By Staff
Monday, April 8, 2019 12:24 AM
ST. LOUIS—
The American Academy of Optometry has announced six individuals and one public health program as winners of its annual awards. The winners will be honored at Optometry’s Meeting 2019, during the AOA Block Party on Wednesday, June 19, from 4-7pm in St. Louis. This year’s winners are:
Ben Casella, OD, of Georgia, is honored with the Optometrist of the Year Award, recognized for his outstanding service on behalf of the profession and the visual welfare of the public. Dr. Casella is a third generation optometrist who graduated from University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry and completed a residency in ocular disease at SUNY State College of Optometry. As president of the Georgia Optometric Association since 2016, Dr. Casella has guided his state through many scope expansions, testified in committee hearings, and worked with the media.
By Staff
Monday, April 8, 2019 12:15 AM
PEORIA, Ill.—Sunglass and eyeglass maker
Maui Jim, has named Nathan McKinley senior sales director, ophthalmic division. With McKinley, the first to fill this position at Maui Jim, the brand is putting more focus behind their Ophthalmic line, which launched in early 2018. McKinley will help the brand’s ophthalmic branch expand distribution and grow Maui Jim’s team of ophthalmic account executives, making this branch of the business a big initiative for 2019 and beyond, the brand said in a statement.
By Stephanie Sengwe
Friday, April 5, 2019 2:28 PM
Stephanie Doherty is a London-based optometrist whose main focus is special effects contact lenses. Doherty graduated from Cardiff University Wales in the summer of 2013, and went on to complete her pre-registration year, which in the U.K., means you work under a practicing optometrist for one year before taking the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and registering with the college of optometrists.
By Staff
Friday, April 5, 2019 12:24 AM
ST. LOUIS—
The American Optometric Association has announced the four ODs who will be inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame in 2019. This year’s inductees are: Murray Fingeret, OD; Donald Jarnagin, OD; Michael Mittelman, OD; and Glen Steele, OD. Dr. Fingeret is a 1976 graduate of the New England College of Optometry. He completed his residency program at the Genesee Valley Group Health Association, Joseph C. Wilson Health Center in Rochester, New York, and later served as chief of the optometry section at both the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, New York Harbor Health Care System, Brooklyn and St. Albans Campus.
By Staff
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 12:26 AM
SCHIPHOL, The Netherlands—
GrandVision NV announced that Paulo de Castro has resigned from his position as CFO and member of the management board, effective May 15, 2019.
By Staff
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 12:21 AM
FORT WORTH, Texas—
Alcon has announced that Timothy C. Stonesifer is joining the company as its new senior vice president and chief financial officer. He will assume his role on April 9, 2019, following Alcon’s separation from
Novartis, as reported by
VMAIL. Stonesifer will replace Alcon’s current CFO, David Murray, who has decided to remain with Novartis and return to Europe. Before taking on this role, Stonesifer served as executive vice president and CFO at Hewlett Packard Enterprises, where he executed two spin merge transactions, and completed 11 acquisitions, among other accomplishments.
By Staff
Thursday, March 28, 2019 12:15 AM
NEW YORK—
Lighthouse Guild, the not-for-profit vision and healthcare organization, announced that Tiffany Schmidt, PhD, is the recipient of the
2019 Pisart Award for her significant contributions to the field of vision science. Her work in sensory research and circadian biology is advancing the understanding of adult retinal function and retinal development, the organization said in a statement.
By Staff
Tuesday, March 26, 2019 12:15 AM
Madison, Wis.—
Rev360, the company that delivers
RevolutionEHR and a suite of eyecare practice and advancement solutions to eyecare professionals throughout the U.S. and Canada, has named Shannon Collins Thackray as vice president of human resources. Thackray has a distinguished career in human resources, ranging from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, according to a recent Rev360 announcement. Thackray most recently was with Accenture, where she held several senior roles within human resources and recruiting.
