Katie Clore, OD, has been named the 2020 Alabama Optometric Association (ALOA) Educator of the Year.

“To receive this award from this association, representing both the students I had the pleasure to teach and my professional colleagues is truly an honor for me.”

Clore is a longtime UAB educator. After receiving her Doctor of Optometry degree from UAB in 1982, she joined the optometry faculty as a primary care clinical instructor.

“I was fortunate enough to be taught at the UAB School of Optometry by some of the best optometric educators in the country, such as Larry Alexander, John Amos. Jimmy Bartlett, Jim Marbourg, Leo Semes and others,” she said. “I then had the amazing opportunity to join the faculty and teach alongside the best of the best and to be inspired by their commitment and dedication to the education of optometric students and optometrists.”

Currently, she is an associate professor and serves as chair of the Faculty Advisory Committee, director of the Continuing Education Department and co-chair of the Professional Program Academic and Honor Council. Clore is service director of UABSO’s faculty private practice, University Optometric Group, as well.

She is a proven leader in the field of optometric education. Clore is a past president and board member of ALOA. Clore currently serves as chair of the Association of Contact Lens Educators (AOCLE). She is a manuscript reviewer for Review of Optometry Online, and a course review for several organizations, including the Southeastern Educational Congress of Optometry (SECO), the Southwest Florida Optometric Association (SWFOA), PSS Eyecare and the Florida chapter of the American Optometric Association.

Clore is thankful to be part of the optometry community and especially for the opportunity to be an educator.

“To see the transformation my optometry students make in a few short years is truly a wonderful feeling, she said. “I’m grateful I have the opportunity daily to play a minor role in their evolution of becoming amazing future optometrists.”