WVU School of Dentistry presents Distinguished Alumni and Alumni Achievement awards

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University School of Dentistry honored four individuals at its annual Alumni Banquet on Friday, April 24 at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown.

Three graduates of the School received the Outstanding Alumni Award: James Courrier, D.D.S., Richard Marshall, D.D.S., and Stephen Pachuta, D.D.S.

Dr. Courrier graduated from the School of Dentistry in 1970 and returned to his native Keyser, where he has been in practice for 45 years. He was a founding member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee at the School of Dentistry, served on the Executive Council of the School’s Alumni Association for three terms, and was its president in 1979.

He is past president of the Potomac Valley Dental Society and has served as its secretary-treasurer for 30 years. He has been on the West Virginia Dental Association’s Executive Council longer than any active member and was installed as its 101st president in 2008. He is a fellow in the American College of Dentists and received the Distinguished Dentist Award from the Pierre Fauchard Academy.

Dr. Marshall, a native of Charleston, received both his undergraduate and dental degrees from WVU. Shortly after graduating from the WVU School of Dentistry, he moved to Ronceverte, where he has been active in both his community and dental association for the past 45 years.

He has served as president of the Greenbrier Valley Dental Society three times, served on multiple committees of the American and West Virginia Dental associations, and served on the Board of Directors of the Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. He is one of only a few dentists in the state who has been elected president of both the West Virginia Dental Association and the West Virginia Board of Dentistry. He is a fellow in both the American and International College of Dentists and has received the Distinguished Dentist Award from the Pierre Fauchard Academy.

At his graduation from the School of Dentistry, Dr. Pachuta, a native of Beckley, received four prestigious awards: the Outstanding Clinical Competency Award, the Restorative Dentistry and Removable Prosthodontics awards, and the Oral Medicine Award. He went on to enter the U.S. Navy and has now served his country for almost 30 years. He is currently a captain in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps and serves as the executive assistant to the surgeon general of the Navy.

He has been the executive officer or commander of several Navy dental clinics in the U.S., Guam, Japan, and Cuba. He is board certified by the American Board of General Dentistry and has served as a professor at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School.

Throughout his years of service, Pachuta has received numerous awards, including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Achievement Medal, and the Commendation Medal. He is a fellow in the International College of Dentists.

The final award, the Alumni Achievement Award, was presented to Mohssen Ghalichebaf, D.D.S., M.S., D.M.D., professor in the WVU Department of Restorative Dentistry.

“Dr. Moe,” as he is affectionately known in the School of Dentistry, is a native of Iran and has received degrees from three countries. He received his bachelor’s and dental degree from the University of Istanbul in Turkey and then journeyed to England, where he graduated from the Royal Dental Hospital of London in 1979. After that, he traveled across the Atlantic and received doctorate and post-doctorate degrees from the University of Indiana and the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, N.Y.

He joined the faculty at the School of Dentistry in 1989 and has since served in various roles, including director of prosthodontics and director of the Maxillofacial Prosthetics Clinic. He has been recognized with the Team Leader Award and has been twice named the Outstanding Teacher of the Year by dental students.

Dr. Moe has served as president of the Monongalia County Dental Society and vice president of the West Virginia Section of the American Association of Dental Research. Among his many awards are fellowships in the American College of Dentists, the American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics, and the American College of Forensic Dentistry.  

For more information on the WVU School of Dentistry, visit http://dentistry.hsc.wvu.edu.