Jack Love, D.D.S. (ADL '56, DEN '58), received the Distinguished Alumnus award for his nearly forty years of service to the School of Dental Medicine—both as a volunteer and a faculty member—and his contributions to and education of dentists in the field of prosthodontics.
Love has had four notable careers in dentistry. He served the U.S. Navy Dental Corps with the Second Marine Division, stationed at Camp LeJeune, NC, for three years just after his graduation from Western Reserve University. He returned to general dentistry practice for 18 years, primarily focusing on restorative dentistry. In the early 1970’s, he completed a one-year part-time course at Ohio State University to learn to produce more sophisticated restorative dentistry using a “fully adjustable articulator.” Tirelessly interested in improving his skills, he eventually temporarily relocated his family and put his practice on hold for three years to pursue and earn a certificate for Specialization in Fixed Prosthodontics from the University of Washington in Seattle.
During the next seventeen years, Love restarted his practice in Lorain, OH, specializing in fixed prosthodontics and prosthodontic dentistry. He volunteered and presented many programs on his work to third and fourth-year, and graduate periodontal students at the Case Western Reserve School of Dental Medicine and at various meetings throughout the United States and around the world, including several university dental schools in China.
When Love retired from his practice in 1999, he was invited to join the Case Western Reserve faculty to teach the Complete Denture Course. Love updated the course with new articulating instruments, introduced the implant overdenture into the course and clinic as the standard of treatment, used his clinical photography skills to update lecture presentations and implemented a clinical photography course for third-year students during their clinical orientation. While Love initially thought he might stay for one to five years, he retired 20 years later at the age of 88. Thomas Marxen, DDS, MSD (DEN ‘73) says, “Dr Jack Love was unstinting in his devotion to dentistry through mentoring and teaching excellence for years to all students attending Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine.”
In honor of his retirement, Associate Professor Roma Jasinevicius, D.D.S. (DEN ’74, ’76) and Dan Degesys D.D.S. (APL’ 69, DEN ’73) announced a collaboration with faculty to establish a fund in his honor to benefit students. Love and his family added a $100,000 gift to the Jack Love, DDS, Fund for Prosthodontic Excellence, which provides fourth-year students opportunities to present their growing knowledge at prosthodontic meetings across the United States, advancing both the field of prosthodontics and the superior reputation of the School of Dental Medicine.