Clarence Beckwith Distinguished Alumni Award: Marilyn Stolberg

Dr. Marilyn Stolberg received her dental degree from Northwestern University Dental School and has devoted her professional career to dental education and public health service. She retired from Family Health Care in Baldwin, Michigan in 2013, where, as Chief Dental Officer, she was responsible for day-to-day management of three public health dental clinics. Much of her career has been guided by a deep compassion for the needs of those who have limited access to dental care. While at Family Health Care, she developed and managed mobile dental services in Lake and Newaygo counties’ elementary schools and Head Start/Early Head Start centers. She began her education at Lake Michigan College, where Biology Professor Ralph Gies kindled her love for “the beauty and wonder of biology. I was intellectually challenged in both lectures and labs.”

Besides her Associate of Applied Science from LMC, she earned a Bachelor of Science from Olivet College, a Master of Arts from Western Michigan University, and a Doctor of Dental Surgery from Northwestern University. She has received many accolades and awards for her work. She is a Fellow at the American College of Dentists and has been awarded the West Michigan District Dental Society “Silent Bell” Distinguished Service Award and the Michigan Primary Care Association Distinguished Service Award, among others. 

Though retired from Family Health Care, she continues advocating for the dentally underserved through dental consulting and part-time clinical practice at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. She is a board member for the Mecosta-Osceola County American Red Cross Council, an Elder at the United Church of Big Rapids, and sings in the Big Rapids women’s choral group, Vocalyrica, She has two grown children, Andrew and Kajsa.

The Clarence Beckwith Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Marilyn Stolberg in 2016.