Robert I. Schattner D’48 has been a familiar name to dental students and patients alike since the 2002 dedication of the Robert Schattner Center, whose construction benefited from a $5.5 million gift from the alumnus and his late wife, Kay. In September, the longtime member of Penn Dental’s Board of Overseers bestowed a $10 million gift to renovate the school’s Main Clinic. The 11,520-square-foot clinical space in the historic Thomas Evans Building has been a hub of clinical instruction and patient care for a century, and will be renamed the Robert I. Schattner Clinic.
Dr. Schattner is the inventor of Chloraseptic, the sore-throat anesthetic/mouthwash, and the hospital disinfectant Sporicidin. “No one better understands the vital work of this hallowed school than someone who has been such a valued and respected member of the Penn Dental Medicine family for almost 70 years,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “His generosity will be transformative and forever honored and remembered.”
