Dona W. Prince, DDS

Dona W. Prince was a high school student with no career in mind when she picked up a copy of Seventeen Magazine. In it was an article on dentistry, something she knew nothing about. But after reading the article, she wanted to learn more, and she eventually decided she wanted to be a dentist.

Forty-one years ago, Dona embarked on her “Midwest tour” – starting with the University of Iowa, then Morningside College for continuing courses, then Kansas State University and finally landing in Chicago at the Loyola School of Dentistry. Keep in mind that in 1978, only about 15 percent of first-year dental students were women. Dona was one of 20 women and there were no facilities for women. Eventually the janitor’s locker room was converted into women-only facilities. That was a very small step for those 20 women whose professors didn’t even want them there, thinking they were “taking the place of a man who deserved to be in the program.”

“We knew we were better than that,” says Dona.