Walter C. Guralnick, DMD, Class of 1941

Walter C. Guralnick, DMD, was born in 1917 and graduated from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1941. During World War II, Dr. Guralnick served in the 7th General Hospital in England for four years before returning to Boston in 1946. He joined HSDM faculty in 1954 and is renowned for his significant contributions and leadership in oral and maxillofacial surgery education. Dr. Guralnick pioneered HSDM’s two-degree Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency program, which became a model program in its field. From 1966 to 1982, Dr. Guralnick was a professor and chairman of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at HSDM.

In 1980, Dr. Guralnick led a new exchange program that brought the first delegation of American dentists and oral surgeons to China, where they observed the lack of dental care in rural areas in the country. Five years later, he helped found a nonprofit international healthcare group, known as Project Hope, with the goal of establishing dental surgery education in China, where Dr. Guralnick served for years. In 2014, HSDM received UNESCO’s fifth Tree of Peace sculpture in the world. The sculpture, crafted by UNESCO Artist for Peace Hedva Ser, honors Dr. Guralnick and his mentee, Dr. Bruce Donoff, for their dedication to improving global dental health. In the words of Dr. Donoff, “The Tree of Peace represents optimism; optimism that the world can be a better place.”