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Whirlwind year ends for Canadian Dental Association president Dr. Jack Cottrell e’s simply known as Dr. Jack to his many friends and patients around Scugog, but for the past year this amiable Port Perry dentist has been travelling around the globe as president of the Canadian Dental Association. It’s been a whirlwind year for Dr. Cottrell, since being elect- ed to the lofty position of president of the CDA in April 2005. His career had been on a steady climb up the ladder, having served his colleagues in the Durham Dental Society, the Ontario Dental Association and culminating with recent service to the national den- tal organization. Born, educated and trained in Toronto, with a brief stint in Windsor, Dr. Cottrell moved to Port Perry in 1975 with high school friend Jim Hardy to assist Dr. Dale Lague, and eventually opened their own clinic on Queen St. He fell in love with the community and over the years has filled positions with many local organizations, including the Big Brother’s Association, Scugog Memorial Library, Town Hall 1873, Scugog Chamber of Commerce, and he even served one term as a council- lor for the Township of Scugog. Port Perry was the perfect place to raise a family. He is pleased to have daughter Kelly-Ann, a dental surgeon, share his profession, but is equally proud of sons John (a chiropractor), Jason (a second year business student at Western) and Justin, who thrives at a mu- sic and sound engineering career. Seeing them settled in their own professions and having his wife, Michelle, a preventative dentistry assistant, travel with him during his year of presidency made being away from home a more gratifying experience. “It has been very special meeting thousands of dentists during this past year of travel around the world,” says Dr. Cottrell. He has attended dental conferences in Mexico, where he was given an opportunity to speak, and at a dental congress in Delhi, India, as a member of the World Dental Association. Dr. Cottrell has witnessed a great difference in level of care in these countries, and says he now realizes how blessed we are in this country. One of the crowning jewels of Dr. Cottrell’s term was the privilege of hosting a global con- ference in Montreal this past August at which 16,000 dentists from 130 countries met. “One dentist that I keep in touch with is from Zambia where there are 55 dentists for a popu- lation of 5 million,” he explains. His fervent desire is to bring his profession one step closer to a world without borders. To that end, Dr. Cottrell is thrilled to have been named the leader of the Canadian delega- tion for September’s Congress Dr. Jack Cottrell, SEER CDA focus@observerpub.ca Dr. Jack Cottrell in his Port Perry office with a patient north of Hong Kong. He even welcomes the preparatory meetings with American and Mexican associates to plan North American strategies. Much of the world, he explains, expects North America to lead with re- spect to policies and issues at the global level. Heady stuff, but Dr. Cottrell alluded to the fact that his staff at Port Perry Dental Centre, is delighted to see him so active in larger projects of this kind. His abundant energy almost demands such an outlet. While perusing the long list of material that Dr. Cottrell has authored, it is evident that his interests lay in the organizational, leadership and professional excellence arenas. Not surprisingly, his vision centres on elevating both business and professional values with his associates. “] find it’s important to take a step back, looking at the big pic- ture, in order to help people be contributors to a better healthcare profession,” he says. “I like to think of us as one team working col- laboratively to make headway. In other areas, you so often see in- fighting that fragments organizations into special interest groups. They just get mired down.” Dr. Cottrell does his best to impart his inclusive vision whether in committee, as a delegate or leader of an organization like the CDA. This year Dr. Cottrell will serve as chair of a CDA Task Force to review policies, issues and programs. He has also been invited to work with colleagues at the International College of Dentistry on relief programs and projects for third world countries. Tf one of his own concepts could be used to sum up his profes- sional, community and even personal interactions, it would be that his life is “continually evolving.” When Jack Cottrell surveyed the choices of places to set up a practice in the mid-70s, how fortunate he selected the beautiful, small town of Port Perry. It is the perfect counterpoint and respite to his efforts on the world stage — the perfect place to call home. By Barbara Hunt Focus On Scugog 11 (2s