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Today we mourn the loss of our esteemed founder, mentor and friend, Dr. Richard V. Tucker. 

Dr. Tucker¡¯s friends and colleagues from around the world will remember him as a dedicated clinician whose research and creativity in the realm of cast gold techniques provided a model of clinical excellence. His dedication to the principle of providing long-lived, beautiful dental work for our patients inspires us to pursue the rigorous and rewarding relationship of student and mentor in the study club setting. 

We will miss, most of all, the kindness and humility Dr. Tucker brought to all of his relationships and we rejoice in the legacy he leaves us. 

Thank you, Dr. Tucker, for the many gifts you have given us. Thank you, you will live in all of us forever.

Dr. Carol Klingensmith, DMD

Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.

Dr. Richard V. Tucker is the founder of the Academy of Richard V. Tucker Study Clubs and a general dentist in private practice in Ferndale, Washington. Born and raised in Orofino, Idaho, Dr. Tucker completed his undergraduate education at the University of Washington in Seattle and then graduated in 1946 from the Washington University School of Dentistry in St. Louis, Missouri. He entered the Navy after graduation, where he served for two years before establishing his practice in Ferndale.

In 1950 Dr. George Ellsperman, a colleague, introduced Dr. Tucker to the concept of excellence in restorative dentistry and the pursuit and sharing of such excellence through the study club format. Their focus at the time was on gold foil restorations. Dr. Tucker used those principles of excellence and applied them to his cast gold restoration. By combining his innovative methods and expanding knowledge, Dr. Tucker blended art and science to evolve a set of preparation designs and operative protocols that has led to an approach to cast gold restorations known as the Tucker Technique.

As Dr. Tucker's methods and results became known and appreciated, a demand for this information led to the simultaneous formation of two study clubs in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Seattle, Washington. These original study clubs, with Dr. Tucker as their mentor, formed the foundation for what is today the Academy of R. V. Tucker Study Clubs.

The growth of the Academy is a testament for the need to foster the concepts and techniques of quality cast gold and gold foil restorations, replique montre but such growth is due in greater part to the quality of Dr. Tucker as a clinician and person. He is an international lecturer and educator and his many awards and accolades are exceeded only by his reputation. Dr. Tucker is not only a true gentleman with a gifted set of hands, but an innovator who has dedicated most of his career to the mentorship of others for the betterment of his profession, his colleagues and our patients.