With a friendship lasting over 60 years—from junior high school to Penn and beyond—there aren’t many ways that Herb Sachs, W’69, PAR’96, PAR’00, can surprise Vince Mannino, C’69, D’73. But he managed to do just that for Mannino’s 75th birthday.
Without Compromise
The Vincent J. Mannino, D.M.D. Endowed Scholarship will make outstanding dental education and training more accessible
Published: August 22, 2022
“Herb invited me to lunch on campus; he said there was a new restaurant called ‘Wolff’s Café’ near the Dental School,” Mannino says. “When we got to the courtyard, there was a tent set up, and I saw my family—even my son, who lives in Chicago. It was quite a shock.”
That wasn’t the only surprise in store. During the lunch, Penn Dental Medicine Morton Amsterdam Dean Mark Wolff informed him that Sachs had created the Vincent J. Mannino, D.M.D. Endowed Scholarship in his honor.
“The original thought was to make this gift for Vince’s retirement,” says Sachs. “But he’s so dedicated to his patients, none of us know when that will be—not even him.
“Vince always goes the extra mile to do the best possible job for the patient. Good enough is not in his vocabulary, which is why my family has trusted him with our dental care for decades,” continues Sachs. “I hope the next generation of Penn Dental students—and Mannino Scholarship recipients—will adopt that mentality in their careers.”
Student aid is one of Penn Dental Medicine’s top priorities, recognizing that expanding educational access means more than just tuition reduction. “Scholarships and fellowships have an outsized impact, beyond the beneficiary,“ says Dean Wolff. “When quality education and training is more accessible to a wider range of students, they can practice in communities where access to oral health services is lacking or cost-prohibitive.”
Thanks to student aid, scholars are able to access outstanding education and training at Penn Dental Medicine.
Over a career spanning a half-century, Mannino has taken more than six years of continuing education and cultivated a clientele that is like a second family. “Among the staff, and even some patients, we refer to him as ‘Dr. Dad,’” says Stephanie Mannino, C’10, GrEd’12, GrEd’1, who serves as Vince’s office manager. “He’s such a giving and generous person, and this scholarship is a great way to honor him.”
“I’ve always set out to practice ideal dentistry,” Mannino says. “That doesn’t mean the most high-end services; it means providing the best and most appropriate care for patients, without compromise.”
The Mannino and Sachs families were impressed by the facilities, including the individualized operatories that are a departure from the open bay of Vince Mannino’s student years.
Vince Mannino lauded the many renovations to the Penn Dental Medicine campus since his days as a student, especially the Care Center for Persons with Disabilities and its ability to attend to special needs. “It’s not only a modern, state-of-the-art building,” he says. “It’s a place that shows students they will get the best preparation, and where patients know they will receive the best care.”
Thanks to the Mannino Scholarship, students who want to study at Penn Dental Medicine will be able to access cutting-edge educational facilities and programs without having to compromise their dreams due to financial reasons.
“Dentistry can be a very rewarding career path. It allows the application of knowledge and skill to positively impact ones patients’ health and well-being, and also enables the development of meaningful, long-lasting relationships.” Mannino says. “Student aid makes the opportunity to study at Penn more available to people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to take advantage of a Penn Dental education. The fact that Herb thought to attach my name to a scholarship is very humbling.”
