Dr. Arol Augsburger has served with privilege for more than 43 years at three distinguished optometry programs—The Ohio State University College of Optometry, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Optometry and the Illinois College of Optometry (ICO). Following graduation from the OSU College of Optometry he joined the faculty there, where he served for 23 years. He became dean of the UAB School of Optometry in 1994 and was later Interim Provost of UAB, serving for nine years in those roles. In 2002, Dr. Augsburger was named president of ICO. During his tenure at ICO, he has advanced student performance on National Board examinations, expanded the clinic program to include an electronic health care record system and additional patient care clinics in communities surrounding the college, and provided leadership for the long-term investment in ICO’s assets by overseeing the addition of an enhanced learning center and state-of-the-art Lecture Center. Among his numerous awards are: AOA Optometrist of the Year (1986) and Distinguished Service Award (2008), OSU’s H. Ward Ewalt Medal for Service to Optometry (1993), the Ohio Optometric Association’s Warren G. and Ruth P. Morris Optometrist of the year (1985), Alabama Optometrist of the Year (2000), the American Academy of Optometry’s Carel C. Koch Award (2001), Illinois Optometrist of the Year (2007), and OSU Optometry Alumni & Friend’s Distinguished Alumnus Award (2011).
He has authored more than 140 articles and chapters, including studies that have been published in the Journal of National Academies of Practice, American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Journal of the American Optometric Association, and the Journal of Optometric Education. Dr. Augsburger received his BS, cum laude, in 1969 from The Ohio State University and his OD, cum laude, in 1971 from The Ohio State University College of Optometry.
Throughout his career, Dr. Augsburger will tell you that he has benefitted from professional colleagues who helped to build optometry into the profession it is today. Optometry has changed from its modest roots in the OSU Department of Physics at OSU in 1914, and Dr. Augsburger has been honored to contribute to optometry’s recent evolution as an integral part of the nation’s health system.