It was expected that Stephen Ray would follow the footsteps of his father, Len Ray, DDS, who graduated from the UT Health Science Center College of Dentistry in 1979. His fascination with seeing his father provide dental care and his experience assisting at a dental clinic confirmed his love for dentistry.
“He was in the first class that went into the Dunn Building when it was opened. My first memory of him in dentistry was when I was losing my baby teeth, and I remember he would come home with a little packet of instruments and topical anesthetic, and he would pull our baby teeth, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” Ray said. “Once I got old enough to explore my options for a career, I had to decide if this was for me, and the way I discovered it was through a Remote Area Medical Clinic.”
Ray, from Nashville, earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He assisted a fourth-year dental student at a Remote Area Medical clinic in Gray, Tennessee, and felt exhilarated by the dental care he witnessed. “I’ll never forget, I called my parents right when I got out from that clinic and I said, ‘I actually really want to be a dentist. I want to start tomorrow.’”
In addition to his father, several members of his family share a passion for health care. His younger brother is in his second year pursuing veterinary medicine at UT Knoxville, and his brother-in-law, Drew Schneider, DDS, graduated from the College of Dentistry in 2019. Ray chose the UT Health Science Center not only for the legacy, but also to stay close to his home.
When he visited UT Health Science Center as an undergraduate to learn more about the admissions process, he remembered feeling at home and welcomed by Dayna Myers, RDH, MDH, director of Admissions Administration and Advising.
Read more at our UTHSC News site.