Women In Optometry regularly recognizes the awards and accomplishments of those in the profession and in their communities in the “Awards and Recognitions” series.
Have you received an award or acknowledgment for your contributions to optometry or your community? Send us a note.
Congratulations to all honorees.
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Jacqueline Theis, OD, FAAO, FNAP, of Richmond, was named the 2025 Optometrist of the Year by the Virginia Optometric Association. |
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Jenna Steffen Moran, OD, of Aurora, was named the 2025 Young Optometrist of the Year by the Colorado Optometric Association. |
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Alice McCaslin, OD, MS, FAAO, of Muncie, was named the 2025 Young Optometrist of the Year by the Indiana Optometric Association. |
| Optometry Association of Louisiana 2025 Award Recipients | |
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Amy Puerto, OD, FAAO, of Covington, was named OD of the Year. |
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Madison Wall-Hayes, OD, of Metairie, was named Young OD of the Year. |
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The Louisiana Lions Eye Foundation won the 2025 Service Award. |
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Bill Marionneaux, OD, of Winnsboro, won the 2025 Dr. James Sandefur Distinguished Service Award. |
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Senator Beth Mizell was named 2025 Legislator of the Year. |
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Jessica Roberson, CPOA, of New Orleans, was named Paraoptometric of the Year. |
| Arkansas Optometric Association | |
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Julie Dolven, OD, of Gosnell, was elected as President. |
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Katie Brown, OD, of Hot Springs, was named President-Elect. |
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Allison Hall, OD, of Clarksville, was elected as Vice President. |
| Optometry Giving Sight Brien Holden Founders Award Recipients
The awards will be presented at the inaugural Brien Holden Founders Award Dinner on Oct. 7 in Boston, Mass., preceding the American Academy of Optometry’s 2025 Annual Meeting. |
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Greg Pearl, OD, of Long Beach, California |
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CooperVision |
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CooperVision earned ASCM Company of the Year Honors for the second consecutive year. |
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Nathan Lighthizer, OD, FAAO, of Tahlequah, was named Optometric Physician of the Year by the Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians. |
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John Gelles, OD, FIAO, FCLSA, FSLS, FBCLA, of New York, New York, won the Dr. Arthur B. Epstein GPLI Award for Excellence in Specialty Contact Lenses and Anterior Segment Disease. |
| Contact Lens and Cornea Section Award Winners
The CLCS Awards: ‘Conversations with Contact Lens Leaders’ will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, June 27, at Optometry’s Meeting 2025 in Minneapolis. |
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Jaime Antonio, OD, of Mandeville, Jamaica, won the Dr. Rodger Kame Award. |
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Beth Kinoshita, OD, FAAO, Dipl. ABO, of Forest Grove, Oregon, won the Achievement Award. |
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Roxanne Achong-Coan, OD, of Orlando, Florida, won the Luminary Award. |
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Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA, of Davis, California, won the Legends Award. |
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Susan Resnick, OD, FAAO, FSLS, of New York, New York, won the Dr. “Uncle Frank” Fontana Award. |
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Lyndon Jones, PhD, of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, won the Dr. Donald R. Korb Award. |
| Heart of America Eye Care Congress Poster Winners
Five residents were selected to receive an award for outstanding poster for the 2025 meeting. These posters were recognized as having the highest rankings from the poster selection committee. |
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Shihij Takoo, OD, MS, of Columbus, Ohio, received the Dr. Larry Stoppel Award for Excellent Poster for her work on, “If Eyes Could Talk: Using scleral lenses to regain eye-tracking communication device use in an ALS patient.” |
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Nathan Patterson, OD, of Portland, Oregon, “A New Perspective on Acute Retinal Ischemia” |
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Mallory Wright, OD, of Birmingham, Alabama, “Acute Horner’s Syndrome Leading to a Diagnosis of Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgia.” |
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Jordan Gott, OD, of Miami, Florida, “Bilateral CRVO in Polyclonal Hyperviscosity Syndrome Secondary to Multiple Myeloma.” |
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Rodnell Batac, OD, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, “A Case of Peripapillary Choroidal Neovascular Membrane (CNVM) in a 12-year-old with optic disc drusen—An Extremely Rare Complication.” |
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Mike Biega, of Boston, Massachusetts, was appointed as Vice President of Investor Relations and Communications at Harrow. |
| Rick Bay Foundation Student Innovator of the Year Awards
New England College of Optometry and Indiana University School of Optometry plan to announce their winners this fall. |
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Angela Deng and Ami Kshatriya, class of 2026, Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, UC Berkeley School of Optometry. |
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Dr. Bayan Allaz, class of 2025, Illinois College of Optometry. |
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Annette Kretov, class of 2028, The Ohio State University College of Optometry. |
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Maryam Ahmadi Jeyhoonabadi, class of 2028, Southern College of Optometry. |
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Melinda Morvai, class of 2026, and Will Doan Nguyen, class of 2025, SUNY College of Optometry. |
| National Optometric Association HBCU Mentorship Program—2025 Award Winners | |
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Pre-optometry and Equipment Grant winner: Jeffrey Tyler Artis, Tougaloo College/Southern College of Optometry |
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Equipment Grant winners: Arlena Elizabeth Thompson, Xavier University/Southern College of Optometry; Aseah Nevaeh Montambault, Howard University/Indiana University |
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Pre-optometry Grant winners: Desiree Sherise Welch, Winston Salem State University; Erica Janae’ Barnes, Shelton State Community College; Mary Laila Reid, Norfolk State University; Courtland Elane Smith, Prairie View A&M University; Nautica S. Steele, Tuskegee University |
| 2025 Transitions® Optical Advancement Optometry and Opticianry Grant Winners | |
| Optometry Grant Winners | |
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Annalyse Belton, Southern College of Optometry |
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Shelby Laitipaya, New England College of Optometry |
| Opticianry Grant Winners | |
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Takenya Moody, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College |
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Rebecca Moore, Hillsborough Community College |
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Shahd Othman, Erie Community College |
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Monica Thu Do, class of 2027, won the 2025 Dr. Craig Hisaka Memorial scholarship from UC Berkeley Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, in partnership with VSP Ventures. |
See previous Awards & Recognitions (previously Women in the News) from May 2025, April 2025 and March 2025.
To view more newsmaker stories from WO, click here.
