DENTISTRY DEAN CREDITS DREAMS.

Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer

As a young man in South Korea, No-Hee Park dreamed of growing up to be a soldier, a politician or even a detective.

His parents had other plans.

``In my generation, parents dictated what we do,'' he said. ``When I got to high school, I found I was very good in math and science. So I decided to be a physician.''

Park's father refined his son's career choice and told him to be a dentist. The decision seems to have paid off.

On July 1, Dr. No-Hee Park, now 54 and a resident of Calabasas, took over as dean of UCLA's School of Dentistry, filling the post vacated when Dr. Wyatt R. Hume left to become UCLA's executive vice chancellor.

Park's father did not live to see all of his son's successes. He died when Park was 18, but he lived to see his son enter as a top student into Seoul National University. Park was one of just 2,000 students picked to enter the university from a national test of more than 500,000 high school graduates.

``He was happy because I entered as a top student with a full scholarship,'' Park said.

He did serve a three-year stint in the South Korean army as a dentist near the DMZ. Although he thinks he would have had a more exciting time as an infantryman, he learned some lessons from the army.

``I think that I enjoyed that very much,'' Park said. ``I respect the hierarchy. I enjoy the discipline.''

As for his other childhood aspirations, ``I believe my detective personality made me a researcher,'' he said. ``My personality as a soldier, which is power-oriented, made me to be dean.''

Park first came to UCLA in 1984. Since then, he has amassed a record $10.6 million in research awards. He attributes his success to hard work, and a thorough reading of other people's research, which he said stimulates creativity.

``You have to constantly read other people's work and to think,'' he said.

Also, Park previously served on the grant review committee for the National Institutes of Health. There he learned the salesmanship aspect of selling a grant and how to make it exciting for people.

``You have to sell your idea to people you've never seen,'' he said.

Park has put that research money to good use, said Dr. Judith Gasson, director of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center.

``His lab does outstanding work,'' Gasson said. ``He's an extraordinary individual.''

Although Park has been successful in research grants, fund raising for the dentistry school can sometimes be difficult, he said. Most times, people think the profession is all about cavities, flossing and pain, Park said.

``Dentistry is not only dealing with teeth,'' Park said. ``Our mouth is the window of our body.''

For example, dental researchers compare how younger cells behave differently than older ones. Within 20 years biomedical technicians hope to be able to grow a full tooth or lip in a test tube.

Oral cancer strikes about 30,000 Americans every year, Park said. Reconstructive surgery and tissue regeneration becomes especially important in this area.

Each advance in these areas can be applied to other medical disciplines, he said. Park's own area of specialty is in the relationship between the herpes simplex and human papilloma viruses, chemical carcinogens and cancer.

Although his new duties take away from the time he spends on research, Park said his new job gives him the chance to better serve the faculty and the school.

``I want to make this school the best in the world,'' he said.

Park was the right choice for the job, Gasson said.

``His administrative and leadership skills are outstanding,'' she said. ``He's very creative and works extremely hard.''

The position also has given him some perspective he did not previously possess, he said.

``I begin to understand the problems of individual people more,'' Park said. ``I was totally occupied with my own career. It was very limited compared to now. I began to understand real problems people had. I feel like I am growing.''

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PHOTO Dr. No-Hee Park

``Extraordinary individual''