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AOA honors Strickland, Layman, Horn, Jameson
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LAS VEGAS – Here at the Opening General Session and Awards Presentation at Optometry’s Meeting, the American Optometric Association (AOA) Annual Congress, on Thursday, the country’s top optometrists were recognized. Attendees were also treated to a keynote presentation by “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams.
At what meeting organizers are calling the largest AOA Congress ever, outgoing AOA President Richard L. Wallingford Jr., OD, presented the Distinguished Service Award to former University of Houston College of Optometry dean, Jerald W. Strickland, OD, PhD, LHD, FAAO. Dr. Strickland was honored with the Texas Optometric Association Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and he currently serves as the interim senior vice chancellor/senior vice president for academic affairs and provost of the University of Houston.
Robert C. Layman, OD, received the Optometrist of the Year Award. Dr. Layman is in private group practice with locations in Ohio and Michigan. He was president of the Ohio Optometric Association in 2002 and volunteers his time for local, state and national organized optometry.
The AOA recognized Barbara L. Horn, OD, as Young Optometrist of the Year. She has been involved in organized optometry at the local, state and national level and contributes time to optometric volunteer organizations. Dr. Horn has held an academic position at the Michigan College of Optometry since 2001. She was named the 2005 Michigan Optometric Association Young OD of the Year.
Mary E. Jameson, BHS, COA, CPOT, NCLC, an optometric technician in Specialty Services at the Eye Institute of Pennsylvania College of Optometry, received the AOA’s Paraoptometric of the Year award. In 1993 she was named the Pennsylvania Paraoptometric of the Year. She currently serves on the AOA Commission on Paraoptometric Certification.
After the awards presentation, cartoonist Adams entertained the audience by sharing the story of his progression to a nationally recognized cartoonist through his “Dilbert” comic strip. After earning an MBA degree and holding positions at major corporations, he used his specific experiences in the corporate world as a basis for his comic strip. The audience was particularly entertained by his examples of comic strips that never made it into print. Looking back at his corporate and cartoon artist career, he stated that his success all came down to timing.