OUTSTANDING DENTAL SERVICE AWARD
Tammy M. Boudry, D.D.S., H Sci ’99, Dent ’06
Fond du Lac, Wis.
As the class speaker at her Dental School graduation ceremony, Tammy encouraged her classmates to give back: “Marquette has given us the skills to make a difference. Let’s go out there and save the world one tooth at a time.” Tammy has taken her own advice and built upon it -- by caring for patients in need in her community and around the world.
Owning a private practice in Fond du Lac, Wis., allows Tammy and her team the flexibility to serve and give back to their community. In 2020, her office generously donated nearly $100,000 of free dental treatments to those in need, including exams, X-rays, and cleanings. In addition to their financial support, they also run free oral cancer screening events and annual cleaning supply drives for families in need. The team participates in school dental health months where they educate elementary-age children and donate hundreds of toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss. Tammy’s commitment to give back doesn’t stop there. For more than 10 years, she has traveled on mission trips to Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
Tammy’s passion for service epitomizes the Jesuit values of servant leadership and cura personalis, or care for the whole person. Her personal volunteer resume includes: 10 years with the Special Olympics; mentoring Marquette dental students; and volunteering with Team Smile, Operation Gratitude, Sigma, Kiwanis, Headstart and St. Baldrick’s. She also has been actively involved in Wisconsin Dental Association’s Mission of Mercy since 2011.
After her dog Bailey, one of Wisconsin’s first certified dental therapy dogs, passed away in 2019, Tammy started a foundation named Bailey's Fund to help provide financial support and training for therapy, service and facility dogs in the area. Bailey's Fund provided two school therapy dogs as well as supported the local sheriff's canine department.
Tammy defines success as making people smile by making a difference in their lives. She credits Marquette with helping to shape and strengthen her values and relationships – with God, with her family and with humankind.
Fun Facts:
Name someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner.
“I would love to have dinner with my deceased grandparents,” she says. “I can't possibly choose just one of them.”
Name a Marquette faculty or staff member who had an impact on you, and how.
“Dr. Dennis Abere was instrumental in my life, treating his patients and team as if they were all his family. He helped shape everything from the way I administer anesthetic to the way I treat my team and run my practice,” she says.
What is one of your favorite Marquette memories?
“In one of my first classes, I had an instructor who knew me as a dental hygienist. I carved a preparation in a tooth and proudly brought it up to him. He said, ‘This would be acceptable for anybody in this room, but not you. Have a seat and do it again.’ That moment set the tone for the next four years,” she says. “I always strived to be better than I thought I could be.”