Dental Hygiene Facility Named For Sofia & David Konikoff

Old Dominion’s Dental Hygiene Care Facility was officially named recently for two alumni in recognition of their generous capital campaign gift.

The graduates, Sofia ’84 and Dr. David Konikoff ’74, have pledged $250,000 over the next five years for the purchase of state-of-the-art instrumentation for the facility, which was named in their honor at a Sept. 19 ceremony.

Staffed and supervised by licensed dental hygienists and dentists, the facility trains future hygienists and provides services to ODU students, faculty, staff and the local community.
“We are grateful to the Konikoffs for their generosity,” said Andrew Balas, dean of the College of Health Sciences. “Our nationally renowned dental hygiene care facility will proudly bear their name.”

Sofia Konikoff, who earned her bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene, worked full time as a hygienist from graduation until 1998, and helped her husband’s practice adopt a stronger dental hygiene focus. “Hygienists truly make a difference in the dental community,” she said.
Konikoff said she made the gift, with her husband’s support, because of her love of and appreciation for the Old Dominion program.

“The ODU staff does wonderful work, and I wanted to support them in growing the program and continuing to graduate better and better people,” she explained.

Dr. Konikoff, who earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology, operates three offices in Virginia Beach and two in Chesapeake, with a total of 19 doctors and 36 hygienists.