After receiving her AB and teaching credential in 1931 from the College of Wooster, Dr. Bing earned her optometry degree from Ohio State in 1948. She continued her interest in education through graduate studies at The Ohio State University, University of Pittsburgh, and Case Western Reserve University after becoming an optometrist.
She chaired the Visual Problems of Children and Youth Committee of the American Optometric Association for 12 years, from 1951 to 1963. During that time, she represented the American Optometric Association at the 1950 and 1960 White House Conferences on Children and Youth.
Beginning in 1951 and continuing for the next 45 years, she chaired the annual School Vision Forum and Reading Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. This interdisciplinary conference, which has been held at The Ohio State College of Optometry since 1997, always presents nationally-prominent speakers in the fields of optometry, education, and psychology. Her groundbreaking leadership in bringing these three independent and diverse professions together in 1951 set a high standard for formal communication and collaboration that did not previously exist.
In recognition of her work in the areas of vision and reading, Dr. Bing received the Apollo Award for Distinguished Service from the American Optometric Association. She has also been named an Honorary Life Member of three prestigious professional organizations: the American Academy of Optometry, the Ohio Council of the International Reading Association, and the Ohio School Psychologists Association. In 1997, she received the prestigious Carel C. Koch Memorial Medal Award from the American Academy of Optometry. In 2002, she was inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame, and in 2006, she was honored by The Ohio State University Alumni Association with its Alumni Citizenship Award.
Dr. Bing and her son, Dr. James D. Bing (BS’60), established the Bing Pediatric Vision Library at the college in 2002, which provides students and faculty both historically-important and “cutting edge” knowledge in the field. Their library is now housed on the third floor of the college’s east (Starling-Loving Hall) wing.
Dr. Bing passed away on February 5, 2009.