YOUNG ALUMNA OF THE YEAR AWARD
Wendy AuClair Clark, D.D.S., Dent ’07
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Wendy recently transitioned to teaching dental students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, enabling her to inspire future dentists in the same way as her Marquette professors did. They encouraged her to step outside her comfort zone to Be The Difference.
After completing her Marquette education, Wendy worked in private practice, where she provided care to a variety of patients. In her current role as the course director for complete dentures and the removable prosthodontics director, Wendy relishes the opportunity to advance the complete denture curriculum. Wendy’s goals and projects include research and beta testing different workflows and materials for digital dentures as well as growing the digital denture curriculum.
One of the reasons Wendy chose Marquette was the energy, kindness and warmth she experienced as soon as she walked through the doors of the Dental School. This atmosphere formed the foundation for her personal philosophy of treating her patients with compassion. She is passionate about positively influencing her community through improving access to dental care, especially for completely edentulous patients (patients who have no teeth).
Wendy’s Marquette experience impacts her work-life balance to this day. She credits Dr. Conrad Nenn and his wife, Kasey Bruch-Nenn, with exemplifying how to take pride in one’s work and practice while valuing family first. Wendy says, “I try to support my students with the same clinical excellence and kindness that they did for me, while prioritizing my family — my husband John and two young sons, Jack and Henry.”
Fun Facts:
Favorite Marquette memories?
“My favorite Marquette memories were playing in the university orchestra. It was such an amazing opportunity to interact with an entirely different group of people, especially Music Director Dr. Nick Contorno,” she says.
Name someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner.
Ted Turner