Old School

A.W. Ward Museum of Dentistry

For its first three years, the College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) held dental classes in the rented Federation Hall in San Francisco. By spring 1899, the dental graduating class had expanded from five people, just two years prior, to 81. To meet the increasing demand for dentists, the Board of Trustees pooled their funds and built a new School of Dentistry in the Mission District. The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed the building, but it was rebuilt quickly and reopened four months later. Growing alumni interest, and affiliation with the University of the Pacific in 1962, energized planning and completion of a new modernized Pacific Heights facility in 1967. Named in honor of then-Dean Arthur A. Dugoni in 2004, the school moved downtown once again to its current location on Fifth Street in 2014.

For more historical photos of the dental school, visit our Old School gallery.