By Stephanie Sengwe
Friday, March 22, 2019 3:09 PM
The team here at
VM kicked off the week with our annual
Vision Monday Global Leadership Summit which took place at the Times Center this past Wednesday. This year’s program, titled "Decoding the Consumer: The New Science of Customer Behavior," focused on consumer trends and behavior. Those in attendance were presented with trends and tactics that are shaping business decision-making from top retail analysts, health care experts, data scientists and marketing innovators.
By Staff
Thursday, March 21, 2019 5:51 PM
NEW YORK— Hundreds of friends, former business colleagues and family came to pay their respects as services were held on March 14th on Long Island for Alfred Berg, 67, one of the original co-founders of Marchon Eyewear, who later became the company’s president and CEO. He passed away on March 10 following a two-year battle with cancer, surrounded by his family.
By Marge Axelrad
Thursday, March 21, 2019 3:43 PM
Some people are, simply, a force. They may not always know it, or see themselves that way, but that’s the impact or influence they have on other people. Al Berg, one of the co-founders of Marchon back in 1983 and then its president and CEO for some 25 years, was the visionary eyewear executive who was one of those forces for me. When I came to this business in 1988 as editor of a then-one-year-old business publication here at Jobson, covering a zooming, complicated business and not knowing a soul, Al was someone I gravitated to. He was quick, funny, a New Yorker like me, observant, driven, brave and passionate about business. He also seemed to ‘get’ me. He understood what we were trying to do, writing about a business that was growing in many directions, in leaps and bounds. He was fascinated by that, he was energized by it, sometimes very pro and sometimes con (!) and, man, did he let me know it.
By Staff
Tuesday, March 19, 2019 12:27 AM
NORFOLK, Va.—Advancing Eyecare, a recently formed holding owned by private equity firm
Atlantic Street Capital, has appointed Brad Staley as chief executive officer, effective immediately. Staley will oversee all operations of Advancing Eyecare's ophthalmic equipment industry business units:
Lombart Instrument,
Marco, INNOVA and
Enhanced Medical Services, according to an announcement Monday. Staley is the first chief executive officer of Advancing Eyecare and will be responsible for each of the four individual companies under its ownership, a spokesman told
VMAIL. David Marco and Bryan Bevin, a senior operating advisor to Atlantic Street Capital’s portfolio companies, will continue in their roles as co-chairman, the spokesman added.
By Staff
Tuesday, March 19, 2019 12:24 AM
NEW YORK—
Luxury Optical Holdings (LOH) has announced the promotion of Jeff Press to chief creative officer, overseeing product design and creative for Robert Marc NYC, Morgenthal Frederics,and its designer collaborations, including Oscar de la Renta and Monse. (LOH) is a leading designer and purveyor of independent eyewear with a global footprint.The company owns the Robert Marc NYC and Morgenthal Frederics brands and has the exclusive distribution rights for the Lunor brand in the U.S. LOH manufactures and distributes its handcrafted specialty frames and lenses in 28 eyewear boutiques throughout North America and through an expanding global wholesale network.
By Staff
Monday, March 18, 2019 12:24 AM
HOUSTON—
Today’s Vision Licensing Corporation (TVLC) has changed leadership for the first time in its 15-year history and has named Dr. Ali Mostaghimi as president. At 39, he is one of the youngest doctor presidents of a major U.S. optometry group, the company pointed out. Dr. Mostaghimi succeeds Dr. Donald Glenz, who founded Today’s Vision in 1984 as a franchise group. Dr. Glenz continued as the TVLC president after he and partner Stig Pederson sold to the original 22 doctors who founded TVLC. After 42 years practicing in Houston, Dr. Glenz recently sold his practice.
By Staff
Monday, March 18, 2019 12:21 AM
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.—For Tom Burke, who joined
ABB Optical as chief executive officer last year, running an organization successfully comes down to two things: strategy and structure. This is the formula he has relied upon in running various businesses over a 40-year career (mostly under the Cardinal Health corporate umbrella) and it underpins the plan he’s worked to put in place since joining ABB last August. “If the strategy is solid and the structure is great and you execute, then you can do anything,” Burke told
VMAIL in a recent interview. “That was my story with Cardinal.”