Albert A. Dahlberg Paper Competition

The Albert A. Dahlberg Prize is awarded annually to the best student paper submitted to the Dental Anthropology Association (DAA). Dr. Dahlberg was a professor at the University of Chicago, one of the founders of the International Dental Morphology Symposia, and among the first modern researchers to describe variations in dental morphology and write cogently about their origins and importance. The prize is endowed from the Albert A. Dahlberg Fund established through generous gifts by Mrs. Thelma Dahlberg and other members of the Association.

Papers may be on any subject related to dental anthropology. Topics include human and primate anatomy/development, paleoanthropology, diet/health, bioarchaeology, human and primate evolution, human and primate morphology/metrics, or any field that draws upon dental data. The recipient of the Albert A. Dahlberg Prize will receive a cash award of $200.00, a one-year membership in the DAA, and an invitation to publish the paper in Dental Anthropology, the journal of the association.

The student applicant should submit an electronic PDF of their paper in English to the Chair of the Student Prize Committee. The format must follow that of Dental Anthropology, which is the same style as the American Journal of Biological Anthropology (the Style Guide for Authors is available at https://journal.dentalanthropology.org/).

A letter should accompany the manuscript from the student’s supervisor indicating that the applicant is the primary author of the research and of the paper. Multiple authorship is acceptable, but the majority of the research and writing must be the work of the student applying for the prize.

Send enquiries, letters, and paper submissions to:

Dr. Erin Blankenship-Sefczek
Chair, DAA Student Prize Committee
Department of Oral Biology, Creighton School of Dentistry
ErinBlankenship-Sefczek@creighton.edu

Applications and supervisor letters must be received by March 16, 2026 to be considered for the 2025-2026 Albert A. Dahlberg Prize.

SUBMISSIONS FOR 2026 ARE OPEN!

Do You Want to Support the Future of Dental Anthropology?

We welcome donations from both members and non-members to help fund student research. Contributions fund student prizes, supporting the scholars of the future. Visit our Membership Page to learn more about making a donation. 

Previous Winners

  • 2025:

    • Andrew Kennedy for his paper “Early Life Stress Exposure and Sex Differences in Behavioral Development in Wild Chimpanzees: Using Tooth Histology and Digital Light Microscopy”

  • 2024:

    • Emily Moes for her paper “Nature, Nurture, or Noise? Sex-specific Patterns in Maternal, Gestational, and Childhood Factors Associated with Fluctuating Asymmetry of Permanent Dentition"

  • 2023:

    • Elissavet Ganiatsou and Panagiota Bantavanou for their paper “An Investigation of Enamel Hypoplasia and Weaning through Histomorphological Analysis and Bayesian Isotopic Mixing Models”

  • 2022:

    • Sayf Muhammad Alaydrus for his paper “The Impact of Chewing Betel Net on Human Dentition in Indonesia”

    • Hannah Cantrell for her paper “The Root of the Problem: Dental Health Disparities in New Mexico”

  • 2021:

    • Laura E. Cirilo for her paper “Gaps in Information: What Missing teeth mean in Bioarchaeology”

  • 2020:

    • Emma Kozitzky for her paper “The Impact of Hybridization on Upper First Molar Shape in Robust Capuchins (Sapajus nigritus x S. libidinosus)”

  • 2019:

    • Anna L.M. Rautman for her paper “Childhood Variation in Skeletal and Dental Development”

  • 2018:

  • 2017:

    • Kathleen Paul, for her paper on biological kinship based on deciduous versus permanent teeth.

  • 2016:

    • Evelyn Glaze, for her paper on molar size patterns in Paranthropus

    • Amy Michael, for her paper on dental history in samples form a Maya Rock Shelter

  • 2015:

  • 2014