The Ohio State University College of Optometry first offered me a place to learn my “trade.” As time advanced, the people within the College provided me with a model for success. As a consequence of what I learned both in the classroom and in the professional environment, I am able to give back to the field of optometry. I help shape the future of our profession by teaching optometry students how to examine children and fit specialty contact lenses. Through research, I provide answers to clinical questions that are asked daily in practice, such as “Can children wear contact lenses?” and “How can I slow the progression of myopia?” I also play a small role in deciding the future of optometry by serving on the Boards of the Contact Lens and Cornea Section of the American Optometric Association, Prevent Blindness Ohio, and the American Academy of Optometry. I learned so much more than a trade at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. I learned to lead, and I hope to lead by example to make The Ohio State University College of Optometry graduates the gatekeepers for eye care and innovators in vision science. O-H…

Dr. Creighton graduated from The Ohio State College of Optometry in 1958. Dr. Creighton was a pioneer in research and development of soft contact lenses. He authored many books and scholarly papers on soft contact lenses. His first book, Contact Lens Fabrication Tables, was published in 1964. The book was a standard reference for laboratories and expert fitters in the United States and abroad, as well as a textbook in some schools and colleges of optometry. The main focus of the book is the use of mathematical systems analysis, the basis for today’s numerous computer lens design programs, the first of which was the Olivetti program.

Dr. Creighton’s second book, Contact Lens Fabrication Tables for Hydrogels, was published in 1966. The new methodology presented in this book allowed labs for the first time to custom fit soft contact lenses. Dr. Creighton holds patents covering lens design, polymeric blank processing, and polymeric formulations relating to soft contact lenses. He founded Alden Optical in 1969, which specializes in custom and soft contact lenses. The business is operated today by his son, Charley.

Dr. Burton Berk was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1930. After graduating high school, he attended Ohio State and earned a BS in Optometry in 1953. Almost a quarter of a century later, he received his OD in 1977! Dr. Berk loved his family. He married Margery Rocco in 1951, and they had four children: Deborah, Bruce, Michael, and Lawrence. He helped Deborah and Margery run a successful travel agency for many years. In turn, son Bruce helped him run his various optometric-related businesses for many years. Michael graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in 1983, practiced with Burton, and continues to operate the family practice today. Burton partnered with Lawrence on business investing practices.

Dr. Berk was a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry; a member of the National Eye Research Foundation, the American Optometric Association, the Ohio Optometric Association, the Ohio Vision Service Plan, Vision League Ohio, the International Orthokeratology Association, Optometric Extension Foundation, Inc., the Better Vision Institute, Phi Sigma Delta, and Whitehall Lions Club; and a lifetime member of Ohio State’s President’s Club.

When he passed away in 2012, he had 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Burton loved the field of optometry. Besides the above achievements, he was always involved in local, state, and national meetings. He believed in his profession and worked hard to provide the best care he could to his patients while striving to improve the profession he loved. He did many research projects on new contact lens materials and solutions. He was on the forefront of orthokeratology, locally and nationally. He opened numerous satellite offices where new graduates could get their feet on the ground in private practice.

Dr. Berk also loved the institution that gave him his education, The Ohio State University. He was in charge of the Class of 1953 scholarship award. He taught as an instructor in the college. He also had a passion for Ohio State athletics, going to every home football game for more than 50 years!

Dr. Jeffrey Myers attended Otterbein College, earning a BA in Chemistry in 1980, and then attended The Ohio State University College of Optometry, where he was class president, graduating in 1984. Following graduation, he began practice in Canal Winchester, Ohio, and also practiced part-time at the Chillicothe Veteran’s Administration Medical Center (VAMC) for more than two decades.

Within the Ohio Optometric Association (OOA), he has served on various committees, on the Board, and as President. He has presented the RealEyes program, an OOA educational program about eyes and vision, to more than 4,000 elementary school children. He has been recognized by the OOA with their Outstanding Service Award, Young Optometrist of the Year, and Warren G. and Ruth P. Morris Optometrist of the Year awards. He has been recognized by Prevent Blindness Ohio four times since 1992 for providing benevolent care to more than 500 patients. He has served as President of the Ohio Optometric Foundation and chaired the East/West Eye Conference. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, where he has chaired the annual meeting Exhibits Committee. He has served the American Optometric Association on their Industry Relations Committee. In addition, Dr. Myers is a Clinical Associate Professor of Optometry at the College and has served Optometry Alumni & Friends as the Editor of their award-winning magazine BuckEYE Optometry Alumni Magazine. In 2009, he and his wife established the Jeffrey and Joyce Myers Lecture Series at the College. Since 2010, he has chaired the College’s Capital Campaign Committee and served on the University’s Campaign Coordinating Committee.

In scouting, he has served as Scoutmaster, District Vice-Chairman, Council Senior Vice-President, Council Representative to the National Council, Life Member of the Council Executive Board, and Regional Camp Inspector. He led three contingents to the Philmont Scout Ranch and provided leadership to two National Jamboree contingents, including one as contingent leader. He served on staff for more than three dozen adult leader training courses, providing key leadership for eight, including being Course Director for Wood Badge, Scouting’s advanced leadership course. He was recognized with two Scouter’s Keys, the District Award of Merit, Silver Beaver Award, and the Honor Medal with Crossed Palms, for unusual heroism in attempting to save a life at extreme risk to self.

