Remembering Dr. Raymond Unland

It is with deep sadness that the faculty, staff and students of the LSUHSC School of Dentistry (LSUSD) bid farewell to our colleague, Dr. Raymond Unland, Jr. His tragic death on December 30 has resulted in an outpouring of love and support. His generous spirit and quiet strength were evident to all who knew him.

Raymond Unland, Jr., DDS '82

In addition to operating a successful private dental practice, Dr. Unland was dedicated to educating and mentoring dental students. He joined LSUSD as part-time clinical assistant professor in prosthodontics in 2007, but his teaching career started while he was in dental school. At his graduation in 1982, he received the Advanced Education Award in General Dentistry to recognize his teaching efforts in preclinical fixed prosthodontics. From 1983 to 1984, during his general dentistry residency at LSUSD, he served as instructor in the general dentistry clinic. He also taught second-year residents at Charity Hospital and Touro Infirmary from 1987 to 1990. In 1997 he began presenting a series of lectures, “Starting Your Dental Practice,” to fourth-year dental students. He served as a delegate to the LSUSD Faculty Assembly, was a member of the LSUSD Alumni Association Board of Directors and generously contributed to school fundraising initiatives. 
     
A natural leader, Dr. Unland was committed to organized dentistry and the community-at-large. He was current budget chairman of the New Orleans Dental Conference Board of Directors, chair of the New Orleans Dental Association (NODA) Governmental Affairs Committee and a member of the Louisiana Dental Association Council of Governmental Affairs. He also served as treasurer, first vice-president, and president-elect of NODA; he was installed as the 95th president on December 18th, 2013. 
     
A champion for the disabled for over two decades, he had served as president since 1987 of the Dental Lifeline Network, which provides donated dental services to the New Orleans area disabled, elderly and medically at-risk patients. He received recognition for his service from the National Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped in 1998. His extensive service to civic and community groups also led to a fellowship in the American College of Dentists and membership in the Pierre Fauchard Academy.    
     
In recent years Dr. Unland devoted himself to physical fitness, becoming a triathlete and participating in numerous marathons, triathlons and Ironman events. He also was a leading member of the Louisiana Dental Riders, who rode last year on October 4 from Hammond, Louisiana, to Percy Quin State Park in McComb, Mississippi, to raise money to support the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
     
Mark Unland beautifully expressed his brother’s essence in a recent Facebook post. “I lost my brother, but we all lost a hero, a builder, a leader, a teacher, an athlete, a friend and a Super Dad. He was truly an Ironman.” We extend our deepest sympathy to Dr. Unland’s wife, Janice, his two daughters, Lindsay and Rebecca, and his entire family. He will be greatly missed by us all.