Caroline Beesley Pate, O.D., is the 2017 recipient of the UAB President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for the School of Optometry.

Pate, an associate professor of Optometry and director of the School’s Residency Programs, was chosen for the award by the School’s awards committee, which is chaired by Candice Turner, O.D., clinical assistant professor of Optometry.

Four students with the UAB School of Optometry Vision Science Graduate Program are recipients of travel grants for the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).

Ten members of the UAB School of Optometry Class of 2017 have accepted residency positions and will receive advanced clinical education in specialty areas of optometry in the 2017-2018 academic year.

The American Optometric Association has named Dr. Elizabeth Steele, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the UAB School of Optometry, its Optometric Educator of the Year.

Steele will be honored as the recipient of the 2017 Optometric Educator Award for her “outstanding service on behalf of the profession, optometric education and the visual welfare of the public,” according to the AOA, which is recognized as one of the leading authorities in optometry.

The award will be presented at a ceremony on June 21 in Washington D.C. at the AOA’s 2017 Optometry’s Meeting.

Five students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry were recognized at the 42nd annual UAB Honors Convocation, which was held March 30 at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.

The following students were presented awards:

Twelve optometrists will join the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry as residents for the 2017-2018 academic year. The incoming residents filled slots in six programs offered by the School, and they will begin their training in the summer.

A graduate student at The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry will be recognized at the 42nd annual UAB Honors Convocation.

Katie Bales, a doctoral student in the Vision Science Graduate Program in the School of Optometry’s Department of Optometry and Vision Science, will receive an Outstanding Student Award at the ceremony, which will be held March 30 at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.

An alumna of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry has been elected president of SECO International, a globally-recognized association for optometry.

Dr. Lynn Hammonds, who graduated from the School in 1991, is the second woman to be elected president of SECO International. The first was elected in 1933. Hammonds was elected president at SECO 2017, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia, where SECO International is headquartered.

Fifty first-year optometry students were presented with white coats—a symbol of passage from the classroom into clinical training—at The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry’s annual White Coat Ceremony, held Friday, March 10, at the UAB National Alumni Society House.

Dr. Henry B. Peters, the first dean and faculty member of the UAB School of Optometry, has been posthumously inducted as the first optometrist into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame.

A native of Oakland, California, Dr. Peters was working in private practice optometry with his father following his service with the United States Navy during World War II. While in private practice, Dr. Peters became active in optometric education and research and served on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley in both the School of Optometry and School of Public Health.

Congratulations to the members of the Class of 2016 who were recognized during this year's Graduate Day Awards Presentation.

The UAB School of Optometry held its 43rd Convocation and Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on Friday, May 20, 2016. The School conferred 46 Doctor of Optometry degrees and recognized residents completing the optometry residency program, as well as students who completed the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Vision Science degree programs.

The UAB School of Optometry held its annual White Coat Ceremony for second-year optometry students on Friday, August 19, 2016 at the UAB National Alumni Society House. The 48 members of the Class of 2019 were presented with the white coats as a symbol of their passage from the classroom into clinical training.

The UAB School of Optometry was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Dr. Larry Alexander. Dr. Alexander served UABSO for 20 years as a Professor and chief of the ocular disease service. He also participated in private practice, served in many administrative capacities, and performed clinical research in glaucoma, diabetes, hypertension, and dry eye.

Dr. Timothy Kraft has been named the first Chair of the School of Optometry’s Department of Optometry and Vision Science.

By Christie Brown

Almost 300 underserved individuals from the Birmingham area received eye exams and glasses at no cost as part of the UAB School of Optometry’s Gift of Sight event that took place December 2-5, 2015.

UAB School of Optometry faculty and PhD trainees, Anna Ablamowicz, OD, and Cameron Postnikoff, MASc, have been named Ezell Fellows by the American Optometric Foundation (AOF).

The AOF recently announced the nine recipients of the prestigious fellowships, named after the organization’s founding president, Dr. William C. Ezell. The program was established to provide talented post-doctoral students who are pursuing an advanced degree in optometric research and education recognition and support. More than 300 Ezell Fellowships have been awarded since the program’s 1949 inception.

UABSO congratulates two long-standing faculty members, Dr. Joe Fleming and Dr. Leo Semes, on their retirements. Their commitment and contributions to the School have been tremendous, and we wish them the very best.

By Line

Improved eyesight is invaluable, but the cost for some can be prohibitive. With this in mind, Robert G. and Sandra Nichols Wilson have made a legacy gift to establish The Robert G. and Sandra Nichols Wilson Endowed Support Fund in Optometry.