The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) received the sad news this week that former ACA President and Board Chair N. Ray Tuck, Jr., DC, passed away on Feb. 11. He was 52. Dr. Tuck’s tenure in office spanned a time of transformation for the association. Through all the change, colleagues remember him as an outgoing, unifying leader who collaborated with other members and helped to navigate the association in a positive direction.
Dr. Tuck was a Virginia native. He attended Radford University and then followed in the footsteps of his father, earning a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from National College of Chiropractic (now National University of Health Sciences) in Lombard, Ill. He would later take over his father’s practice and grow it to 11 locations across the state. As a result, in 2011 Tuck Chiropractic Clinic was named one of the top 50 rising and growing companies in Virginia.
While managing his expanding practice, Dr. Tuck still found time to contribute to ACA as well as his state and local community. He served as ACA’s Virginia delegate for six years before joining the Board of Governors. He would later be elected to serve as board chair (2017-2018) and then president of the association (2018-2019). His collaborative approach to leadership was an asset at a time when ACA undertook major branding and modernization updates, both designed to help the association better meet the needs of its members and the demands of modern health care. He was voted ACA’s Chiropractor of the Year in 2019.
In his home state, he served as president of the Unified Virginia Chiropractic Association and was later appointed by the governor to the Viriginia Board of Medicine, where in 2019 he would become the first chiropractor to serve as its president. Virginia is one of only three states in the U.S. that has a multidisciplinary licensing board; it is comprised of 18 members across multiple disciplines. Ever the collaborator, Dr. Tuck noted in an interview that the group got along surprisingly well. “When you have a group of people centered on one clear, defined mission, you can get some amazing work done,” he said.
“Ray was a modern Renaissance man. He loved people and networked constantly, building innumerable lasting relationships. Exceptionally curious and creative, he had a thirst for new knowledge and experiences,” recalls former ACA President David Herd, DC, who worked closely with Dr. Tuck in leadership. “Ray had effortless versatility and excelled in many areas. Being a free thinker, he was willing to question the status quo and risk making change. He believed in continuous learning and self-development. Ray was humble and selfless in all that he did.”
Along with his gift for connecting with people and his dedication to service, Dr. Tuck’s effortless way of communicating still resonates with those who knew him well. “Ray was fond of leaving conversations with a casual, “Hey—appreciate you!” remembers former ACA President Michele Maiers, DC, MPH, PhD, who also served as Dr. Tuck’s vice president. “Appreciation doesn’t begin to capture my feelings toward all that Ray accomplished on behalf of ACA. He was a clear-eyed, strategic leader whose good-naturedness and easy laugh made him a leader you wanted to follow.”
Given Dr. Tuck’s commitment to ongoing self-development, it’s not surprising that leadership was a topic of reflection for him. In a 2019 interview, he shared that he believed leading was not just for leaders, but something that was available to everyone no matter their station in life. He explained that when it comes to being a leader, there is a common misconception that you must be the president or CEO in order to lead, but the truth is that you can be a great leader in your role right now by being the person that everybody can depend on, garnering respect, and doing what’s right while no one is watching. “We all lead every day,” Dr. Tuck said, “even if it’s just leading ourselves.”
Note: For Dr. Tuck’s obituary, tributes and information on his April 6 celebration of life, click here.
