Utah Team

A proven scholar, Lauritzen has two doctoral level degrees, with five post-doctoral certificates. His dental degree is from the University of Nebraska, while his PhD in Values Driven Leadership comes from Benedictine University’s Goodwin College of Business. Doctor Lauritzen was awarded board-certification from the American Board of General Dentistry and was a designated Master Clinician in the military. He earned both Fellowship and Mastership status from the Academy of General Dentistry and has participated in several foreign medical missions.

He graduated from numerous military leadership institutes, including the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School, the US Army Command and General Staff College and the US Air Force’s Air War College. He held several command positions in his military career. His extensive education allowed appointments as a professor to Webster University’s George H. Walker School of Business and the School of Dentistry at the University of Utah.

Dr. C.S. Lauritzen is the founding president of the Valiant Leader Institute (VLI), which is a nonprofit organization that conducts research, plus accesses, instructs, and coaches individuals and organizations on ethical leadership in a free republic.

Read his story of service and leadership in his own words.
I grew up on a cattle ranch in a mountain valley of Central Utah. I learned the values of hard work and service to God and man, by my very loving and hardworking parents. As a child, I was nearly killed by a hit-and-run driver. I lay in a coma for several days on the edge of life, but finally recovered. My parents were convinced that the Hand of God had kept me alive. I had extensive injuries to my cranium and legs; and felt I trailed my schoolmates both physically and academically. I eventually came to realize I needed to exercise and study more just to keep up with the other kids. With time and lots of effort, I became the quintessential student-athlete. My level of excellence in both sports and school won me both public recognition and athletic and academic scholarships from various colleges. However, I decided that being a missionary in South America trumped college, at least for a couple of years.

I joined the US Army Reserve when I returned from South America. After my initial military training, I finally started college, and became a multisport collegiate athlete. I consistently was named to the dean’s list and graduated cum laude from Utah State University with a bachelorette in liberal arts.

I felt compelled to follow my father and older brothers into active military service. I would serve a total of 35 years in the United States military, rising from private to colonel during that time. My early years in the military I served as a combat medic, I then was selected to become an infantry officer. I led troops in the airborne infantry and as a Green Beret. The Army exposed me to travel, adventure, adversity, danger, and the best soldiers in the world. I learned what real leadership was, as well as the difference between truly elite operators and the pseudo-elite “pretenders”.
As a dental student I commanded a long-range reconnaissance (or LRRP) unit in the Army National Guard. My intent was to go back to my hometown to practice dentistry, help my father with his cattle ranch, and continue to lead special operation troops in the National Guard. A parachute accident that damaged a leg that had been severely broken from my previous hit and run accident, and a kindly orthopedic surgeon convinced the clinical dentistry (not the rigors of Special Forces) should be my future.

Instead of going directly to private practice after dental school, I completed my first residency, and spent a few years in the Army Dental Corps. I was able to get back into Special Forces as a dental surgeon for one tour. The once hardened soldier turned dentist then opened a private dental practice. I learned about leading healthcare teams through executive university education and hard-won firsthand experience in a budding professional practice. I led a top-notch team that made the practice both profitable and enjoyable, while helping a lot of patients.

The events of September 11, 2001, caused me to sell what was now a booming business and return to the active-duty military. I was put in charge of a clinic after just a few months. After another residency and a succession of command positions, I retired from the military in 2016.

My family and I now joyfully live in the highlands of Northern Utah. I still strive for clinical excellence on a part-time basis, while being involved in the local community. My wife, Kristen, and I have one daughter living at home. We also have four sons that have families of their own. All our sons have served in the US Army and are in hazardous professions that serve the public. Family hobbies include hiking, mountain biking, and improving our land in the summer, with snowshoeing, writing, and snuggling together in the winter.