Volume 9 • 2022 • Issue 2

Remembering Dentistry Leaders Dr. JamesMain Dr. James H.P. (Jimmy) Main passed away on December 1, 2021. He was 88 years old. B orn in Scotland, Dr. Main graduated with a dental degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1955. After a one-year residency in oral surgery and pathology at Northwestern University in Chicago, he was posted to Europe, completing his military service in the Royal Air Force. He returned to Edinburgh University, completed his training in oral pathology, was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and obtained a PhD by examining odontogenesis in an animal model. He met his wife, Dr. Patricia Main, at university and in 1964, the couple and their two young children moved to Washington DC, where Dr. Main worked as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health, returning to Edinburgh the next year. In 1969, the family emigrated to Canada where Dr. Main became professor of oral pathology at the University of Toronto (U of T) faculty of dentistry. In 1970, he organized U of T’s diagnostic oral pathology service (“TOPS”) and also developed and launched its postgraduate training program in oral pathology. In 1971, Dr. Main became the first chief of the department of dentistry at U of T’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where he established the Mouth Clinic, a multidisciplinary clinic for oral diseases. Here, he initiated the current model for academic hospital dentistry that has been adopted in many North American centres of excellence. Dr. DavidMock was a former U of T student, colleague and close friend of Dr. Main. “I was Jimmy’s first graduate student in Toronto. He supervised my PhD and taught me oral pathology and oral medicine,” says Dr. Mock, dean of the U of T faculty of dentistry from 2001–12. “Jimmy would encourage his graduate students to get involved in professional organizations and take active roles. We could rely on him to support us in all our endeavours, both during our graduate student days and subsequently as colleagues.” In 1974–75, Dr. Main was president of the Canadian Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology and Oral Medicine and was a founding member of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists (IAOP). He was IAOP’s secretary for 10 years before serving as president from 1988–90. He was an active member of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada (RCDC) for over 45 years, becoming a charter fellow in oral medicine and oral pathology in 1975. He was president of the RCDC in 1981–83 and again in 1985. Dr. Main was an editorial consultant in the field of oral pathology for the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association ( JCDA ) for almost 20 years. From 1972 to 1998, Dr. Main was an associate editor for the Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine . He also received CDA’s Certificate of Service in 1997. Dr. Richard Jordan, professor of oral pathology, pathology and radiation oncology at the University of California San Francisco was one of Dr. Main’s students. “He was the best teacher I ever encountered and I owe much of my success to my experiences as a student and then colleague with Jimmy,” says Dr. Jordan. “At times he could be a tough and disciplined task master but every single interaction with Jimmy improved you in a way that few mentors could.” Dr. Main was an avid woodworker, designing and constructing many quarter-sawn oak Stickley-style tables, bookcases, picture frames, treasure boxes and hope chests. He also loved to read, play golf, and spend time with his friends. Above all, he loved to spend time with his family and his dogs. He is survived by his wife Pat, his children Fiona and George, and his five grandchildren, Robin, Mark, Devyn, Katie and Alexander. At the unveiling ceremony of the JamesMainRoom at theUniversity of Edinburgh dental school. 46 | 2022 | Issue 2 Obituaries