FALL SEMESTER BEGINS AGAIN, and I’m reminded of my time in dental school. The stress of the unknown, the deadlines and especially the bill for my education. I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to help lessen the burden, but it’s no secret the burden of 2000 is less than the burden of 2021. As our students begin seeing patients in relative normalcy, I am so grateful that the Rinehart Foundation is able to provide relief to so many through the scholarships created over our long history. The hundreds of thousands of dollars awarded this fall allow students to work a few less hours outside of school and maybe feel a little more prepared for their next crown. If you have established a scholarship, be sure to ask your student recipient about it next spring when we (hopefully) have our in-person dinner to meet our students.
In this issue, you’ll read more about scholarship recipients and how the help they received has created a circle of giving. (Read more on page 10.) Now, there are more people out there like you and me who received scholarships and make it a personal goal to give back. My class fully
funded a scholarship that I am proud to see awarded each year, and I hope all the classes will consider doing so if they haven’t already. It’s an incredibly rewarding project to undertake as a group, and we have all class scholarships listed on page 5 so you can check where your class stands.
As we begin another new chapter and welcome Dr. Steven Haas as our new dean, I look forward to growing this rich tradition of giving and receiving. I also look forward to applying this vision for the future of our students, faculty, staff, endowments, professional development and hopefully some capital projects. (Read more about Dean Haas on page 6.) Working together, I see great things in our future.
Thank you from the Rinehart Foundation Board, the staff and especially the students at UMKC SOD!
Dr. David Suchman (DDS ’00) Chair, Rinehart Foundation