Part-Time Faculty Member Teaching Here Since 1971
Glenn R. Walters, D.D.S.
In 1971, Glenn R. Walters, D.D.S., taught endodontics to the first sophomores in the dental school. Now, 46 years later, he still enjoys teaching endodontics to a new generation of students.
“While my position is described as part time, I am fully committed to the university—even though I am here 50 percent of the time,” he said. “I take my responsibility here very seriously. To teach, you really have to have a fire in your belly. You mentor the students and help them to understand how to be professional dental care providers.”
Dr. Walters, associate professor of endodontics, said he didn’t initially start off with the ideas of being an endodontist or teaching endodontics.
“I started off as a dental assistant at Wilford Hall in the U.S. Air Force. Then I decided to go to dental school. I attended The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston. I was able to come back to Wilford Hall for my internship,” he said. After finishing his internship, Dr. Walters said he and his wife, pregnant with their only child, were stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany during the Vietnam War.
The birth of his son at Ramstein led him to consider leaving the military for a career at the new dental school that had opened in San Antonio. “I wrote Dental Dean John V. Olson, who I knew from the Houston dental school. I told him I was interested in teaching. Dr. Olson told me he needed someone who could teach sophomore endodontics.”
Dr. Walters said he went back to Houston to get his certificate in endodontics. In addition to teaching part time at the School of Dentistry, he had a part-time endodontics practice for more than 30 years.
“All of my experiences helped me be a better teacher. I knew what it was like to enter and complete dental school. I understood what skills and knowledge were needed to practice dentistry,” he said.
