Washington State General Dentist Linda J. Edgar Named Recipient of AGD's 2026 Distinguished Service Award

The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) has named Linda J. Edgar, DDS, MAGD, ICD, the recipient of its 2026 Distinguished Service Award. The award will be formally presented to Edgar at AGD’s Annual Meeting in Chicago on November 13, 2026.

Established in 1986, the Distinguished Service Award recognizes an appointed AGD council, committee or task force member whose leadership and contributions have resulted in a significant and lasting impact on the organization's mission to serve the needs and represent the interests of general dentists.

Edgar has served general dentistry on a national level for more than two decades. She was elected to the AGD Board in 2005 and rose through its officer ranks, serving as AGD secretary, vice president, president-elect and in 2013-14, AGD president. Since her presidential term, she has continued as a consultant to AGD councils and committees and has served on the Real Estate Committee, Compensation Committee and Professional Relations Committee with the American Dental Association (ADA), among numerous board task forces, since 2005.

Edgar's volunteer leadership extends well beyond AGD. She later served as an elected ADA trustee for District XI, representing Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, and in 2022 was elected ADA president-elect, becoming just the fifth woman to hold the position in the association's 160-year history. She served as ADA president from 2023 to 2024, during which she traveled more than 500,000 miles to speak at state dental society meetings, dental student conferences and White Coat Ceremonies across the country. She authored a book on leadership, "Climb Every Mountain: Dr. Linda's Leadership Lessons," published in 2022.

“Edgar's decades of volunteer leadership embody what the Distinguished Service Award was created to recognize,” said AGD President Marc J. Worob, DDS, FAGD. “Her commitment to advancing the goals of AGD, and to mentoring the next generation of general dentists, has left a lasting mark on our organization and our profession. On behalf of AGD, I congratulate Edgar on this well-deserved honor.”

A general dentist in Washington state for 30 years, Edgar built and later sold her private practice in Federal Way, continuing to practice as an associate through 2022. She holds a Mastership from AGD (2002) and Fellowships from AGD, the Academy of Dentistry International, the Pierre Fauchard Academy, the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists and Lifelong Learning and Service Recognitions (LLSR) from the AGD. Her volunteer service also includes leadership roles with the Washington Academy of General Dentistry, the Washington State Dental Association, the Seattle-King County Dental Society and the University of Washington School of Dentistry, where she has supported scholarship, mentorship and clinic development initiatives for dental students.