James Loeb Dannenberg, D’48, a former professor of endodontics and pediatric dentistry at Penn Dental Medicine, died on December 17 from a perforated colon. He was 97. 

Dr. Dannenberg was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Center City. After graduating from Friends Central School, he completed an undergraduate degree at Pennsylvania State University, then earned his dental degree at Penn in 1948. He enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating from Penn and served for two years as a military dentist during the Korean War. He later joined the faculty of his alma mater, where he taught children’s dentistry and focused on clinical instruction one day a week. He was promoted in 1971 to an associate professor of periodontics at Penn Dental Medicine and, seven years later, to a clinical professor. Dr. Dannenberg was also an associate dentist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and had a private practice in Center City. He retired from Penn in 1999.

Outside of his teaching and professional duties, Dr. Dannenberg was a renowned scholar, publishing peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Dental Research and Dental Clinics of North America, among other publications. He was an elected member of the American Board of Endodontics, the American College of Dentists, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and the Omicron Kappa Upsilon honor society. He performed extensive volunteer service across the world, treating indigenous people in rural Mexico during the 1970s and mentoring students in agriculture at the W.B. Saul High School in Roxborough for 20 years. Dr. Dannenberg and his family endowed a support fund for the Virginia-based Student Conservation Association and were longtime supporters of the Wharton Esherick Museum in Malvern, Pennsylvania. 

Dr. Dannenberg loved to fish and hike in the Adirondack Mountains and along Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Creek. He was also interested in anthropology, history, gardening, jewelry making, and photography. He wrote letters to the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily Pennsylvanian advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion. His guiding principles were “to respect other people and their skills and attributes, and to treat them well and with courtesy and compassion,” said his son David in an online tribute. 

Dr. Dannenberg is survived by his wife, Dena; his children, Ann, Dara, and David; six grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and other relatives. Donations in his name may be made to the Student Conservation Association Dannenberg Family Fund, 1310 N. Courthouse Rd., Suite 110, Arlington, Virginia 22201.