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S. Elmer Bear Chair

Elmer Bear

The S. Elmer Bear Chair was established to honor the man who brought the study and practice of oral surgery to the VCU School of Dentistry.

S. Elmer Bear began teaching at the MCV School of Dentistry in 1951. He lectured in oral surgery, exodontia and anesthesia. Over the next few years, Bear became a full tenured professor, chief of the MCV Hospital Division of oral surgery and chair of the dental school's oral surgery department. In 1974, Bear's role expanded to include appointments at the School of Medicine and the School of Dentistry. Bear remained active as professor and chair until his death in 1981.

The S. Elmer Bear Chair ensures the continuing presence at the VCU School of Dentistry of a nationally respected expert in the specialty of oral surgery. Watch this video to learn more about the S. Elmer Bear Chair.

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Daniel M. Laskin Professorship

Daniel M. Laskin

Daniel M. Laskin, D.D.S., M.S., began his career at the University of Illinois College of Dentistry where he worked for more than 30 years as an OMFS educator, practitioner and program director.

Laskin decided to take on a new challenge in 1984 when he moved to the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry, as chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He continues to work at VCU, though he stepped down as chair in 2002. To this day, however, Laskin continues to lecture on OMFS all over the world.

Believing strongly in the need to continue and increase research in the OMFS field, he provided seed money in 2016 for a professorship in OMFS research with a planned gift of $250,000.

Through his generous bequest, Laskin issued a challenge for other oral surgeons to match his $250,000 to create a full professorship in research.

A professorship in academia is a prestigious position that allows the professorship holder to “buy time” from teaching to pursue research. Interest generated from the $500,000 full-professorship can be used to outfit labs, hire additional personnel—whatever the professor needs most to advance his or her research. It is a mark of the highest standing in a career, and allows the university to attract and retain the best talent in the field.

In honor of Dr. Laskin’s legacy of teaching and research, the professorship will carry his name. He believes that having residents engage in meaningful research not only provides information that helps to advance our specialty, but also that it ultimately makes them better surgeons and improves patient care by teaching them how to critically evaluate the literature and thus make their clinical efforts evidence-based rather than empirical.

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Evie Laskin Scholarship Fund

Evie Laskin

The Evie Laskin Scholarship Fund was established in her memory in 2012 by her husband of 63 years, Dr. Daniel M. Laskin, professor and chairman emeritus of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Evie was not only deeply devoted to her family, but was always concerned about the welfare of others. Thus, it is appropriate that this scholarship will be helpful to further the education of students in financial need from underrepresented populations.

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Dr. Nick Wang Memorial Scholarship Fund

Dr. Nick Wang

Dr. Nick H. Wang was born on March 15, 1976. He earned a D.M.D. degree from the University of Connecticut, a M.D. degree from the University of Texas (San Antonio) and finally completed his oral maxillofacial surgery residency from the VCU School of Dentistry in 2012. After a courageous battle with cancer, he passed away on February 10, 2017. Dr. Wang was known in the community for his generosity, kindness, and dedication to his patients. He put others before himself, and was a strong believer in “giving back”. In that spirit, this fund was created by his widow, Dr. Alice Wang to help defray the cost of tuition for future D.D.S. students who are interested in pursuing a career in oral surgery.

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Parking and Directions

Elmer Bear

The VCU Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery has an intricate history with that of the School of Dentistry, the VCU Medical Center and VCU. The School of Dentistry was originally established in 1893 when the University College of Medicine opened as the Medical College of Virginia. A dental department was one of its original divisions. The Medical College of Virginia inaugurated a dental education program in 1897, and in 1913 the two schools merged to form the MCV School of Dentistry, now part of the VCU Medical Center. In 1968, the Medical College of Virginia merged with Richmond Professional Institute to form Virginia Commonwealth University. The School of Dentistry is located on the MCV Campus.

While the VCU OMFS department is primarily based within VCU School of Dentistry, it is also a division within the Department of Surgery of the VCU School of Medicine, with the OMFS faculty members having dual appointments in both schools. Departmental academic offices for the faculty are located in VCU Dental Building 1, along with the outpatient faculty practice. The in-hospital patient care and the outpatient Residency Program Clinic are located at the VCU Medical Center hospital. The Residency program is primarily based in the VCU Medical Center with an affiliation with the VCU School of Dentistry.

The department is nationally and internationally recognized and represents, teaches and administers patient care to the full scope of the specialty. It has a long tradition of commitment to excellent patient care, innovative teaching, scholarly contribution to the field, and service to the specialty and the oral and maxillofacial surgery community at large.