2026 Outstanding alumnus Award Winner
Dean Emeritus James C. Ragain, Jr. is a native Tennessean. He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and raised in LaFollette, Tennessee. He attended the University of Tennessee-Knoxville earning the Bachelor of Science in Education (Summa Cum Laude) degree majoring in Biological Sciences. He earned the Doctor of Dental Surgery (With Honors) degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry and completed postgraduate programs in Operative Dentistry (Master of Science degree in Restorative Dentistry, University of Michigan) and Oral Biology/Dental Materials (Doctor of Philosophy degree, The Ohio State University).
He served over 30 years in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy, retiring from the Navy in 2013 at the rank of Captain and became a faculty member of the UTHSC College of Dentistry. Dean Ragain taught Operative Dentistry and was the Director of Dental Predoctoral Biomaterials. In 2018, he became the 16th dean of the college and the first alumnus to hold that position. He was promoted to Professor of General Dentistry in 2019.
Dean Ragain’s notable and lasting legacy included the acquisition of a $53 million grant from the state of Tennessee for the Healthy Smiles Initiative. This grant allowed the college to increase the number of students in both the dental and dental hygiene classes and to hire additional faculty. Under Dr. Ragain’s tenure, the college’s infrastructure expanded by the opening of the Delta Dental of Tennessee Building on the Memphis campus and the Dental Clinic of the Appalachian Highlands in Kingsport Tennessee. These efforts will improve access to dental care for all Tennesseans, particularly citizens in rural and remote areas.
Upon his retirement from the university, he was appointed Dean Emeritus. He continues to serve at the college of dentistry as a part-time faculty member. He has authored or co-authored over 95 professional publications, including articles in the Journal of Dental Research, the Journal of the American Dental Association, Operative Dentistry, Journal of Dental Materials, Color Research and Application, the Journal of Esthetic Dentistry, the Journal of General Dentistry, and the International Journal of Prosthodontics. He holds three U.S. patent awards.
He served on a joint Institute of Medicine-NASA subcommittee studying dental issues and treatment of astronauts deployed on long-term space missions, including possible missions to Mars. A recognized expert in dental biomaterials, he served on nine working groups of the American Dental Association Standards Committee for Dental Products and five U.S. Sub-Technical Advisory Groups of the International Organizations for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 106 Dentistry.
He has been an active member of the International Association for Dental Research, the American Association for Dental Research, the American Dental Association, the Tennessee Dental Association, the Memphis Dental Society, the American Dental Educators Association, the Association of Continuing Dental Education, and the UTHSC Alumni Board. He is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy.
Included among his many awards are the Tennessee Dental Association Summit Award for a Lifetime of Outstanding Service to the Profession of Dentistry, the UTHSC Transformational Leadership in Educational and Community Service Award, two SGAEC Excellence in Teaching Awards (2016-2017 and 2017-2018), the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Class of 2018, Memphis Business Journal Health Care Hero 2019, and inducted into the UT Army ROTC Hall of Fame in 2019.
He has been married to his wife Debbie for over 50 years, and they have three sons, Jason (Michelle), Matthew (Julia), and Grant (Cassy). They have nine grandchildren, Ashley, Beth, Kate, Ellie, Caleb, Liam, Jeremiah, Angelina, and Gianna.
View Past Dentistry Award Winners
