Dental Dean-Emeritus Ward Dies At Age 87

Dean-Emeritus Marcus L. Ward, 87, of the University's School of Dentistry, an internationally known authority in his field, died yesterday at University Hospital following a heart attack suffered while parking his car in the campus area. He lived at 1308 Cambridge Rd.
A member of the U-M faculty for 45 years, Dean Ward had served as head of the Dental School, 1916-34, retiring in 1945. After being graduated from the U-M School of Dentistry in 1902, he remained for three years as instructor in the dental clinic.
He then practiced dentistry in Detroit for three years before returning in 1908 as a professor of applied physics and chemistry in the U-M school. In 1916 he was made professor of metallurgy and crown and bridgework and dean of the school, leaving the deanship in 1934 to become Jonathan Taft Professor of Dentistry at the U-M.
Dean Ward received his DDS degree in 1902, and his DDSc degree in 1905, both from the U-M.
Dr. William R. Mann, present dean of the U-M School of Dentistry, said today of Ward, "his energetic pursuit of the advancement of dental education made him one of the most outstanding figures in the history of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry."
"As a distinguished researcher, teacher, scholar and administrator, he provided great leadership to the school and the entire profession of dentistry, and the effects of his work are still strongly felt today.
"He participated in the mid-1920's in the preparation of the Carnegie Foundation Report in Dentistry, a document comparable in the field of dentistry to the Flexner Report in Medicine, in that it gave a striking re-direction to the entire field of dental education," Dean Mann said.
Dean Ward was a past president of the American Dental Association, the Michigan Dental Association and the American Association of Dental Schools.
He was a member of the International Association for Dental Research, the Michigan Academy of Science Arts and Letters, the American Association of University Professors, and of many professional organizations in addition to those already named. He had served as vice-president of the Pan-American Medical Association and received many honors and awards for his research in dentistry.
Dean Ward was born on Aug. 5, 1875, near Howell. He attended Livingston county schools and the former Fenton Normal college, following which he taught for five years in country schools before entering the U-M.
He and Millie J. Carpenter, then a teacher of music at Howell, were married in May, 1899. She survives.
Survivors, in addition to his wife, include a sister, Mrs. Maude A. Wilkinson of Huntington Park, Calif., and several nieces and nephews including George E. Ward of Ann Arbor.
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Muehlig Chapel here, with the Rev. Leonard A. Parr of Evanston, Ill., formerly of Ann Arbor, officiating. Burial will follow in Forest Hill Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Marcus L. Ward Memorial loan Fund for Dental Students through the U-M School of Dentistry office.
Friends may call at the chapel from Friday until noon Saturday.