Aetna Releases 2004 African American History Calendar.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, 2004

-- 23rd Annual Calendar Celebrates the Contribution of Dentists

-- Proceeds from Calendar Sales To Benefit National Dental Association Foundation

Aetna (NYSE: AET) today released the 23rd edition of its African American History Calendar, which recognizes the work of African American dentists in improving oral health care.

"For 23 years, Aetna has honored African Americans' contributions to American history, culture, art, science, education and business through a calendar which is distributed to schools and libraries and made available to the general public," said John W. Rowe, M.D., Aetna chairman and CEO. "This year, we highlight African American dentists whose contributions to the dental health of Americans dates to the early days of professional dentistry in America."

Aetna's African American History Calendar has profiled more than 260 individuals since 1982. For a retrospective on the previous 22 years of Aetna's African American History Calendar, visit Aetna's web site at http://www.aetna.com/foundation/aahcalendar/index.html.

Proceeds from the sale of the 2004 calendar will benefit the scholarship program of the National Dental Association Foundation. Last year, the proceeds from the sale of calendars totaled nearly $10,000 and went to the National Black Nurses Association scholarship program.

The 2004 African American History Calendar recognizes the following individuals:

January

Caswell A. Evans, Jr., D.D.S., M.P.H., director of the National Oral Health Initiative, Office of the U.S. Surgeon General.

February

Winifred J. Booker, D.D.S., a pediatric dentist based in Owings Mills, Maryland, is founder of Brushtime Products Inc., a company that manufactures child-friendly dental hygiene products. She also is executive director of the nonprofit Maryland Children's Oral Health Institute.

March

Dennis Mitchell, D.D.S., M.P.H., assistant professor of clinical dentistry in the departments of Community Health and Periodontics at Columbia University's School of Dental and Oral Surgery. Dr. Mitchell oversees the school's Harlem component of the Community DentCare Network. He also is attending dentist and director of research and community dentistry at Harlem Hospital Center Department of Dentistry.

April

Hazel Juanita Harper, D.D.S., M.P.H., an activist for oral health, has served dentistry in many capacities. Deeply involved in health legislation and policy issues, she maintains a private practice in general dentistry within a multispecialty dental group, while providing consulting services to nonprofit health organizations.

May

Jeanne C. Sinkford, D.D.S., Ph.D., associate executive director and director of the Center for Equity and Diversity at the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) in Washington, D.C.

June

C. Neil Nicholson, D.D.S., heads a successful orthodontic practice, with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington.

July

Col. Sidney Alan Brooks, Sr., D.D.S., has had a distinguished career as an Army dentist, spanning more than 20 years, with assignments throughout the U.S., Europe and Korea. He currently leads the U.S. Army Dental Command at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

August

Lonnie H. Norris, D.M.D., M.P.H., Dean, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.

September

Ann Slaughter, D.D.S., M.P.H., assistant professor and course director for geriatric dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Slaughter also lectures in the departmental courses of Geriatric Dentistry, Health Promotion and Basic Clinical Dentistry II.

October

Katie Dawson, R.H.D., B.S., 2003-2004 vice president of the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA), currently is employed in two private practices in California.

November

John M. Williams, D.D.S., a former pro football player with the NFL, has practiced dentistry in North Minneapolis, Minnesota, for 23 years. He is a member of the dental staff at North Memorial Hospital in Minneapolis. Dr. Williams is a member and fellow in the Academy of Forensic Sciences and American Society of Forensic Odontology, and served on the Board of Governors.

December

Cherae M. Farmer-Dixon, D.D.S., M.S.P.H., associate dean for student affairs at Meharry Medical College's School of Dentistry and associate professor in the Department of Dental Public Health, and six National Health Services Corps Scholars attending Meharry Medical College's School of Dentistry

In addition, the calendar will include,

Historian

Clifton O. Dummett, D.D.S., distinguished professor emeritus, University of Southern California, School of Dentistry.

Aetna perspective

Ronald Inge, D.D.S., Aetna's chief dental officer, responsible for network development, contracting and provider relations as well as overseeing and setting clinical policy.

The calendar will be available in electronic form on Aetna's diversity web site, www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2004/index/html. It also may be ordered for $4.00 by making a check payable to Aetna and sending the request to: Aetna Calendar, Corporate Communications, 151 Farmington Avenue, RC2D, Hartford, CT 06156.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care benefits, serving approximately 13.0 million medical members, 11.0 million dental members, 7.4 million pharmacy members and 12.1 million group insurance customers, as of September 30, 2003. The company has expansive nationwide networks of more than 590,000 health care services providers, including more than 355,000 primary care and specialist physicians and 3,577 hospitals. For more information about Aetna, please visit the company's web site at www.aetna.com.