Dr. Richard Kulbersh Receives the 2026 Albert H. Ketcham Memorial Award from the American Board of Orthodontics
Richard Kulbersh, D.M.D., M.S. of Detroit, Michigan is the recipient of the 2026 Albert H. Ketcham Memorial Award from the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO). It is awarded annually to an individual who has made a notable contribution to the science and art of orthodontics and is the ABO’s highest honor.
Dr. Kulbersh taught for more than four decades at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, where he joined the faculty in 1975. Beginning in 1986, he was a professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthodontics, a post he held for 32 years. He continues to act as Professor Emeritus to advise on graduate orthodontic research.
Dr. Kulbersh served as an ABO Examiner from 2008 to 2022. He has previously been honored by the ABO with the Dale B. Wade Award (2010) and the O.B. Vaughan Special Recognition Award (2018). He represented the Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists as a delegate to the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) House of Delegates from 2013 to 2018 and was a board member of the AAO Council on Scientific Affairs from 1999 to 2007. In his home state of Michigan, he served as president of the Michigan Association of Orthodontists from 1978 to 1979 and president of the Detroit District Dental Society from 1985 to 1986.
Among Dr. Kulbersh’s most notable contributions is his creation of “60 Great Smiles for 60 Amazing Years of Orthodontic Community Service,” a first-of-its-kind program in the U.S. that offered free orthodontic care to 60 underserved children through a postgraduate orthodontic program, totaling $300,000 in orthodontic services to Detroit’s underserved community. He was instrumental in founding the University of Detroit Mercy Orthodontic Alumni Association and directed fundraising campaigns to renovate and modernize the Orthodontic Department.
Upon receiving this award, Dr. Kulbersh said he is “speechless beyond words.”
“This distinction is the most cherished accomplishment of my professional life! I hope that the Ketcham Award will continue to inspire new generations of orthodontists to serve our profession, following Dr. Albert Ketcham’s vision to advance the science and art of orthodontics through excellence in research, education, and clinical practice,” he said.
Dr. Kulbersh is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists, and a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He is also a member of the American Dental Association, the Michigan Dental Association, the American Association of Orthodontists, the Michigan Association of Orthodontists, the Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists, and the Angle Society Midwest Component. He was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force Dental Corps from 1969 to 1971.
Dr. Kulbersh received his D.M.D. from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 1969 and his M.S. in Orthodontics from the University of Detroit Dental School in 1975. He also received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University in 1965.