For the Good of Mankind
Supporting educational, research and clinical priorities
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| Dr. Susan Seybold with her husband, Rhett Campbell |
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Susan Seybold, MPH, DDS, started her career in the basement—literally.
As a student in the School of Dentistry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Dr. Seybold was part of a class whose students began their training by studying in the building’s basement. “I loved dental school,” Dr. Seybold said. “I made wonderful friends and learned to be a good dentist.”
Before training to become a dentist, Dr. Seybold began her health career journey by earning a Master’s in Public Health at The University of Texas School of Public Health. Her father encouraged her to consider dentistry as a service to others. “From the very beginning, he told me I could do anything I made up my mind to do, and to do something for the betterment of mankind was even better,” she said.
Dr. Seybold graduated from the School of Dentistry in 1981. After earning her residency in pediatric dentistry she went into private practice. “I really enjoyed the families that I helped take care of, and I felt as though they were like my family,” she said. Dr. Seybold eventually left private practice to join the faculty at the School of Dentistry. She relished teaching dental students to be thoughtful and compassionate, and to truly care about their patients.
Dr. Seybold also enjoyed opportunities to work with teams at other UTHealth schools to provide dental care for children with special needs.
After serving as Chair of Pediatric Dentistry, Dr. Seybold retired in 2007. In May 2015, she and her husband, Rhett Campbell, decided to give back to the school with a $50,000 endowed pledge in support of the department’s educational, research, and clinical priorities. Her gift was matched by UTHealth’s Game Changers Initiative for a total of $100,000.
In addition to supporting the next generation of dental students, Dr. Seybold’s gifts honored her father, who passed away in February 2015. “He was an important person, a guiding light in my life, and I wanted to do something in his name,” she said. It’s the way he taught her to live—to work for the good of mankind and lend a hand to those who follow her.
“So many people helped me become the dentist that I was and allowed me to have the career I had,” she said. “They were always helping me, and now it’s time for me to help someone else.”
If you would like more information about how to start an endowment, please contact Kevin J. Foyle via e-mail at Kevin.J.Foyle@uth.tmc.edu ♦ 713-500-3736