DLT Welcomes New Faculty Members

Faculty Update
The only nationally accredited dental school with a dental laboratory technology program, LSUSD has trained 394 DLT students since 1973. Currently a program within the Department of Prosthodontics, DLT offers an associate degree; from 1981 through 2012, the program also offered a bachelor of science. Approximately 10% of graduates of the LSUSD program go on to complete dental school. LSUSD has one of the few programs that teaches all six DLT disciplines:  removable partial dentures, complete dentures, orthodontics, crown and bridge, ceramics, and implants/CAD CAM.

The three previous directors of the DLT program were Drs. Meffre Matta, Raymond Schiele, and Allan Rappold. Leonard Aucoin, Jr., CDT, MEd, associate professor, who joined the faculty in 1991, has directed the program since 2006. Mr. Aucoin received his associate of science in DLT from LSUSD in 1990 and his BS a year later. In 1996 he received a masters in education administration from the University of New Orleans.

Under Mr. Aucoin's leadership, the DLT program has grown to include five full-time faculty members. Last November Gail Vanderwall and Lawrence Frye became the newest members of the DLT faculty, joining Mr. Aucoin; David Vela, BS, MCDT; and Julio Zavala, BS, MCDT.

Gail Vanderwall, AS, graduated from the LSUSD lab tech program in 1992. For 25 years she worked at Trinident Dental Lab in Metairie, where she became proficient in all-ceramic restorations. An expert in complex cases and full-mouth rehabilitation, Gail directs courses in all-ceramics and business management. She also co-directs or teaches in four additional courses.

Lawrence Frye, BS, graduated from the LSUSD lab tech program in 2005 and received his bachelors from the University of New Orleans in 2010. He has worked in private practice and as a teaching assistant at LSUSD. Specializing in removable prosthodontics, he is director of four courses, including the first-year complete denture course. In 2009 he received the Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence.

Both new faculty members are working on completing their certification in dental laboratory technology.

New DLT faculty members Gail Vanderwall and Larry Frye

Remembering Dr. Raymond J. Schiele
Raymond J. Schiele, DDS, former associate professor of prosthodontics and coordinator of the dental laboratory technology program, passed away on December 30, at the age of 84. Dr. Schiele was a member of the LSUSD faculty from 1987 until his retirement in 2003. A New Orleans native, Dr. Schiele received his bachelors degree and DDS from Loyola University of New Orleans. He spent over 30 years in the U.S. Army, serving in Korea, Germany, and across the United States. He joined LSUSD shortly after his retirement in 1985 as Colonel, United States Army Dental Corps.

Leonard Aucoin and David Vela remember Dr. Schiele as "a commanding and respected leader who genuinely cared for and empowered others. As an active member of the Louisiana Dental Laboratory Association, he advocated for dental technicians." To honor Dr. Schiele's lifelong commitment to learning, his six children recently established the Colonel Raymond J. Schiele, DDS, Scholarship in Dental Laboratory Technology. Dr. Schiele's son Ray Schiele, Jr., and daughter Anne Guevara presented LSUSD with a check for $10,000. The annual interest from the endowment will fund scholarships and educational opportunities for LSUSD dental laboratory technology students.

To contribute to the fund in memory of Dr. Schiele, contact Joanne Courville, MPA, or Katie Kelley, MBA, at (504) 941-8120 or kkell@lsuhsc.edu.

(l-r )Ray Schiele, Jr., and Anne Guevara present Leonard Aucoin (right) with a check to establish the scholarship in memory of their father, Dr. Raymond J. Schiele.