Walter Buck, Ph.D.
Chair, Division of Structural Medicine

Dr. Buck received both his bachelor's of science and Ph.D. degrees from The Ohio State University. When the time finally arrived to look for a position to begin his career, Dr. Buck investigated teaching at osteopathic medical schools because he felt that osteopathic physicians appreciated and utilized anatomy--especially through manipulative medicine--more than their allopathic counterparts. He has taught at osteopathic colleges in Kirksville and Kansas City, Missouri and served as Preclinical Dean for five years at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pennsylvania. Dr. Buck chose to teach at RVU because of his prior affiliation with Dr. Ronnie Martin, Chief Academic Officer and Dean for RVUCOM. The two met while conducting accreditation site visits for colleges of osteopathic medicine. Dr. Buck agreed that Colorado needed a college of osteopathic medicine. Coincidentally, his wife, daughter and granddaughter have strong ties to Colorado, so the opportunity at RVU was a good move for the family.

After assembling the Visible Man model and visiting the Cleveland Health Museum as a child, Dr. Buck’s interest prompted him to begin giving formal presentations on the human body to his classmates in the 5th and 6th grades. His fascination with anatomical sciences continues today, almost fifty years later. “When it became time to choose a career that would both be stable throughout my life and keep me interested, anatomy seemed a good choice for two reasons: the world always needs physicians, and with human diversity, during dissection, it’s much like Forrest Gump said, ‘You never know what you’re gonna get’.”

Having always been interested in intricate and artful endeavors, Dr. Buck sees the experiences in his life as being very congruent. Teaching anatomy, gymnastics, automotive restoration, and Bonsai reflect these congruencies. He became an assistant coach while attending graduate school after having competed in Division 1 college level gymnastics. “The year I received my Ph.D., we also won the NCAA National Gymnastics Championship for the first time. It was a great way to leave Ohio State and begin a new career”. Dr. Buck still restores early model Mustangs and is currently working on a 1965 Mustang fastback which he is restoring as a Shelby GT 350 clone. He also has show-quality Bonsai trees on display at the Denver Botanical Gardens.