Dr N Rajeeva Shetty conferred IES Medal of Honor for contributions to Endodontics
Mangalore: Dr. N. Rajeeva Shetty has been honoured with the IES Medal of Honor for 2025 by the Indian Endodontic Society (IES) in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the field of endodontics in India.
The IES Medal is the highest award presented by the Indian Endodontic Society. Dr N Rajeeva Shetty is the former Principal and HOD of Government Dental College – Bangalore. He went on to become the first Indian dentist to be appointed as the Director of Medical Education (DME) by a state government in India.
Born on April 25, 1933, in the coastal Karnataka Mangalore region. Dr Shetty graduated from Madras University in the year 1957 and soon after joined as a Lecturer in the newly established Government Dental College (GDC), Bangalore, as the first Dental professional to join the institute. He later secured his Master’s degree in Operative Dentistry from the Bombay University. Dr Rajeev Shetty has the honour of being the first-ever Endodontist from Karnataka.
He was responsible for establishing, nurturing, and developing the first-ever department of Operative dentistry and Endodontics in Karnataka at GDC, Bangalore. During his tenure, the Department of Medical Education witnessed unprecedented progress and development. He retired from the government service in the year 1991 on superannuation. He also served as the Director and Consultant Dental Surgeon of the Medical and Dental Centre, Bangalore. During his 31-year-long government service, he also held many prestigious academic positions. He was a member of the Dental Council of India, a Syndicate member of various universities. Dr. Shetty is associated with various professional bodies in different capacities.
Dr Shetty has had an illustrious career marked by numerous national and international recognitions. He is the former president of the Federation of Operative Dentistry in India, fellow-International College of Dentists, member Karnataka Dental Council. He was a guest at the International Congress for dentistry for the handicapped at Stockholm at Sweden, the WHO regional meet of chief dental officer at Chan mai, Thailand, the International Dental Conference in Bombay, and the Asia Pacific Congress of dentistry held in New Delhi.
In recognition of yeoman services, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences- Karnataka in 2015 honoured Dr Rajeeva Shetty by conferring upon him with Honoris Causa - Doctor of Science. The IES Medal of Honour was presented to Dr Rajeeva Shetty by Shri. Vishwajit Rane, Honourable Health Minister of Goa and Dr M.R. Srinivasan, President IES, during the inaugural ceremony of IES National Congress at Goa on November 1st.
