Byron Keith Moore -- Professor Emeritus at Indiana University

 

Dr. B. Keith Moore

Byron Keith Moore was born on October 12, 1942 in Duncan, Oklahoma, a small town about 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.  His parents were Byron Lowell Moore and Elma Jewel Beaty.  Elma’s grandmother was Mary Stanley Thomas who was born in Trigg County, Kentucky.  Keith grew up in Enid, Oklahoma where his family had moved when he was young.  Keith was the oldest of four children.  He had two brothers, Monty Neal Moore who was born in 1947 and Craig Beaty Moore, born in 1950.  His only sister, Marilyn Moore, was born in 1954.

Keith became a National Merit Scholar and attended Phillips University in Enid where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics.  He then went on to attend the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign where he obtained a Master of Science degree in Physics and a PhD in mining and metallurgical engineering. 

A water skiing accident in 1969 shifted his life and focus to biomedical engineering. He received a post-doctoral fellowship to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he was involved in testing glue in hip replacements and taught dental materials. Dr. Moore was head of dental research at the American Dental Association for several years and later also taught at the University of Chicago.

In 1977 he joined the faculty of Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis. The impact of his teaching and research mentoring spanned the globe. Considered an expert in test development and methodology, he played a significant role in the development of many national and international dental material standards. He was an active member of the Dental Materials group at Indiana University for 30 years until he retired in 2007.

He was married to Diana Ruth Henry of East Peoria, Illinois on June 24, 1967, in Champaign, Illinois.  After his retirement, Keith and Diana became residents of Englewood, FL, to escape the cold winters in Indiana.

Keith enjoyed doing woodworking in his spare time.  He was a member of the Central Indiana Woodworkers, an organization for amateur and professional individuals having an interest in fabricating items form wood. Through this organization, Keith built wooden toys for children. The group gave out more than 15,000 toys each year at Christmas. Other woodworking ventures that Keith loved included making mission style furniture, tables and lamps and turning pens and bowls on the lathe.

Keith died on May 3, 2019, in Community Hospital North, in Indianapolis and was cremated.

LINEAGE:  (Byron Keith Moore was the son of Bryon Lowell and Elma Jewel Beaty Moore, the grandson of Clarence A. and Margaret Rae McCasland Beaty and great-grandson of Thomas Jesse and Mary Stanley Thomas McCasland.  Mary Stanley was the first child of James Clark “Muck” and Elizabeth Josephine Lawrence Thomas.  James Clark was the fourth child of James, Jr. and Margaret Ethridge Thomas.  James Jr. was the sixth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas. Elizabeth Lawrence was the second child of Ezekiel and Polly Sholar Lawrence.  Polly was the second child of Allen Thomas and Jemima Bridges Sholar.  Jemima was the first child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)