Suchmans Join Build Tomorrow, Together Campaign With Donation
By JOHN MARTELLARO
In the Spring of 1970, Rodger Suchman completed his DDS degree in what was then the brand-new, state-of-the-art UMKC dental school building at 25th and Holmes streets. Now, a half-century later, he and his family are taking the lead in ensuring UMKC dental school students and faculty – and their patients – will have access to state-of-the-art teaching and patient-care tools well into the 21st century.
The Suchman family has made an initial major School of Dentistry alumni gift for construction of the UMKC Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building (HDIB), a high-tech, ultra-modern research, teaching and patient-care facility to be built on the corner of 25th and Charlotte streets. The School of Dentistry will have a significant presence in the five-story, 160,000-square-foot building, which will house dental clinics on the second, third and fourth floors. Dentistry’s lecture halls, research areas, advanced program clinics and pre-clinic lab work will remain in the current building.
The family also includes Rodger’s son, David Suchman (DDS ’00, AEGD ’01), and David’s wife, Kelly Suchman (DDS ’00, AEGD ’01). All three say their donation is a gift of gratitude for all that their UMKC educations have made possible for their families and careers. A commitment to maintaining first-rate education and patient care in Kansas City is another strong motivating factor.
“I am excited UMKC is going to have a state-of-the-art facility for teaching and treating patients,” David said. “And it’s something we can showcase to student applicants and potential new faculty members. Digital dentistry is where it’s going right now – taking digital impressions and digital printing of restorations and dentures.”
Steven E. Haas, DMD, J.D., MBA, former dean of the School of Dentistry, said this latest gift is indicative of the Suchman family’s commitment to UMKC, the School of Dentistry and dental health.
“Once again, the Suchman family has stepped forward to set an example for alumni,” Haas said. “I truly appreciate their leadership and generosity. I am hopeful their gift will spur their alumni peers to help build this better tomorrow. Alumni support for this project is vital, and given their proud history, I am confident graduates will step up once again.”
With this initial alumni gift, the Suchmans hope to “encourage other alumni and other families to contribute to the new building,” Kelly said.
Why should they?
“To help promote the future of our profession and the next generation of dentists,” David said.
Impact of the Gift
The new building will bring end-odontics, oral surgery and emergency care together into one self-contained acute care clinic with its own radiology services. This unique design will allow patients to remain in one location while providers come to them for treatment, as in a hospital emergency room. The new digital design facility on the fourth floor will house state-of-the-art technology for producing a variety of restorations from 3D scans. The design area will have the latest 3D- and AI-based treatment and case-planning software. The new digital lab will be able to 3D-print appliances and mill restorations and dentures using the latest technologies and materials.
“We knew it was extremely important to treat patients in a more updated facility,” Kelly said. “It’s a different environment and workstyle.”
Haas agreed that exposing students to digital restorative dentistry technologies, while improving patient care, is a key component of their education.
“The new building will provide leading-edge pre-doctoral dental clinics, enhancing UMKC’s ability to graduate top-notch dentists while also providing care to those who need it most,” Haas said. Dental and dental hygiene students serve more than 15,000 patients a year in the clinics. “Patients will benefit by completing their treatment in less time, while having a more comfortable, low-stress experience.”
A Long History of Support
The commitment to supporting the School of Dentistry is nothing new for the Suchmans. The family has a long history of both philanthropic giving and personal involvement.
David served as chair of the Roy J. Rinehart Memorial Foundation, the philanthropic support arm of the School of Dentistry, from 2020 to 2022. Kelly was a member of the faculty from 2016 to 2022, serving as an assistant clinical professor, innovation clinic director and director of the advanced education in general dentistry program.
Rodger was vice chair of the foundation for many years, and he and his former practice partner Stan Hite (DDS ’72) have endowed a scholarship in their parents’ names: The Jean M. Hite and Leslie Suchman Scholarship. He has long participated in the school’s RV Tucker Study Club, in which highly skilled practitioners mentor other dentists in the community in the art and science of crafting gold restorations.
“I’m proud to have our family name associated with it,” Rodger said of the new building. “The education I got at UMKC opened a lot of doors for me and gave me a chance to succeed, so I guess I felt grateful.”
That feeling was deliberately passed from father to son.
“My parents always emphasized giving back, to church and community,” David said. He said that ethic was ingrained in his School of Dentistry education, and also in his early life expe-riences in church, high school and the Boy Scouts, where he earned Eagle Scout status and later served as a scoutmaster for several years. “The UMKC School of Dentistry has given me everything I’ve had in my life, since childhood. Our son (Jacob, 19) benefits as well. So, it’s easy for us to be involved when it’s been so much of our lives. I’m just happy to help contribute to the future.”
“I think our family recognizes that our lifestyle is attributed to having graduated from the UMKC School of Dentistry,” Kelly said. “We’re grateful for the things that education has given us.”
Woven into the Fabric of Lives and Careers
People from the UMKC School of Dentistry have been a constant presence in the Suchman family’s longtime, multi-generational dental practice in Independence, Missouri, and in their personal lives as well.
Before launching his own practice, Rodger worked as an associate under UMKC alumnus Henrik A. Knudsen (DDS ’57). Rodger started his own prac-tice in 1972. David joined as a partner in 2001. Years later, when Knudsen retired, David and Rodger brought his patients into their practice.
After Rodger retired, David brought in UMKC alumnus Mac Darnall (DDS ’07) as a partner. Two years ago, they hired another UMKC alumna as an associate: Michelle Hendrix (DDS ’21).
Another important tie? Kelly and David met at the school.
“A lot of romance blooms at the School of Dentistry. We started dating begin-ning of first year, got engaged during the last year of school and got married during our residency,” David said. “The professors said they wouldn’t graduate me unless I proposed to Kelly.”
Their son, Jacob, served an internship last summer at the UMKC School of Pharmacy. He’s pursuing a career in biotechnology and did genetic research during his internship.
A Catalyst for Future Growth
UMKC marked the start of construction on the Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building on Wednesday, Sept. 11, with a celebration at the site of the project. David and Rodger joined the standing-room-only crowd to hear from multiple speakers, including UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal, who said the HDIB “is the first piece of a much larger vision for our UMKC Health Sciences District.”
In addition to the dental clinics, the building – set to open in 2026 – will be home to the UMKC Health Equity Institute, the UMKC Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center and the university’s Biomedical Engineering program. The long-range plan is for the HDIB to serve as a catalyst for developing the UMKC Health Sciences District into a major regional academic medical center in the Kansas City region.
“What might we see here in five years? Ten? Fifteen?” Agrawal asked. “Here’s what I imagine: a thriving, dynamic district, full of buildings and green spaces, embedded in the heart of our city.”
And David pointed out there is a degree of self-interest for alumni donors to contribute to that exciting future. “The UMKC School of Dentistry has an excellent reputation around the country,” he said. “It’s good for all of us to help keep that reputation going.”