Welcome to ThanosInstitute.com. For over 2 decades Thanos has been the leading force behind the development of courses, seminars and supportive material for funeral directors' continuing education needs. Dr. Ralph Klicker, founder and president of Thanos Institute, has authored not only independent study courses, but also 3 textbooks that are being used in over 24 mortuary science schools across the country. We want you to view our web site as a place that provides a means for you to complete your continuing education credits, as well as a "center" that enables you to gain knowledge, exchange ideas, and provide solutions to problems specific to funeral service practitioners. We are currently developing our on-line "Practitioner Forum" where you'll have the opportunity to meet funeral directors from around the world through the exchange of questions and answers to common issues.
At Thanos Institute, we pride ourselves on our personalized service, providing "human assistance" to anyone requiring one-to-one help with any of our products or services. Enjoy our site and let us know if there is anything else we can do for you!
"Learn it today, use it tomorrow" is the basis of our programming. Because of this philosophy, our courses, seminars, and products are constructed of solid information that is relevant, thought provoking and in a format that is easy to understand and apply. Our focus is not simply providing a means for licensed funeral directors to meet their re-licensing requirements. But rather, a means to learn and grow in order to provide better service.
To Provide Funeral Directors with:
Ralph L. Klicker, Ph.D. founder and President of Thanos Institute.
Ralph has been involved in funeral service since the age of 15 when he started working in a funeral home after school. He has been an embalmer, a funeral director, the Director of Training for a multi-location funeral firm, a Mortuary Science Instructor and the Director of a University Mortuary Science Program. Dr. Klicker has spoken extensively nationally and internationally to both funeral service and death oriented groups and has written three of the major textbooks used today in most Mortuary Science programs. These books include Funeral Directing and Funeral Service Management, Restorative Art and Science, and Ethics in Funeral Service. He has written over 60 articles for funeral publications, was on the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of Funeral Service and is one of a few instructors for NFDA's Certified Pre-Need Planning Program. Whenever time permits, Ralph works as a licensed funeral director in New York State.
Mary Rizzo, Vice President of Continuing Education
Mary Rizzo has been with Thanos Institute for 21 years, as our continuing education program expert. She receives high praise from our students and customers as someone who "goes the extra mile" to help them meet their goals. In addition, Mary has also written articles for journals in our profession. As a result of Mary's interest in each of our students, she has recommended the development of several of our courses to help them meet their educational and professional needs. Our recent addition of an OSHA continuing education course is one such example.
Joan Klicker, Vice President of Special Projects
Joan Klicker has been an educator and manager for over 20 years. Her focus has recently been on the development of our new web-site and our new on-line course format. Joan has written for professional journals and conducts management seminars for funeral directors. Joan also assists Dr. Klicker in the development of new courses and seminars.