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AOA recognizes Carr, Heitmeier, Than
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SEATTLE – The American Optometric Association bestowed its annual awards upon a number of honorees for their contributions to optometry on Wednesday during the opening general session of Optometry’s Meeting.
Leland Carr III, OD, was honored with the AOA’s Distinguished Service Award. Carr has served as a college professor, dean of Pacific University, Oregon Optometrist of the Year, president of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry and president of the Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians. He is currently assistant dean and professor at Nova Southeastern University in Oklahoma.
“I haven’t done anything on my own for this profession,” Carr said as he accepted his award. “Anything I’ve ever done has been with an optometric colleague right by my side.”
Leland Carr III
Carr credited his Golden Gloves trainer with providing some of the best advice. At the end of every boxing round he would tell Carr: “I want you to forget about that round; it’s over and done with. You did a few things good, you did a lot of things bad, but the only round that counts is the one that comes next.”
Carr encouraged members of the audience to “get up off our apathetic behinds to endorse the future, welcome it and commit to working together instead of fighting amongst ourselves.”
Newview Oklahoma, a nonprofit organization that employs the blind and visually impaired in Oklahoma, received the Apollo Award, the highest award the AOA grants to a member of the general public.
Lauren Branch, Newview president and chief executive officer, who accepted the award, said Newview is the sole manufacturer of fire hoses for the U.S. forestry department. The organization creates jobs, runs a vision rehabilitation program and provides occupational therapy and in-home services for all generations.
“For many, a low vision diagnosis can be followed by isolation, a decline of activities and loss of hope,” Branch told meeting attendees, “but we can provide life-enhancing treatment, services, training and resources for thousands of patients.”
The 2015 Optometrist of the Year is Sen. David Heitmeier, OD. This New Orleans-based private practitioner is chair of the Louisiana Senate Health and Welfare Committee who was “the driving force behind Louisiana’s historic 2014 scope of practice bill that reinforced the power of the state board of optometry and allowed doctors of optometry to perform ophthalmic laser and lid surgeries and administer injections,” according to the AOA. He was named Louisiana Optometrist of the Year in 2009 and Statesman of the Year in 2012.
Heitmeier shared his experience as a victim of Hurricane Katrina.
Sen. David Heitmeier
“It was hard to reach out to anyone,” he told attendees. “My practice was destroyed. I could not live in my house. Government failed at every level. New Orleans was like a third-world country.”
He praised his fellow optometrists for contacting him immediately with offers of money, housing and transportation. But the government’s failings, along with the challenges in health care, were what motivated him to run for the Louisiana State Senate.
“If you have a burning desire to run for public office, call me, and I’ll do my best to try to talk you out of it,” Heitmeier joked. “But if you are passionate about it, we need you, and I’ll do my best to help.”
Tamara Petrosyan, OD, of New Jersey, was named Young Optometrist of the Year.
Petrosyan is an assistant clinical professor at her alma mater, the State University of New York. She advocates the InfantSee program as a state liaison to other New Jersey optometrists and serves on the New Jersey Optometric Physicians board of directors.
“I cannot stress how important it is for the newer optometrists to fight for optometry and stay current with the fast-paced changes that are happening,” Petrosyan said as she accepted her award. “It is even more important for the more established ODs to help the younger ODs be more involved. Having mentors to help you navigate through it can make a significant difference, and I’ve been very lucky to have that.”
Tammy Than, OD, Optometric Educator of the Year, is a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry. She has authored numerous research papers and is recognized for her involvement with and service to her optometry students. She received the Alabama Optometric Association’s Young Optometrist of the Year Award in 2005 and Educator of the Year Award in 2014.
Tammy Than
“I wish to recognize all my former and current students who constantly keep me challenged,” Than said. “It’s fascinating and rewarding to watch them grow from student to colleague.
“To teach is to touch lives forever, and my life has been touched deeply by each student who has passed my way,” she added.
Marilyn Beeson, CPOA, of Jackson, Miss., was named Paraoptometric of the Year. With a background as a geriatric specialist, she splits her time between the office and visiting nursing homes to assist bedridden patients. She is serving a 2-year term as president of the Mississippi Optometric Association’s Paraoptometric Association.
As she accepted her award, Beeson encouraged optometrists to invest in their staff, supporting training and encouraging them to grow. – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO