Anthony Volpe Inducted into Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni

Volpe_635574522593637469 Dr. Anthony Volpe

In the 1950s, toothpaste was merely something that made your teeth white and your breath fresh. But Dr. Anthony R. Volpe, an RSDM alum, helped change that. As head of global oral health care and scientific affairs at Colgate-Palmolive for more than five decades, Volpe was instrumental in the company’s efforts to transform toothpaste and mouthwash from products with a mostly cosmetic value to tools for preventing tooth decay and gum disease.

Last week, he was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni, which commemorates Rutgers graduates whose achievements have brought honor to themselves and the university, according to the Rutgers University Alumni Association, which bestows the annual award. Volpe was one of five honorees.

Volpe, of the Class of 1960, the first graduating class at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM), has played a key role in building Colgate’s reputation as the most influential dental industrial company in the world. He has been a pioneer in establishing ties between industry and academic research in oral biology.

At Colgate, Volpe conducted studies on the efficacy of certain types of fluoride and other compounds that would become active ingredients in the brand’s products. His research on Total toothpaste helped secure unprecedented approvals from the Food and Drug Administration and the American Dental Association’s Council on Scientific Affairs, which validated the company’s claims that Total effectively reduced dental plaque, gingivitis, tooth decay, and dental calculus, a calcified form of plaque. Before that, he cocreated the Volpe-Manhold Index, a now-standard method of measuring dental calculus.

A driving force behind Volpe’s career has been his conviction that limited access to oral health care and education, especially among the poor, results in a magnitude of suffering that is unknown to the general public and overlooked by government officials. At Colgate, Volpe studied incidents of dental caries around the globe and dedicated himself to prevention efforts.

During his long career, Dr. Volpe, an 82-year-old resident of Franklin Township, Somerset County, has brought his message to more than 100 dental schools and congresses worldwide. He is the author of more than 200 research articles published in scientific journals.

The son of Italian immigrants, Dr. Volpe grew up in Newark's North Ward and attended Seton Hall University. He majored in chemistry before joining the Army and serving as a first lieutenant in the military police during the Korean War. In 1956, he decided to pursue a career in dentistry and, with help from the GI Bill, enrolled in Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in Jersey City (now known as RSDM). He was a member of its inaugural class and later opened a dental practice in Nutley. He also taught oral pathology at Fairleigh-Dickenson University School of Dentistry before joining Colgate-Palmolive, where he worked for more than 50 years before retiring in 2012.

At RSDM, Volpe has been an invaluable resource. He helped create the New Horizons program, which introduces students to careers that transcend private practice, such as performing clinical studies for companies like Colgate and working in military and forensic dentistry. He has been a generous supporter of the school, donating money and time to raise more than $5 million for RSDM’s Oral Health Pavilion in Newark, its planned $10 million interdisciplinary clinic, and many of the school’s clinical studies.

Volpe combines the skills of a groundbreaking scientist with the heart of a natural-born teacher. He truly lives by his motto: “At the end of the day, a person’s contributions are what they gave to society, not what society gave to them.”