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 Dr.
Jane Brewer, daughter of Academy member Dr. Allen Brewer and first female member
of the Academy of Prosthodontics, was born in Rockford, Illinois. Her father was
in practice near there (in Mt. Morris, Illinois) before he re-enlisted in
military service. When Dr. Brewer was only six months old, she and her family
moved to Florida where her father was stationed. Over the next eighteen years,
she moved several times. She and her family lived in England, Southern
California, and Texas. Then, after living in Germany for three years, they were
then stationed in the Washington, DC area where she finished high school.
When she began her college education at the University of California at Berkeley, she had no particular goals in mind for her career. She recalled that she was always interested in health care, though. She subsequently joined her family in Rochester, New York where she attained a degree in dental hygiene at Monroe Community College. She moved back to California again where she practiced dental hygiene while completing pre-dentistry courses as Sonoma State College. Dr. Brewer then returned once again to New York where she received her dental degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1978. After graduation, she worked for the Indian Health Service for one year near Tucson, Arizona at the Sells Indian Hospital. It was during this year that she attended her first Academy meeting in Scottsdale. She began her post-graduate program in Fixed Prosthodontics in 1979 at Buffalo where she held a concurrent half-time faculty position. Dr. Brewer recalled that her first Academy presentation was given at the meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Dr. Brewer received her Masters Degree in Oral Science from Buffalo in 1985 and continued her research in differential colorimetric evaluation of ceramic restorative materials. Subsequently, she was a full time academician there from 1982-1994. In 1994 she joined the practice of her husband Dr. Gary Alexander (also a prosthodontist), and continues to split her work week 50:50 between practicing and teaching. She stated that she is more comfortable in her professional life now than she has ever been, and feels that practicing in the private sector has made her a better teacher.
Dr. Brewer noted that many positive changes are occurring within the Academy. She is very pleased that the Academy is willing to embrace and encourage young people who can significantly contribute to our specialty. She is encouraged that many new members are both scientists and excellent clinicians. Dr. Brewer feels that dentists must be in a position to justify what we do for patients; therefore, the new trend toward evidence-based dentistry will provide a sound scientific basis for our clinical decisions. She stated that the role the Academy can play in providing a consensus on scientific topics should continue to be part of our mission.
She and Gary have three children: a sixteen year old daughter and twelve year old twin boys. They enjoy family ski trips not only in the western part of the country but also in their local ski country of western New York.
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