Lasting Impressions | Summer 2016

18 x NSU LASTING IMPRESSIONS to allow faculty members, at the discretion of the dean, to attend educational programs and support some of the costs that are involved.” The former dean said it will be an ongoing fund that he and his wife began with a “six-figure donation that’s sizable enough that it can immediately make an impact on the level of continuing education available. You can’t get lost in the past,” he said. “You have to teach with enthusiasm and with a view into the future.” Future Focused When Uchin began his career in dentistry, he said it was a time of “real transition in dentistry.” He was drafted into the Air Force and stationed at Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola, Florida. “Most dentists weren’t saving teeth, and those that wanted to save teeth had no one to refer to,” he said. Uchin was sent by the Air Force to Lackland in San Antonio, Texas, where he was taught endodontics. “When I came back to Eglin, I was the base endodontist.” Uchin found motivation in being one of only three endodontists in Florida in the early 1960s. “Because it was new, we felt empowered. We were proselytizing all over the world and teaching dentists how to save teeth, because it was the biggest change taking place in dentistry,” said Uchin, who became the founding president of the Florida Association of Endodontists. “I felt my obligation was to teach people how to do endodontics.” Thanks to his knowledge and commitment to the field, the NSU College of Dental Medicine’s postgraduate endodontic program is recognized as one of the finest in the United States. Students are exposed to the latest advances in technology in the endodontics field and are given valuable opportunities in education. Those opportunities include the chance for each student to participate in a surgical rotation at one of NSU’s partner universities in Tlaxcala, Mexico; Linda Niessen (left) succeeded Robert Uchin as NSU College of Dental Medicine’s dean.