Dr. William Mayberry

An Educator's Educator
It’s a good thing that Dr. William (Bill) Mayberry, associate dean for Academic Affairs, knows how to make the best out of any situation because when he reported for his first day of work at the School of Dentistry’s new building at 25th and Cherry in 1969, there was no place to report to because the building was still under construction; a fact that his employer, Dean Hamilton B.J. Robinson had neglected to tell him. Always resourceful, Mayberry reported to the school’s old 10th and Troost building, where Dr. Robinson simply told him to go to work — at the desk of someone on vacation, then at the desk of someone else on vacation, and then at a board laid across a radiator. Now, after 32 years of work at a variety desks doing a variety of jobs at the School of Dentistry , Mayberry plans to retire from his career of helping dental educators transform dental students into dentists.

Mayberry graduated from Washington University in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. After stints as an assistant personnel director at Goodwill and as a classroom teacher, he decided to return to school, earning a master’s degree in guidance and counseling at Southern Illinois University in 1963 and a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Illinois in 1968. He and his wife wanted to settle closer to their Missouri roots, so he was thrilled to accept Dean Robinson’s job offer in 1969 to develop and measure curriculum at the UMKC School of Dentistry.

Being a new faculty member in a new building developing new teaching methods required some getting used to. But Mayberry gradually got to know the faculty, and they got to know him, and together they began figuring out ways to incorporate new methods of instruction in the dental curriculum. Probably the major instructional method that Mayberry helped introduce at the School of Dentistry was videotaped instruction.

“We had a commercial quality two-inch videotape machine, which was virtually unheard of at that time, so it was very much a cutting-edge technology,” Mayberry said. “Once the professors learned how to work with the video equipment, i.e. keep their hands out of the way of the view lens, video instruction tapes were very popular, especially for demonstrating lab procedures. You could get a far better idea of what was happening with a camera close-up than you could by standing around trying to watch the instructor. You could fill a whole television screen with a central incisor that when you touched a sandpaper disc to it, you could literally see the dust flying off as the tooth was reduced.”

In 1973 Mayberry was promoted to associate professor and named director of the Office of Instructional Services. Then in 1982 Dr. Russ Sumnicht was named acting dean of the School of Dentistry , and as Mayberry recalls “Dr. Sumnicht showed up in my office and said he wanted me to be acting associate dean. I moved up here [to the fourth floor] temporarily, and have stayed up here ever since.”

Over the years, Mayberry has published articles in numerous publications, and he has presented lectures, workshops, and papers at national professional meetings. He also has served in several offices, from secretary to chair person, with the American Association of Dental Schools.

“I’ve always been involved with curriculum [development],” Mayberry said, “[including] faculty development through workshops and various programs to try to help faculty become more effective in the instructive aspects of dentistry.”  Mayberry recalls that when the School of Dentistry first considered organizing students into teams, he was in charge of researching and evaluating that decision. “We found everything there was to measure, and we measured it,” he said. “After I finished my report, one of the members of the committee made a motion that we adopt the team program throughout the school … it was seconded and passed.”

In reflecting on his career and the challenges of pioneering instructional methods and technologies, of adapting to class sizes that ranged from 160 to 80 students, of continually examining and refining the educational program, Mayberry pragmatically and modestly concluded, “There has always been someone around here who’s figured out how to keep things going,” he said. “I just sort of did what I thought needed to be done to help.”

A Very Varied Career
Time does fly when you’re having fun. Or so it seems to Dr. Daniel Tira, assistant dean for Student Programs, who is retiring after —it seems to him — a brief 31-year career at the School of Dentistry.

Before arriving at UMKC Tira had earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Benedictine University and a doctoral degree in educational research methodology at Ohio State University . Yet, Tira admits that he was “wet behind the ears” when he arrived at the School of Dentistry’s new 25th Street building in 1970 to develop computer-assisted curriculum and to assist faculty and students with research design and data analysis.

Dr. Daniel Tira

“I was 26 years old. What did I know?” recalls Tira. “I had learned a lot in my formal education, but it was nothing compared to what I’ve learned since.”

When Tira began as an assistant professor at the School of Dentistry there was a lot to learn. Education in general and dental education in particular were undergoing major changes. The school’s new state-of-the-art building contained facilities and technologies that allowed completely new ways of teaching, such as with computers, which was Tira’s expertise. He became an integral part of a cadre of non-dentist educators whose charge was to create and evaluate modern educational methods and systems.

In 1971 Tira became director of Biomedical Communication Services, and in 1973 he was named coordinator of Computer Applications in Instruction in the the Office of Instructional Services. In 1976 he was granted tenure as an associate professor. Tira continued in curriculum development and research design until 1982, when Dean Russell Sumnicht asked him to serve as director of a newly organized Office of Student Affairs. In 1989 Tira was named assistant dean for Student Programs under Dean Michael Reed.

Throughout his career Tira has remained an active teacher and researcher:  he has continually taught biostatistics and advanced research methodology, he has written or participated in numerous grant proposals, and he has conducted or contributed to research projects throughout the school. He has written or co-authored dozens of articles for professional publications, and he has been a frequent presenter at national professional meetings. Tira’s academic accomplishments and contributions have been honored by Sigma Phi Alpha and Omicron Kappa Upsilon, which elected him to honorary membership. Dan and his wife, Mary, were awarded the Rinehart Medallion in recognition of their substantial financial support to the School of Dentistry through the Dr. Roy J. Rinehart Foundation.

Tira attributes his longevity at the School of Dentistry to the school’s willingness to challenge and encourage him to pursue his varied interests — advising, consulting, teaching, research, administration and service. He also has appreciated the working relationship he has enjoyed with Dianne Beard, director of dental admissions.

“Dianne had been involved with admissions before I joined the effort,” said Tira,

“so I learned a lot from her. Over time we have developed a great working relationship. She is a tremendous asset to this institution as are all the members of the Student Programs Office.”

Over the course of time, too, Tira says, the admission process has evolved as the admissions area has reevaluated and refined its way of doing things.

“Academics has always been and will always be emphasized,” he said. “But we have deliberately attempted to ascertain other qualities that are important to this institution and, by extension, the profession. Our literature explicitly identifies the factors that our Admission Committee considers in selecting students, and our application materials elicit information from the applicants that demonstrate their strengths in these areas.”

Understandably, Tira takes great interest and pride in the students the school admits. He also experiences his greatest professional satisfaction in seeing them succeed.

“Without question,” Tira said, “the most rewarding aspect of my career has been to watch students, whose path to the School of Dentistry may have been rocky and indirect, evolve academically and professionally. To see them overcome whatever struggles they have encountered, and achieve their professional objectives, that’s rewarding.”

Without question, countless UMKC graduates feel tremendously rewarded by having had Dr. Dan Tira take a personal interest in their struggles and their success.