Dr. Tom Jones (DDS ’66) was the second African American accepted at the UMKC School of Dentistry and graduated with his Doctorate of Dental Surgery in 1966. He was a captain in the United States Air Force and spent his career serving and practicing in the Kansas City, Kansas, community.  He also served as the team dentist for the professional basketball team the Kansas City Kings.

He was a part-time faculty member at the School of Dentistry for many years and joined full time in 1995, continuing with the school through 2011. He took many students and colleagues on annual dental mission trips to Venezuela, Honduras and Mexico. He was a strong advocate of the UMKC School of Dentistry and was always recruiting and mentoring future dentists. Those at the school remember his smile, laugh, positivity and storytelling.

Dr. Ron Riley (DDS ’64) initially practiced general dentistry and later the specialty of endodontics in Wichita, Kansas, for 38 years. History will remember Riley as the first board certified endodontist to practice in the state of Kansas. Following retirement from practice in 2002, he began a second career at the school as a clinical associate professor in endodontics. He served UMKC for 16-plus years. He was the recipient of many honors including the David A. Moore Excellence in Teaching Award and was selected as instructor of the year by his students. He was recognized as Distinguished Teacher every year of his teaching career and helped to train over 2,000 students in endodontics.