More than 55 years after walking out of Marquette University's dental school with his degree, Michael J. Miskella, DDS, is walking back in — with a $2 million gift that will leave a permanent mark on the institution.
Marquette University President Kimo Ah Yun announced the gift from Miskella and his wife, Rosaleen, in March 2026. The donation establishes the first endowed directorship in the Marquette School of Dentistry's history, designated for the Director of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Miskella graduated from Marquette in 1969, completed his residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and went on to found Bay Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he practiced for nearly a half century.
"My education at Marquette Dental was demanding but very fair and gave me an opportunity for a rewarding and fulfilling career," Miskella said. "I have a strong desire to give back to Marquette, and my deep hope is that our gift may motivate others to step forward in support of the school."
Why an Endowed Directorship
Endowed positions are among the most durable forms of institutional philanthropy — because rather than funding a program or a building, they fund the people who lead them. By endowing the director of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Miskella's gift helps ensure that a permanent funding base exists for senior OMS leadership at the school, independent of budget cycles or shifting institutional priorities.
The announcement describes the gift as reflecting "growing momentum among donors to support and endow high-level faculty and staff positions" across Marquette University — suggesting the school may be actively building a pipeline of similar commitments.
A School in the Middle of a Major Rebuild
The timing of the gift is notable. Since 2022, Marquette has been executing a multi-year revitalization of its 120,000-square-foot facility — one of the most comprehensive physical overhauls in the school's history. The effort includes renovation of all four predoctoral clinics, an upgraded oral surgery suite, a new digital innovation center, modernized specialty clinics, and updated classroom and patient areas.
Dean Elsbeth Kalenderian, DDS, MPH, PhD, framed the donation as a direct accelerant to that broader effort. "This tremendous gift comes at a time when we are transforming dental education," she said, adding that the gift is intended to serve as a catalyst for endowing additional leadership positions across the school.
Marquette is Wisconsin's only dental school. The school provides approximately 110,000 visits annually, including more than $16 million in dental services in Milwaukee alone, marquette drawing patients from 66 of the state's 72 counties.
The Specialty Behind the Gift
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is among the most medically complex disciplines in dentistry, encompassing diagnosis and treatment of injuries, defects, and diseases of the mouth, jaw, and face. The scope includes dental implants, jaw alignment surgery, bone grafting, and management of infections and cysts — procedures that increasingly require coordination with medical teams and hospital systems. Miskella spent his career in that world, making his choice to endow the OMS directorship a direct expression of his professional identity.
The Broader Context
Dental school philanthropy in the form of endowed positions is still relatively uncommon compared to medical schools, where named professorships and directorships have long been standard fundraising instruments. Gifts like this one signal a maturing philanthropic culture within dental education — one that increasingly recognizes faculty leadership as a fundable, sustainable priority.
For Miskella, the motivation was simpler. He credited the Jesuit tradition woven through his training and said he applied lessons learned at Marquette throughout his decades of clinical practice. The gift, he said, was an attempt to pay that forward.