I graduated from the College of Optometry in 1991 and immediately went to work with Dr. Ted Smiley in a practice in Columbus, Ohio. In 1997, we became business partners and formed Columbus Eyecare Associates, Inc., which has become an extern practice site for students from the college. We have had a few contact lens studies published in Contact Lens Spectrum as well as being progressive in fitting all types of specialty contact lenses.

I married Sherry Hohman, an optometrist from the class of 1994, who now practices as Dr. Sherry Dollenmayer in Marion, OH. We have four great kids: Simone (15), Ben, Alex, and Renee (all 13 years old). My great family allows me to perform in three bands, playing guitar and singing, both of which have always been an important part of my life. One of those bands happens to be Bad Habits, “The Official Eye Docs of Rock,” who perform nationally at most of the major optometric meetings.

After graduating from The Ohio State University College of Optometry in 1995, Dr. McCloy pursued his dream to practice in Jamaica through a volunteer internship at a public hospital while also working in a private setting. The early years he spent practicing in Jamaica developed his global perspective and passion for caring for the underserved, a passion that has continued throughout his career. Doug eventually returned to Ohio and worked in a variety of settings until purchasing a private practice in Marion, Ohio, which he has owned and operated for the last 15 years.

In 2002, Dr. McCloy and his wife Rhonda made a leap of faith and returned to Jamaica to serve with the Mission Corps of the Church of the Nazarene. Out of the need to financially support their volunteer assignment in conjunction with the desire to deliver eyecare, Dr. McCloy opened the first of four present-day practices. As a result, Professional Eye Care now serves the Southern and Western regions of Jamaica with full scope eyecare services to a population that is both underserved and economically challenged.

One of the greatest impacts of Dr. McCloy’s optometric purpose lies in the functioning of the Gamertsfelder Mission Centre in Jamaica. Created in honor of Dr. Paul Gamertsfelder, this multi-purpose medical, dental, optometric, and eye surgery center serves as a sustainable clinic that also facilitates mission-minded doctors, students and allied professionals to care for the physical and spiritual needs of the Jamaican people.

“To be recognized as a notable alumnus is an honor above my imagination and proof for how God can take the little we have to offer and turn it into much. When reflecting on the events and people who helped form me as an optometrist, I realize the many exceptional faculty and alumni from the College who made significant contributions to my career (Dr. Michael Earley, Dr. Joe Barr, Dr. Marjean Kulp). My mentors in private practice include, Dr.’s John and Cheryl Archer, as well as Dr. Andy Feltz who partnered with me through some of the most rewarding and challenging years of my career. The ‘living example’ of Dr. Paul Gamertsfelder who’s life of service helped create in me a drive for purpose far greater than any I could reach with relying on my own efforts. Without the trust of Denise Thiel in Ohio and Karen Brunk in Jamaica to manage the offices, there wouldn’t be the outreach we now experience in both countries. And saving the best for last is my incredible wife Rhonda and four amazing children who have served with me as a family to fulfill what we believe is God’s purpose for us through the great profession of optometry.”

“In addition to this great support, if it were not for the opportunity the College of Optometry at Ohio State provided me, I couldn’t be who I am today. So a HUGE THANKS to the College for taking a chance on an ‘average Joe’ of a student like me.”

Upon graduation from The Ohio State University College of Optometry, I was honored to join the practice of my father, Dr. Ron Gilbert, and brother, Dr. Marc Gilbert. I served on the Ohio Optometric Association (OOA) Board for eight years including a term as President in 2011. My father and I were the first father-son pair to both serve as OOA President; his term was in 1977-78. Throughout my career I have been actively involved in advocacy programs such as InfantSEE, Realeyes, Vision USA, and Prevent Blindness of Ohio.

Volunteering in my local Jewish community has always been important to me. I served as President of the Dayton Jewish Community Center and have chaired many different committees and events. I have been happily married to my wife, Rachel, for seven years. We have a six year-old son, four year-old daughter, and a newborn.

Dr. Ronald Gilbert graduated from the Ohio State College of Optometry in 1955 and then served as an Optometry Officer in the U.S. Air Force for three years. He then went into private practice in Dayton, Ohio with Dr. Charles Thomas, who started the practice in 1939. Dr. Gilbert participated in many optometric activities such as the Miami Valley Society of Optometrists, the Ohio Optometric Association, the American Optometric Association, the American Academy of Optometry, and Vision USA. He was joined in practice by his two sons and has a grandson at the college. He was a key man for several Ohio and national legislators receiving the Ohio Key Man award in 2004. His other achievements include the Ohio Optometric Association’s Warren G. and Ruth P. Morris Optometrist of the Year Award in 1967 and President of the OOA in 1977-78.

Some of his local activities and awards included eye care provision for the Dayton VA, Chairman of the Montgomery County Health-a-Rama, President of the Lions Club, Chairman of the Provider Board of CareSource Health Plan, Sunday school teacher, member of the Board of the Dayton Interfaith Forum, and an active participant in the Greater Dayton Jewish Federation.

He retired at the end of 2012 after 57 years of practice. His son, Dr. Heath Gilbert, also served as President of the OOA. His wife, Shirlee, served as President of The Women’s Auxiliary to the OOA.

