At the 2019 Scholarship Recognition dinner Oct. 6, the UMKC School of Dentistry distributed 373 awards to 176 students totaling a record breaking $1,009,315. During the program, student speaker Victoria Ratcliffe (DDS Class of 2021) shared how dentistry changed her life as she was born with a cleft lip and palate. She has undergone 22 surgeries to date. After graduation, she plans to continue on to an oral and maxillofacial surgery residency program with hopes to further specialize in craniofacial surgery to positively impact other cleft palate patients’ lives. “I would like to express my gratitude to all of you donors for making these scholarships available to us,” she said. “They are helping us tremendously lower our expenses so that we can pursue this incredible profession.” It is these meaningful connections made that make this event so special each year.
For more pictures from the Scholarship Dinner visit the UMKC Dental Alumni facebook page or candids and group shots in the school’s Google photo gallery.
New scholarships
Dr. Jake McGuire Memorial Scholarship Fund
Dr. Jake McGuire (DDS ’98) was a proud graduate of the UMKC School of Dentistry and a beloved faculty member. After his passing, many people came together to create a scholarship in his honor. Dickson McGuire (his brother and fellow graduate), students in the 2019 graduating class and many others made this fund possible. He was known to have a benevolent spirit, was a true friend, and strove to provide care that was wholly based on the patient’s well-being. Although he suffered with a life-altering medical condition, he didn’t let that limit his distinguished clinical and academic achievement and always demonstrated the highest integrity and interpersonal connections with classmates, teachers and patients.
CAPTION: Dickson McGuire (DDS ’99) and Luke McGuire flank scholarship recipient Samantha Ackerman (DDS Class of 2020).
Dr. Glenn M. Masunaga Scholarship
Dr. Glenn Masunaga was able to attend Kansas City-Western Dental School (1954) with the combined financial resources of the G.I. Bill, working as a houseboy and the generosity of many scholarships. He credits his successful life to this opportunity and is forever grateful. He is a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon, FACD and FICD, and a holder of two U.S. patents, one of which was awarded for an orthodontic bracket tweezer. All royalties from the sales of this instrument were donated to UMKC. He is one of possibly only two people who hold the distinction of receiving the highest civilian governmental awards from both the United States and Japan. He was a member of the Military Intelligence Service in WWII, a unit that received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011. In 1999, an Imperial Medal, “The Order of the Rising Sun—Gold and Silver Rays,” was awarded to him by the emperor of Japan for his role in advancing the science of orthodontics in Japan. This scholarship was established in his honor by his family to assist dental students with financial needs.
Dr. P. Nick Rogers Scholarship
Dr. Nick Rogers has called Arkansas City, Kansas, home for almost 40 years. During that time, he has been involved in a multitude of community and professional activities including valuable service to the Rinehart Foundation as a board member. His unsurpassed passion for the community is shown by his compassion for his patients and their care. He is an active member of many dental organizations, serving in a leadership capacity for most, and has been invaluable to many institutions in his community, including the Board of Education, Head Start, the Tiny Teeth Project, Rotary and the First United Methodist Church. His love for his community and his home state is evidenced by this fund, established to assist Kansas residents attending dental school.
CAPTION: Christie Rogers and Nick Rogers (DDS ’78) with their scholarship recipient, Trevor Harris (DDS Class of 2020).
Vivian Umaki Memorial Scholarship Fund
The tradition of love and support for our school from our alumni in Hawaii is continued with this fund to support students’ dental education. Vivian, late wife of Dr. Clyde Umaki (DDS ’68), was the backbone of his work in their home state. She tirelessly and competently helped establish and develop his successful periodontal practice, and she personally nurtured the growth of his entire staff. Through this fund, she will be celebrated for her strength of character, generosity of spirit, elegance, and beauty inside and out. Vivian was a warm, bright light who touched the lives of everyone she met. She was the epitome of grace. With the example she set, honored by this fund, countless dental students will have the opportunity to do the same for others as they begin their own dental professions.