Dedicated volunteers and benefactors, Dr. and Mrs.Tuck join Silver Society
21 September 2010
Kenneth D. Tuck, M.D., a practicing ophthalmologist for more than 40 years and distinguished leader in organized medicine for more than 20 years, said he has always been involved in the organizations that most directly affect his practice and community.
He joked, “In the beginning of my career, when I was launching my practice in Roanoke and becoming involved in professional groups, I simply showed up at meetings, but like Woody Allen once said ‘80 percent of success is just showing up.’ I kept showing up until ultimately my specialty society asked me to serve as president. A long tenure of volunteer leadership unfolded from there.” Dr. Tuck has served many organizations including the Medical Society of Virginia Foundation (MSVF) and the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV).
“Twenty years ago, I and others serving MSV at the time, Dr. Carol Shapiro and Dr. Larry Blanchard among them, helped initiate a process of strategic planning to help strengthen MSV so it could be better prepared to face the issues of that day and hopefully begin to influence the direction of the future,” said Dr. Tuck.
“One of the most exciting outcomes of that process was the reinvigoration of the MSV Foundation. It was restructured to focus on better equipping physicians to improve the health of their patients. This mission caught hold with an amazing group of committed physicians,” he said.
“All of this requires a fair amount of time away from home and many spouses are right there by our sides, developing relationships which last for a lifetime,” said Dr. Tuck.
During the intensive period when her husband was serving on multiple boards and foundations,
Sara Huff Tuck was supportive of this involvement and, as a member of the MSV Alliance, continues to help create the strong bonds of family commitment to the medical profession.
In honor of years of dedication to MSVF and MSV, the Tucks decided to support the Foundation’s Silver Society which was established to recognize the Foundation’s 25th anniversary. Society contributors commit to supporting MSVF with a gift of over $25,000 over five years. The Tucks join other physicians in celebrating the tremendous success MSVF has recognized and its leadership in supporting physicians in Virginia.
Dr. Tuck explained that MSVF programs are important to the future the profession because they help physicians express their interest and concern in the welfare of their patients, and they send a message to the public and decision makers that help define who physicians are and what the practice of medicine is like.
“While our work should not be primarily motivated by the fact that it promotes our image, secondarily it does,” said Dr. Tuck. “It is a part of having a well-rounded medical society.”
“It is really exciting to be able to give back in this way—to promote an institution that has been important in my life. I have a favorite quote that pertains to my view on this: ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.’”
“I am still practicing full time and enjoying it as much as ever,” said Dr. Tuck. “I am excited to have the opportunity to share with MSVF.
“I see MSVF as it has grown, and, ‘wow,’ it is something that all of us as practicing physicians out here can be proud of and lend a hand to.”