Global Public Health Champion Robert Morris to Receive Honorary Degree from University of Maryland, Baltimore
BALTIMORE — The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) will award an Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree to Robert E. Morris, DDS ’69, MPH, FICD, in recognition of his five-decade commitment to providing care to vulnerable populations around the world.
Robert E. Morris, DDS '69, MPH, FICD
Morris’ humanitarian efforts span multiple continents and have particularly focused on children, refugees, victims of war, and those living with HIV/AIDS.
“Dr. Morris’ career exemplifies the highest ideals of service and compassion," said University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD) Dean Mark A. Reynolds, DDS ’86, PhD, MA. “His varied lifelong contributions have significantly improved the health and quality of life for vulnerable populations throughout the world. We are pleased that UMB will bestow this degree in recognition of his decades of leadership, development of health policy and education, and dedication to serving vulnerable populations.”
After graduating from UMSOD in 1969, Morris completed a two-year tour with the U.S. Navy, including service in Vietnam — an experience that inspired his lifelong dedication to global public health. His humanitarian work includes co-founding the Mai Tam House of Hope Project in Vietnam with his wife, Jill, providing comprehensive support to mothers and children affected by HIV/AIDS for nearly 20 years.
In Kuwait, Morris helped develop a school of oral hygiene, established a national dental school at Kuwait University, created a postgraduate training center for refugee dentists, and implemented the Health for All 2000 project’s oral health plan for children. During the Gulf War, he was taken as a hostage by Iraq, escaped, and then avoided recapture for four months after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, an experience he documented in his 2002 book, “120 Days in Deep Hiding: Outwitting the Iraqis in Occupied Kuwait.”
In Trinidad and Tobago, he established a school that educates dental nurses from 13 developing countries across the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, dramatically increasing access to children’s oral health care and prevention in those regions. The program recently celebrated 47 years of service.
“I decided long ago that I would just do my job and exchange and share my knowledge, my expertise, my experiences, and my wisdom — so much of it received at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry — with anyone who would need my help,” Morris said. “Late in our careers, my dear and beautiful wife and I decided to reach out again to pay back for the blessings in our life. For me, the way to do that was to go back to Vietnam and work with the most vulnerable in society there."
Morris, who celebrated his 81st birthday last year by earning a postgraduate diploma in Irish studies from the University of Galway, will receive the honorary doctorate during the UMSOD Honors Convocation beginning at 8 a.m. on May 23 at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Md.
About the University of Maryland, Baltimore
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) was founded in 1807 as the Maryland College of Medicine, which now stands as the nation’s oldest public medical school. In response to growing social and cultural needs, UMB’s mission has evolved and grown tremendously. Widely recognized as a preeminent institution, UMB serves as the academic health, law, and social work university of the University System of Maryland, and is guided by a mission of excellence in education, research, clinical care, and public service.
UMB is a thriving academic health center combining cutting-edge biomedical research, exceptional patient care, and nationally ranked academic programs. With extramural funding totaling $638 million in Fiscal Year 2024, each tenured/tenure-track faculty member generates an average of $1.5 million in research grants each year. The 3,225 faculty members conduct leading-edge research and develop solutions and technologies that impact human health locally and around the world. World-class facilities and cores, as well as interprofessional centers and institutes, allow faculty to investigate pressing questions in a highly collaborative fashion. As a result, the more than 6,600 students, postdocs, and trainees directly benefit from working and learning alongside leading experts as they push the boundaries of their fields. For a listing of the organized research centers and institutes, visit: https://www.umaryland.edu/research/umb- research-profile/research-centers-and-institutions/
About the University of Maryland School of Dentistry
The University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD), the world’s first dental college, offers exceptional educational programs in oral health. As one of six professional schools and an interdisciplinary Graduate School on the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s 71-acre campus, it’s part of a thriving academic health center that combines groundbreaking biomedical research and exceptional patient care. The school is Maryland’s predominant provider of comprehensive and emergency oral health services, serving more than 20,000 people annually. Its Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical Center’s R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, is renowned nationally and internationally as a leader in trauma, craniofacial deformity, oral cancer, and facial reconstruction. www.dental.umaryland.edu