The endodontics pioneer played a signficant role in the advancement of the specialty.

John I. Ingle, who served as dean of the USC School of Dentistry from 1964 to 1972, passed away on Sept. 25, 2017, at the age of 98.

Ingle was a pioneer, educator and international leader in the field of endodontics.

He was widely known for publishing Endodontics, one of the profession’s defining textbooks, the seventh edition of which was published in 2015, some 50 years after the original. He also published more than 75 articles and has lectured across the globe.

Ingle was a diplomate and founding member of the American Board of Endodonticc as well as a diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology.

Ingle was born in 1919 in Colville, Wash., and received his DDS degree in 1942 from Chicago’s Northwestern University. He went on to pursue his graduate training in endodontics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

During World War II, Ingle served his country, working as a military dentist for four years. Afterward, he joined the faculty of the University of Washington, where he served as the chairman of periodontics and endodontics.

Ingle became USC dentistry’s dean in 1964 after the retirement of Robert W. McNulty.

During his eight-year term, he oversaw the construction of the top three floors of the Norris Dental Science Center, the creation of the mobile dental clinics and the initiative to recruit a more diverse student and faculty population.

Ingle retired from USC in 1972, after which he worked for the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

In 1999, he received the Edgard Coolidge Award — the highest honor bestowed by the American Association of Endodontists.

Ingle’s wife Joyce Ledgerwood Ingle preceded him in death, passing away at the age of 95 in 2014.

He is survived by his daughter, Leslie, and sons, Geoff and Schuyler.

He will be buried in the family cemetery in Spokane, Wash., and it will be a private family event.