODA and the OSU Pre-Dental Club during the Chicago Midwinter Meeting, a tradition that continues 15 years later. As an American Student Dental Association (ASDA) member, he spearheaded OSU College of Dentistry’s Pre-Dental Day, which also continues today. After residency, he continued his outreach efforts by inviting Mercy GPR residents to SCDS and ODA events, board meetings and dinner with individual mentor dentists.
“Those grassroot efforts have grown into a more active membership and diverse leadership,” Williams said. “Recently, we hosted our second SCDS Pre-Dentistry Day at Stark State College. Coupled with visiting local high schools and career fairs, our long-term goals are to help students realize their dream of entering the dental profession and to recruit and retain our own here in Northeast Ohio.”
Williams said that the highlight of his career has been serving as president of the Stark County Dental Society in 2024, exactly 30 years after his dad served as president.
“What I’m most passionate about is paying forward the privileges I’ve realized as a legacy dentist; opening the same doors to prospective undergraduate students and new dentists,” he said.
Williams has also served on the ODA Subcouncil for New Dentists and the ODA Leadership Development Committee and as a delegate to the ODA. He also has served on many councils and committees with the Stark County Dental Society.
“Dr. George R. Williams is the perfect example of what the future of our profession should look like,” wrote Dr. Thomas Paumier, and ODA past president, in his nomination letter. “As a second-generation dentist, he understood the role of organized dentistry in supporting dentists and the profession. Before dental school, in dental school and in practice he has been involved in educating others on how to succeed. George leads by example, always displaying the qualities that define what a professional should be; empathy, integrity, ethics and a desire to serve the profession and community.”
Williams said he thinks organized dentistry is important to protect the profession of dentistry.
“Organized dentistry is a tremendous gift that we must continue to foster,” he said. “I was born and raised in the SCDS and came of age in the ODA. With more external pressures on the dental profession than ever, a collective voice is equally paramount for the present day and future of our profession. Even though we come from all different walks of life, modalities, and philosophies, organized dentistry is what ultimately ensures the freedom to make the practice of dentistry completely and uniquely our own.”
He said as a new dentist, organized dentistry is important for building relationships and finding mentors.
“Dentistry is hard. Technically. Physically. Emotionally. You can’t do it alone,” he said. “Organized dentistry has organically brought more professional and personal relationships than I could have imagined. While there is so much value in the resources organized dentistry provides, personally the greatest was the ability to connect consistently with mentor dentists who wanted to pass on the wisdom of their experiences and concurrently lean on other new dentists to share in the trials and success of establishing your career.”
Williams received the Incisal Edge 40 Under 40 award in 2023 and the Stark County Dental Society’s Rising Star Award in 2019.
Outside of dentistry, Williams enjoys cooking and experiencing other cultures through cuisine. He also enjoys playing golf, running half marathons, and cheering on the Buckeyes, Guardians and U.S. Soccer.
Williams said all of this is possible thanks to his wife, Shannon. They have been married for 10 years and have three children, Jamie, Leah and Kit.
The Rising Star Award recognizes a young leader in dentistry with outstanding leadership and initiative and a strong commitment to volunteerism within the community and the profession. This person must demonstrate promise for continued and future accomplishments within the dental profession, and must have been in practice for 10 years or less.
