Buche Named Angelo State’s 2024 Veteran of the Year

A San Antonio native, Buche served 29 years as a military dental officer, achieving the rank of colonel in both the Air Force and the Army. He spent the majority of his tenure working as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and served as chief of that specialty in Frankfurt, Germany, and at the U.S. medical center in Landstuhl, Germany. He also trained scores of young dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery residents until his retirement from the Army in 1998.

Following his military retirement, Buche owned and operated an oral and maxillofacial surgery practice in San Angelo for over 20 years until recently retiring again. During that time, he hired many Angelo State students, primarily from the Nursing Department. He and his wife, Randi, have also established four scholarship endowments at ASU, benefitting students in the nursing, biology, English and global security studies degree programs.

Ronnie Hawkins Jr."This award is personal to me, being a veteran myself," said ASU President Ronnie Hawkins Jr. "It's always special to recognize a member of the Ram Family who has honorably served our country in the military and generously supports Angelo State. Dr. Buche is a rare individual to have achieved distinguished service in two different branches of our military before embarking on an equally successful civilian career. His outstanding service epitomizes our Core Value of what it means to be 'significant' and construct a legacy of dynamic impact beyond ourselves. We are proud to honor him as our 2024 ASU Veteran of the Year."

An honors graduate of Washburn University in Kansas, Buche earned his dental degree at the University of Missouri, completed a general practice residency at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, and completed his oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital-UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, a Fellow of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and a member of the American Dental Association.

The ASU Veteran of the Year program is sponsored by ASU's Veterans Educational and Transitional Services (VETS) Center and Division of External Affairs.