Andre K. Mickel, DDS, MSD, MDiv, DMin (DEN '91, DEN '94), a tenured full professor, will be honored with the 2024 Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Dr. Mickel’s impact on education and research is undeniable. In 1995, Dr. Mickel was selected as the program director of the CWRU School of Dental Medicine postdoctoral residency program in endodontics, and he successfully led the program to regain its full accreditation status from the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). Dr. Mickel has been the Chair of the CWRU School of Dental Medicine Department of Endodontics since 2008 and established and currently directs the International Fellowship in Endodontics program.
Dr. Mickel has made significant contributions to his field and has a remarkable "legacy of firsts." He was the first African American to earn a postdoctoral specialty MSD degree at CWRU SODM and the first African American chief resident of a postdoctoral residency program at CWRU SODM. Additionally, he was the first board-certified endodontist in the history of the CWRU Endodontic program and one of the first African American Endodontic Residency program directors (and now the only one) in the world. He is also the only African American to serve as the president of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Endodontics, a prestigious international organization.
Mentored by his predecessor and pioneer of the department, the late Jefferson Jones, DMD, Dr. Mickel is only the second chair to direct the Department of Endodontics since its inception. Dr. Mickel's introduction of the surgical operating microscope to the CWRU endodontics curriculum and his design of a state-of-the-art endodontic clinic for the postdoctoral endodontic program has significantly advanced the field. The department and Dr. Mickel have gained increasing national and international recognition for their contributions, including winning numerous poster research awards at the annual American Association of Endodontists Meeting and the Ohio Dental Association annual meeting.
Dr. Leonard Russell, DDS (DEN' 82), who nominated Dr. Mickel for this award, says, "I have enjoyed watching him grow into an outstanding professional, educator, speaker, student role model, and spiritual and community leader."
An internationally respected educator in his specialty, Dr. Mickel has trained and transformed doctors from five continents and numerous countries who have served as faculty at universities worldwide and as clinical and organizational leaders in the field. In 2001, the American Association of Endodontists named Dr. Mickel the Dr. Edward Osetek awardee. This international award, given only five times in the association's history before his receiving it, is given to the most outstanding young educator in the field of Endodontics.
In 1998, Dr. Mickel became the first Board Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics in the history of the CWRU Endodontics program. A life member of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Endodontics, in 2009, Dr. Mickel became the first African American and the youngest president of this prestigious organization. An inductee into the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honorary Dental Society, Dr. Mickel has been a member of over 20 professional societies. In addition to being a past president of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Endodontics,
Dr. Mickel has had a legacy of leadership that includes being the first dentist to be named the Chairman of the Board and president of Health Legacy Cleveland— an organization that raises and gives college scholarship money to future dentists or physicians who have committed to practicing in Cleveland to help combat healthcare disparities. Additionally, Dr. Mickel has served as the president of the CWRU SODM Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Delta Alpha Lambda Cleveland Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the Ohio Chapter of the American Society for Geriatric Dentistry, the Forest City Dental Society, the Ohio Association of Endodontists and the Laymen's Association of Antioch Baptist Church. He served on the scientific advisory panel of the Journal of Endodontics from 2002 to 2012 and was an associate editor (Endodontic Section) of Quintessence International journal from 2004 to 2012.
A sought-after speaker, Dr. Mickel has presented hundreds of lectures locally, nationally, and internationally at professional societies, including Qassim University in Saudi Arabia, The Future University in Egypt, and Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon. Dr. Mickel has authored or co-authored well over 100 papers, abstracts, and publications, including a 3-part CWRU study guide published on the College of Diplomates mentoring website to help endodontic residents and prospective American Board of Endodontic candidates around the world prepare for Board certification in Endodontics.
Dr. Mickel and his wife, Estomarys, have four children: Ashley, Andre, Corey, and Alexander. The youngest, Alexander, was a member of the CWRU School of Dental Medicine, Class of 2024.