by Nathan Anderson
Tim Ansley, OD, class of 2014, is the UAB School of Optometry Alumni Association’s 2023 Young Alumnus of the Year. Ansley is recognized for his advocacy for the profession and service to his community.
Ansley is the owner of Inverness Eye Care and Brocks Gap Eye Care in Hoover, AL. The Inverness practice was voted “Best Eye Care Practice” in Shelby County in 2022 and 2023, while the Brocks Gap location was voted Hoover’s “Best Eye Care Practice” in 2023. Both serve as externship sites for UABSO students to help students prepare for their future careers.
“This year alone, we will host seven externs from the UABSO 2024 class,” he said. “Our doctors pride themselves in helping train and fully prepare students to enter the workforce upon graduation.”
His contributions to the professions are many as he is a strong advocate for optometry in the state of Alabama. Ansley serves as vice president and government relations chair for the Alabama Optometric Association (ALOA), member director for Central Alabama’s Independent Doctors of Optometric Care (IDOC) Alliance and is a board member for the UABSO Alumni Association. For his contributions to the profession and his community, Ansley was named the ALOA 2019 Young Optometrist of the Year.
“Optometry is a legislative profession,” he said. “Much of what we do in practice today was the result of years of hard work from the doctors that came before us. I enjoy serving on various boards and committees. However, my priority now is updating our 28-year-old optometry law to expand our scope of practice within Alabama. As a part of the ALOA, we spend countless hours educating our state legislators about issues we deal with in practice today.”
Ansley plans to continue advocating for the advancement of optometry and ensuring quality eye care for his patients.
“I hope to continue to help patients see better day in and day out,” Ansley said. “I also want to properly manage eye diseases that will help patients maintain good vision for a long time and to help move my profession forward, leaving it much better than I found it."