It’s hard to believe that I have been on the orthodontic faculty here at the Medical College of Virginia campus of VCU for almost 20 years!  My decision to begin an academic career was encouraged by an NIH training grant I received when I was a resident at the University of Connecticut.  It required that I teach for 1 year after graduation and I was lucky enough to work under Bob Isaacson at VCU for the next 12 years!  I loved the intellectual challenges that I faced every day and the opportunity to work with the orthodontic residents as they developed their knowledge and skills.  However, there were the obvious financial pressures to leave academics and, especially 20 years ago organized orthodontics did not seem all that interested in supporting its educational programs.  The idea to develop the AAO Foundation was born in this time, of a need to support orthodontic education financially and to increase the specialty’s awareness of an impending crisis.  I received Biomedical Research Grant funding from the AAOF in 1996 and 2000.  Since then, I have grown tremendously and am often called upon to lecture on topics related to those two grants:  Biomechanics and the Future of Orthodontic Education.  Support from the AAOF and, perhaps most importantly, the message of respect and support for orthodontic education that it nurtured and publicized, helped to keep me on track in my academic career.  I still enjoy the diversity of activities and challenges I encounter every day, now in my role as Chair of the Orthodontic Department.  It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years already.