Dr. Mike Polasky received his OD degree in 1969 and served on the faculty of The Ohio State University College of Optometry for the next 35 years. He taught more than 2,125 students the science and art of clinical refraction, binocular vision, and patient management and served on the clinical faculty in Primary Care, Binocular Vision, Aniseikonia, and Contact Lenses. At one time or another, he was on every college committee, including the Admissions Committee (as Chair for 12 years) and the Executive Committee (as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs). During his tenure, he was instrumental in the creation of many teaching aids and instructional media study materials, but he is perhaps best known for his “Aniseikonia Cookbook,” and the famous sign outside his door which displayed his “Office Hours:”

Dr. Polasky received the Optometry Alumni Association’s first Distinguished Teaching Award in 1989 and was given the honor of addressing the graduating class that same year at the annual doctoral hooding ceremony. He is a three-time recipient of the Epsilon Psi Epsilon professional ‘s “Mote Award” and a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. He served five years on the National Board of Optometry examination preparation committee.

The Epsilon Psi Epsilon professional fraternity of optometry named its teaching award after Dr. Polasky. At his retirement in 2004, Interim Dean Karla Zadnik said: “The College says a heartfelt ‘thank you’ for a job well done. Literally thousands of optometry students have learned respect for the inquiring mind from Mike, and many more have benefited from his deft guidance. His colleagues wish him a productive retirement, [but] he cannot be replaced and he will be greatly missed.”

He is now retired and living in Hilliard with his wife, Wendy Clark, who was responsible for the Instructional Media department at the College of Optometry for over 25 years.

From Cary Boyd Criss (Dr. Boyd’s daughter): Roger Boyd came from Cambridge to The Ohio State University after serving in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. During optometry school, he was a captain of Epsilon Psi Epsilon’s softball team, which was intramural runner-up in 1951. In the final game of the 1952 tournament, “Rog” contributed by beating out a bunt, stealing second, and scoring the tie-breaking run as the BuckEYEs won the University Championship! Singing lead in the fraternity’s quartet kept his foot in the arts. Roger was eventually president (and later, alumnus chair) of εψε, and yes, he vividly remembers being thrown mid-winter into Mirror Lake!

After receiving his degree in 1952, Roger began his private practice in a two-room building in Fairborn, Ohio. He saw patients in the front and lived in the back. A few moves–and years–later, he’d created quite a large practice, giving seven optometry graduates their career starts along the way. In 1963, Governor Rhodes appointed Roger to the Ohio State Board of Optometry, where he served two terms and was president for three years. In 1968, he was Ohio Optometrist of the Year and the Ohio State Optometry Alumnus of the Year. Roger was a trustee of the Ohio Optometric Association, board member of the International Association of Optometry, and chairman of the Legal Affairs committee of the American Academy of Optometry.

Somehow, Roger managed to raise a family in Fairborn. A daughter and two sons were educated in Buckeye tradition. His granddaughter now has the privilege of being Dr. Michael Earley’s patient, and she always finds Papaw’s picture in the basement of Fry Hall! The Boyd family loves to talk about their annual Canada fishing trips and have hilarious, wonderful memories of “being in the boonies!” Roger’s greatest sporting thrill was catching a 21-pound muskie on an 8-pound test line. In time, he became president of the local chapter of the Ohio State Alumni Association, president of the Fairborn Lions Club, president of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church congregation, and president of the Fairborn Civic Music Association. He loved playing tennis and is a life master in bridge.

Dr. Boyd is most remembered by his colleagues as a different breed of optometrist. He led the way for optometry to establish and maintain a professional, non-commercial image as it matured to its vital eyecare status of today. Roger subscribed to the highest ethical principles, and the best interests of his patients always came first. Caring for and getting to know generations of families has been one of his greatest joys. When Roger retired in 1999, after 47 years of service, the Fairborn Daily Herald said that whatever chapter comes next, “the outfielders will be playing him deep.” He just completed his Honor Flight for WWII service.