Dr. Myers has been a member of the Groveport United Methodist Church for most of his life where he has served as the religious awards coordinator, seeing over 150 awards earned. He has also served as Lay Leader, Capital Campaign Co-Chair, Education Chair, and Finance Chair. He has led 24 Bible studies, including ten long-term studies of 30 weeks or more. Several local churches have given him the opportunity to preach. For the last four years, he has traveled with another church member to Liberia to interview students for education scholarships. Their work has seen more than 525 students receive scholarships to attend Phebe Community Lutheran School in Bong County over four years, and Dr. Myers has supported two eye clinics with donations of eyewear, equipment, and basic refraction training. In 2000, he was recognized by the Columbus South District with the Towel & Basin Award. He has attended the Walk to Emmaus and has served as a weekend Lay Director twice for the three-day Christian retreat.

In the community, he has served as President of the Groveport Lions Club, is an 18-gallon Red Cross blood donor, was awarded the Medal of Heroism by the Sons of the American Revolution, and was awarded the Outstanding Leadership Award for Community Service by the Ohio Educational Service Center Association.

Jeffrey is married to the former Anita Joyce Maynard and resides in Groveport, Ohio. They have three adult children, Amanda (Scott), James, and Jennifer, and two grandchildren, Isla and Sladen.

After graduating from The Ohio State University College of Optometry, Dr. Terry Daniel and his wife, Dr. Shirley Daniel, accepted clinical faculty positions at the College. In 1972, they opened a practice in Berea, Ohio and enjoyed practice together until Shirley’s passing in 2006. Their daughter, Dr. Jennifer Engle, and her husband, Dr. Jonathan Engle, joined the practice in 2005.

Dr. Daniel has been involved in Vision Service Plan (VSP) governance since joining its board of trustees in the early 1980s. He was Chairman of the VSP Board in 1983 and later chaired the Northeast VSP (seven states). In 1984, Dr Daniel also became a staff optometrist at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and still works at the VA taking care of veterans and training optometry residents and externs. He currently holds adjunct faculty appointments at The Ohio State University College of Optometry, the Illinois College of Optometry, and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology.

Dr Daniel is also the proud father of twin sons. Dr. William Daniel worked for Indian Health Services for six years and currently is the staff optometrist at the New Philadelphia VA Clinic. Will’s twin, Dr. Terry L. Daniel, is a periodontist practicing in Columbus, who also holds a faculty position at Ohio State’s College of Dentistry.

When not working, Dr. Daniel enjoys time with his grandchildren, Emmy, Chase, and Ella, at his summer home on Middle Bass Island.

As a 1981 OD and 1983 MS graduate, I have been truly blessed professionally and personally all these years since I graduated from Ohio State. Professionally, I have had the opportunity to work in the contact lens industry and private practice. I was employed by Vistakon for over 16 years as a member of their Research and Development team. I contributed to many ACUVUE brands that are on the market today. After leaving Vistakon, I purchased a private practice that I owned for 10 years. I was able to grow the practice into a very profitable business that I sold in January 2014. My proudest accomplishment was establishing a specialty contact lens practice where I enjoyed numerous referrals from my colleagues and MDs for scleral contact lenses. I now spend my time back in research conducting contact lens studies for the major contact lens manufacturers. The best part of my life has been family. My wife, Ann, is a beautiful, smart, funny, and supportive spouse (to be a successful business owner your spouse must be supportive!!). I am very proud of my son, Alex, a 2010 Ohio State alumnus and 2013 University of Akron Law School graduate. He has the skills to become whatever he chooses.

Commander Tyson Brunstetter entered military service in 1996 while an optometry student at Ohio State. He has spent most of his U.S. Navy career working on Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) programs within the Department of Defense (DoD). Some of his favorite career highlights include earning his “wings of gold” as a Naval Aerospace Optometrist; providing quarterly Vision Science lectures at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School; conducting military-focused medical research, including three landmark “LASIK in Naval Aviation” studies and four FDA Investigational Device Exemption protocols; and deploying as the sole DoD eye care provider for allied service members in Kuwait and southern Iraq. His current duty is to ensure that deployed medical devices (e.g., vital signs monitors, portable ventilators, etc.) are effective, suitable, and survivable in the austere environments encountered by our military forces. Throughout his career, he has relied on his Ohio State training and experiences on a daily basis and is extremely proud to be a Buckeye.

Commander Brunstetter received his OD, MS, and PhD degrees from The Ohio State University College of Optometry and an Executive MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School. He is a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association and the American Academy of Optometry. He was named the 2004 Armed Forces Junior Optometrist of the Year and, in 2011, received the Aerospace Physiology Society Paul Bert Award for outstanding aerospace research contributions. In 2012, he was selected as a U.S. Navy candidate for the NASA Astronaut Corps. CDR Brunstetter’s favorite activity is spending time with family, especially his wife, Laura, and his two amazing children, Bayden and Elle.