GSDM Chapter of American Association of Women Dentists Win National Awards
The GSDM chapter of the American Association of Women Dentists (AAWD) secured two major national awards in 2024, including being named Student Chapter of the Year, the first time in the history of the GSDM chapter that it has won this award. The chapter’s president, Aisha Amel M. Daigle DMD 25, was also selected as Student Leader of the Year.
The Student Chapter of the Year Award recognizes an active student chapter that has demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication through a range of chapter activities, while the Student Leader of the Year award recognizes a student who has shown outstanding leadership and positively impacted their chapter.
Dr. Kadambari Rawal, clinical associate professor of general dentistry and attending for the postdoctoral Geriatric Dental Medicine residency program, one of two faculty advisors for the chapter, along with Dr. Vasiliki Maseli, clinical associate professor of general dentistry and practice leader for the predoctoral treatment center, said she has always been impressed with the hard work and dedication of chapter members. However, she felt this year the chapter had really gone above and beyond in their activities.
“We just go day-by-day and do what we’re supposed to do, and we expect the chapter to do what they’re supposed to do,” Rawal said. “It wasn’t until their application [for the 2023-2024 AAWD Student Chapter of the Year Award] came through to us and we read how much they had done in a year. All of our students in the chapter are really incredible and it’s no wonder why they were [selected for] the award.”
Daigle, the 2024 AAWD Student Leader of the Year, has been involved with AAWD since her first year at GSDM, first as a general member, then as community service chair, and now as chapter president.
During Daigle’s time as community service chair and now as president, she worked on various initiatives, including a successful application for a Boston University Wellbeing Grant to hold Paint and Press Pause event in January 2025 in collaboration with ASDA Health and Wellness and ASDA Sustainability. She also helped organize monthly Rosie’s Place oral hygiene promotion events. Daigle said she has fostered open communication with her executive board members to increase event engagement and to take advantage of all the resources Boston University has for student organizations.
“I think the key for success for any organization is not just how good of a leader or president is, but more in terms of like engaging the executive board, engaging with members, and then actually executing that plan in your community,” Daigle said.
Daigle said her win is not a reflection just of her actions, but of those of the entire executive board and general chapter members.
“Me winning is mostly the impact that all the executive board has and how the BU chapter is recognized,” Daigle said. “It was a big surprise because yes, I won, but I couldn’t see myself winning without my executive board.”
Maseli said she thinks receiving these two awards will inspire the current and future members in the chapter to further their efforts in camaraderie and collaboration.
“I think this national recognition will motivate them even more to continue this work and make meaningful impact to the dental community,” Maseli said.