Dr. Robert Gerberry practices optometry for Eye Care Associates Inc. in Poland, Ohio. He focuses on comprehensive optometry with a specialization in contact lenses. He was the Outstanding Young Optometrist of the Year in 1972 and most recently received the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from Cardinal Mooney High School for providing leadership in his parish and community. He has had multiple board appointments including past president and secretary of the Ohio State Board of Optometry, member of the Board of Directors of the Ohio Optometric Association, and Governor of Zone 4. He has served as Medical Consultant of the Youngstown Area Committee and has been involved in the Head Start Program while also working with the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Other service in his career includes Past President, Tippecanoe Country Club, Parish Council, and St. Charles Church; member of the St. Vincent DePaul Society; and President, Cardinal Mooney High School Alumni Society. Dr. Gerberry is a member of the Ohio Optometric Association, the American Optometric Association, and Epsilon Psi Epsilon and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry.

Dr. Eskridge began his career in optometric education at the University of Houston College of Optometry, where he taught for four years. In 1958, he enrolled in the Graduate Program in Physiological Optics at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. He then received two degrees from Ohio State–his Master of Science in 1959 and his Doctor of Philosophy in 1964.

Dr. Eskridge began his service on the Ohio State faculty in 1961 and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 1967. While at Ohio State, his “orthoptics oral exams” given at the end of the third year that had to be passed before students could progress on into the fourth year clinics were legendary! He left Ohio State in 1971 for a comparable faculty position at the Indiana University School of Optometry. He was at IU for only one year; and then moved to the University of Alabama in Birmingham School of Optometry, where he was appointed Chair of the Optometry program in 1972 by that school’s founding Dean, Dr. Henry B. Peters. He served as Professor of Optometry and Chairman of the Department of Optometry at UAB for the remainder of his career and retired from there in 1990.

Scholarship was a hallmark of Dr. Eskridge’s academic career. He published more than 70 articles and book chapters in the peer-reviewed literature areas of clinical optometry, binocular vision and strabismus, and glaucoma. Dr. Eskridge was also an early advocate of continuing optometric education for practicing optometrists and provided more than 400 courses to local societies, state, regional, and national optometric programs. He served as the Chair of the American Academy of Optometry’s Ellerbrock Committee on Continuing Education for 24 years; for his unselfish devotion to the Academy, he received that organization’s Eminent Service Award in 1994. He had a great intellect, a positive attitude, and unlimited compassion to help others in their career development. Dr. Eskridge passed away in 2011.

1972-1973 Senior Class President of The Ohio State College of Optometry

1973 present in Clinical practice Specializing in Cornea and Contact Lenses (Drs. Bayshore, Swanson, Sowers, Lee and Yager, O.D., P.A.)

1977 Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry

1978 Diplomate of the Section on Cornea and Contact Lenses of the American Academy of Optometry

1983-1999 President of the Florida Chapter of The American Academy of Optometry

1989-1990 Chair of the Section on Cornea and Contact Lenses of the American Academy of Optometry

1992-2008 Board Member of the American Academy of Optometry

2005-2006 President of the American Academy of Optometry

2003 Selected Gas Permeable Practitioner of the Year by Contact Lens Manufacturers Association

2012 Awarded the Eminent Service Award from the American Academy of Optometry

Dr. Jerry Christensen, Emeritus Dean and Professor of Optometry, University of Missouri St. Louis College of Optometry

Education: B. Sc. in Optometry, 1964; M. Sc. in Physiological optics, 1966; PhD in Physiological Optics, 1969.

In 1969, after receiving my PhD in Physiological Optics, I took a position as Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts College of Optometry (now New England College of Optometry) in Boston. While in Boston I was appointed Director of the Physiological Optics Tract, Chair of the Student Affairs Committee and the faculty representative to the Board of Trustees. In 1973, I took a position as Assistant Professor at the School of Optometry at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Two years later, I was promoted to Associate Professor and appointed as the School’s first Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. In 1976 I was awarded an American Council on Education Fellowship in Academic Administration. Following this yearlong program—including three months as a special assistant to the President of the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston—I was appointed UAB’s Chairman of the Physiological Optics Department and Director of the Graduate Programs. In 1978, I was appointed a member of the National Advisory Eye Council of the National Institutes of Health, the body that approves funding for all NIH funded vision research. Over these years, I also taught monocular sensory processes, ocular anatomy, ocular optics, ocular motility, and binocular vision.

In 1980, I applied for and was selected for the position of Dean Designate for a potential school of optometry at the University of Missouri-St. Louis—that is, I was to be dean if the school actually started. Nothing could be done until the school officially came into existence, which it did on June 1, 1980, and I had to hire faculty, ready facilities, and admit students by the start of classes in late August. When I arrived, the school consisted of a desk, a phone and a re-assigned administrative assistant; my first task was to order paper, pens, scissors, and tape. It was hectic, but verything came together, and eventually our first class, thirty-six students, graduated in 1984 and, shortly thereafter, the school became fully accredited. In 1991 I was elected President of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry. In 1992, I was appointed to a six-year term on the Council on Optometric Education, the accrediting body for schools and colleges of optometry. I left the deanship in 1995, but remained a Professor of Optometry and Physiological Optics, teaching bioethics, monocular sensory processes, ocular anatomy, and physical optics. In 2001, I became a member of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry. I retired in 2007 and a year later was named Dean and Professor Emeritus. However, the title I’m happiest with is Poppy, the name my five grandchildren call me!