Members Honored at College of Optometrists in Vision Development 44th Annual Meeting

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Six individuals received awards for their contributions to developmental optometry during the Awards Luncheon held at the 44th Annual Meeting of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), October 24, 2014, in San Diego, California. Receiving recognition were Drs. Rochelle Mozlin, Gary Williams, Irwin Suchoff, Andrea Thau, Tamara Oechslin, and Certified Optometric Vision Therapist, Deborah Killion.

The 2014 A.M. Skeffington Award for outstanding contributions to the optometric literature in the areas of behavioral vision care and vision therapy was given to Rochelle Mozlin, OD, FCOVD, FCOVD-A. Dr. Mozlin is an optometrist on faculty at SUNY College of Optometry in New York, NY.

Gary Williams, OD, FCOVD was awarded the 2014 G.N. Getman Award in recognition of his excellence in developmental optometry, his contributions to COVD as past president, and his exceptional dedication as COVD Education Chair.

The President’s Award was presented to Irwin Suchoff, OD, FCOVD-A, for his tireless work promoting developmental optometry, his leadership in the substantial improvements to the fellowship and therapist certification processes, and his decades of exceptional service and contributions to COVD.

The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Andrea Thau, OD, FCOVD, for her continued support of and contributions to COVD and optometry. Dr. Thau is the current AOA Vice-President and AOA liaison to COVD.

The 2014 Certified Optometric Vision Therapist of the Year Award was given to Deborah Killion for her outstanding dedication to behavioral optometry and patient care. Ms. Killion works for Dr. Michael Galloway in Marlton, New Jersey.

These awards are given annually at the COVD Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon. Nominations for the awards are reviewed by selection committees compiled of past award recipients, COVD members and members of the Board of Directors.

In 2013 Beta Sigma Kappa (BSK) entered into partnership with COVD by providing an initial donation of $50,000 to endow research in visual development.. The BSK-COVD Research Fund Research Grant provides support for optometric faculty research and/or optometric resident research in binocular vision and/or visual performance issues. All optometric related faculty and research at an accredited university were invited to apply. Dr. Tamara Oechslin from The Ohio State University was awarded the 2014 grant for her for the research project Imaging of Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Effects (I-CITE).

In addition, 30 travel grants and four travel scholarships were presented to optometry students and residents to help defer expenses for their attendance at the COVD meeting. COVD received donations from COVD members to help fund these grants and scholarships. Special thanks to Dr. Robert and Mrs. Linda Sanet for the four VT Resident travel scholarships.

CONTACT: Pamela R. Happ, MSM, CAE
COVD Executive Director
330.995.0718 tel

Email: phapp@covd.org 
Website: www.covd.org

About COVD

The College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) is an international, non-profit optometric membership organization that provides education, evaluation, and board certification programs in behavioral and developmental vision care, vision therapy, and visual rehabilitation. The organization is comprised of doctors of optometry, vision therapists and other vision specialists. For more information on learning-related vision problems, vision therapy and COVD, please visit http://www.covd.org or call 330.995.0718.

A series of public service announcements (PSAs) are available at covd.org to help raise awareness that vision problems can not only interfere with learning, but sports performance, and other activities of daily living. These PSAs also address vision problems that impact individuals who have autism spectrum disorders or those who have suffered a head injury.

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