By Chinta Strausberg, Chicago Crusader
Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-7th)’ Multi Ethnic Advisory Task Force honored Dr. Zenobia Sowell on Sunday, October 30th, at the Meadows Club, 2950 W. Golf Road, Rolling Meadows, IL.
The sixth annual congressional awards gala began at 5 p.m. with presentation of awards at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m.
Dr. Sowell’s established dental practice is known as “The Gentle Dentist.” She is a 1986 graduate of the Ohio State College of Dentistry. Sowell first practiced dentistry in 1988 at the Hyde Park Hospital which later became Doctor’s Hospital, where she practiced for five-years before the hospital closed.
Dr. Sowell opened her new office on the Gold Coast, 1122 North Clark Street in 1993. Her office staff looks like the United Nations, for she has hired employees from numerous ethnic origins and she trains them well. Her associate doctors come from the Middle East, Israel, India, Peru, the Caribbean and other countries.
Known for her genuine concern and compassion for her patients, Dr. Sowell is also a minister and a woman who is well traveled.
She attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana before receiving her Doctorate in Dental Surgery (DDS) from Ohio State College of Dentistry. She completed her post graduate program in Esthetic and Dentistry from Case Western Reserve University in 1992.
A premier Invisalign (clear braces) provider, Dr. Sowell provides all aspects of dentistry including implants with her dynamic team of dental specialists. She is committed to the advancement of excellent oral healthcare not only in her Chicago practice and the city of Chicago but also to the world.
Dr. Sowell is a global dental missions leader and volunteer overseas and for the past 20-years, she has led volunteer teams of more than 30 doctors, dentists and other healthcare providers to remote areas of West Africa, Haiti and Trinidad where there is little or very limited access to care. They have cared for thousands of people who would never have been seen by a dentist or doctor.
Dr. Sowell also has a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Union University, Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology in Richmond, VA in 2008. She is co-pastor of Bethel Mennonite Church in Chicago where she serves by her husband’s side, Rev. Tony Bianchi.
She is also a mentor to dental students at the University of Illinois, College of Dentistry and the Chicago Area Health and Medical Careers Program (CHAMPS) at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), where many of her mentees are now dentists. She has also trained hundreds of dental assistants from Everest, Bryman and IL Health Careers Training Institutes who served as interns in her practice.
Before attending dental school, Dr. Sowell was a cancer research biologist at IIT and worked on viable treatment modalities for breast and other cancers, which are used today.
She has served as dental care provider/consultant and educator for Deborah’s Place: Women’s Shelter, the Federal Access to Recovery Ex-Offender program IL Foundation for the Handicapped Christian Dental Society.
Dr. Sowell is a member of the National Dental Society and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Her professional honors include: Developmental Queen: Eastern Region of Ghana, West Africa, Forbes leading business executives, People to People Ambassador programs, Women in Dentistry delegation to Cuba, Cambridge Who’s Who of Business leaders and many more honors.
