Robert I. Schattner, D’48, a member of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine’s Board of Overseers and major supporter of Penn Dental Medicine, died on January 29 at the age of 91.

Dr. Schattner, who was born Isaac Schattner, grew up in the Bronx. He received a bachelor of arts in chemistry from the City University of New York and a doctor of dental medicine from Penn’s School of Dental Medicine.

While at Penn, he legally changed his first name to Robert, according to the Washington Post.

Dr. Schattner invented the sore throat anesthetic Chloraseptic and the disinfectant Sporicidin, and held 70 other patents and trademarks. He ran the Chloraseptic Company until 1964, when he sold it to Norwich Pharmacal Co. and ran Sporicidin International for about 30 years before selling it in 2008.

He had a private dental practice in both New York and in Washington, DC. In 1984, he was selected “Dentist of the Year” by the Association of Entrepreneurial Dentists (Almanac November 12, 2002).

In 1997, Dr. Schattner and his late wife, Kay Ferrell Schattner, made their first major gift to Penn Dental Medicine (Almanac March 30, 1999). They donated $5.5 million to construct the Robert Schattner Center and surrounding gardens. The 70,000 square-foot Robert Schattner Center opened in 2002.

In 2015, Dr. Schattner donated $10 million to Penn Dental Medicine, its largest gift from a living alumnus (Almanac October 6, 2015). The gift supported the planned renovation of the main clinic—to be named the Robert I. Schattner Clinic upon its completion—as well as the construction of a two-story addition to the Schattner Center.

When he retired from active dentistry practice, he founded the R. Schattner Company and continued researching antimicrobial products for hospital use.

He was appointed to the Board of Overseers of the School of Dental Medicine in 2002.

He is survived by two sons from his first marriage to Henrietta Hilden, Ronald and Richard; two stepdaughters, Kay Mikula and Deborah Fedynak; and five grandchildren.

To share condolences, please visit www.alumni.upenn.edu/schattner