Dr. Hofstetter was born in Windsor Mills, Ohio, on September 10, 1914, to immigrant parents, Kaspar and Augusta (Kresin) Hofstetter. His father, a dairy farmer, was born in Switzerland, and his German mother was born in West Prussia, now a part of Poland. Dr. Hofstetter had three brothers and seven sisters. He was eighth in the birth order, “Henry the Eighth,” as he sometimes pointed out. Dr. Hofstetter was raised on the family farm near Huntsburg in northeastern Ohio. Growing up in a large family may have a played a role in the development of his remarkable organizational skills. He once recalled that neatness, tidiness, and orderliness were paramount at all times in the Hofstetters’ home. There was one hammer in the house used by 13 people, but it was always put back in its place and easily found when needed. Dr. Hofstetter had no clear career plans in high school, and the Great Depression appeared to make farming a good choice, although the crippling of his left hand by polio at the age of 16 may have steered him away from farming. He wrote the words to the school song for his high school and was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” in his graduating class of 11 students.

With the help of an older sister, Dr. Hofstetter attended Western Reserve University for two years and Kent State University for a summer, after which he obtained an Ohio teacher’s certificate. Then, for three years, he taught all eight grades in a one-room country school in Middlefield, Ohio, where he also performed janitorial duties. His students thought that he had eyes in the back of his head when he wrote on the blackboard in class; what they didn’t realize was that he could see their reflections in the glass covering the portrait of George Washington that hung over the chalkboard. At a 50-year class reunion, many of these students recited to Dr. Hofstetter the poems he had written for them to deliver at Christmas performances.

While teaching in Middlefield, he lived with one of his older sisters and her husband, a jeweler, who also fitted spectacles and encouraged Dr. Hofstetter to consider optometry as a career. Dr. Hofstetter then entered The Ohio State University, receiving a BS degree in optometry in 1939. He received an MS and PhD in physiological optics at Ohio State in 1940 and 1942, respectively, under Dr. Glenn Fry. He was Dr. Glenn Fry’s first graduate student and also the first recipient of a PhD degree granted by a graduate program in physiological optics in any optometry school or college. It was at Ohio State that he met his wife, Frances Jane Elder. They married on July 5, 1941, in Pasadena, California, her home state. Frieda Shute, the sister with whom Dr. Hofstetter lived while teaching elementary school, also attended optometry school at Ohio State after she was widowed. She graduated in 1946 and practiced for many years in Middlefield.

Dr. Hofstetter’s thesis research was a haploscopic investigation of accommodation and convergence relationships. After completion of his PhD, Dr. Hofstetter accepted a teaching position at Ohio State. He later recalled, in his typically humble fashion, that he became valuable to the school because he was classified 4-F by his physical handicaps and would probably never be drafted for World War II. During the successive depletion of able-bodied students and faculty from the classroom during the war, he had the unique opportunity to teach almost every course in the curriculum to the few remaining students.

In his six years as a faculty member at Ohio State, Dr. Hofstetter advanced from instructor to associate professor. In January 1949, he became dean of the Los Angeles College of Optometry (now the Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University). Some of the adjectives used to describe his deanship there were business-like, organized, and efficient.

In 1951, Indiana optometrists were successful in their efforts to convince the Indiana legislature to establish an optometry school at Indiana University in Bloomington. The Indiana University administration wanted a person with excellent credentials to head the new program, and Dr. Hofstetter was recruited for the job. Though he wasn’t seeking to leave Los Angeles, he was convinced to take the position of director of the Division of Optometry at Indiana University starting in 1952. The curriculum, which he designed for the optometry students entering in the fall of 1953, reflected his educational and teaching experiences and philosophies in that it included a broad-based scientific background in optics, visual physiology, and related topics rather than a purely applied-optics approach. One of his early priorities was the establishment of a graduate program in physiological optics, which admitted its first students in 1954. His years guiding the Indiana University program also saw the construction of its current building and the development of an optometry branch library. Dr. Hofstetter served as head of the optometry program until 1970, when he returned to the classroom full-time. He became the Rudy Professor of Optometry in 1974. He formally retired in 1980 but remained very active in optometric organizations and writing. Dr. Hofstetter advised 15 MS and 11 PhD students at Indiana University.

Dr. Hofstetter authored four textbooks, including Optometry: Professional, Legal, and Economic Aspects (1948, reprinted 1964) and Industrial Vision (1956), and more than 500 scientific papers. He co-edited five editions of the Dictionary of Visual Science, with the fifth edition, now titled Dictionary of Visual Science and Related Clinical Terms, published in 2000. He published on several topics, including accommodation, binocular vision, color vision, visual optics, refractive errors, occupational vision, presbyopia, strabismus, optometric education, and international optometry. He also wrote extensively for the newsletter of the Optometric Historical Society and served as one of its editors for more than 30 years. He felt strongly that optometrists should know more about their history because optometry is a discipline with as noble and pervasive a heritage as any, and because historical study shows optometry’s centuries-long existence. Its development from a mercantile trade to its present academic and professional stature shows a truly proud history that includes many prominent and accomplished personalities.

He served many dozens of optometric, scientific, university, and community committees and organizations. He was president of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, the American Optometric Association, and the Optometric Historical Society. He served on the Bloomington, Indiana hospital board for six years. He was a member of Rotary International for 40 years, served as president of the Bloomington Rotary Club, and visited hundreds of rotary clubs worldwide. He was a consultant to the National Academy of Science, the United States Public Health Service, the Highway Research Board, the United States Air Force, and the National Science Foundation.

Because of his interest in international optometry, his extensive travels, and his work in numerous professional and scientific organizations, Dr. Hofstetter was known by optometrists worldwide. While at Indiana University, he took three sabbaticals to study modes of optometry practice and the status of optometric education in South Africa, Australia, and Europe. He carried out regular correspondence with optometrists and optometric leaders from all over the world, providing them guidance and encouragement. In 1991, he was recognized as the International Optometrist of the Year by the International Optometric and Optical League. In 1999 he received the first Distinguished Service Award from the World Council of Optometry. That same year, he was inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame. Some of his other awards and recognitions include five honorary doctorate degrees, the American Academy of Optometry’s highest award, the Prentice Medal, the American Optometric Association’s Apollo Award, the American Optometric Association’s Distinguished Service Award, the Indiana Optometric Association’s Distinguished Service Award, and the Orion Award from the Armed Forces Optometric Society.

Dr. Clayton Nathaniel Hicks is the founder and owner of Driving Park Vision Center. For 44 years, Dr. Hicks has provided vision care services to 30,000 patients on Columbus, Ohio’s eastside. In 2010, he was recognized by the Molina Healthcare of Ohio as a respected, community leader and advocate, receiving the Community Champions Award. Passionate about reducing health disparities especially in the Driving Park Community, Dr. Hicks founded the Driving Park Walking Club, which currently serves as a model walking club for the City of Columbus. Since 1976, Hicks has served as the vision care consultant for the Ohio Medicaid Department, using his experience and expertise to ensure those individuals in need of eyecare services receive them. Committed to ensuring that minorities are recruited and provided educational opportunities, Dr. Hicks has served as a Past President of the National Optometric Association and is the current Executive Director of the National Optometric Foundation.

Dr. Hicks is committed to serving others and has demonstrated this commitment through his lifetime service in the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., which recently celebrated his 50-year membership. He is also actively engaged in the Alpha Rho Lambda Education Foundation where he serves as Executive Director. He is a Life Member of the American Optometric Association and the Ohio Optometric Association, a member of Epsilon Psi Epsilon Professional Fraternity, and has served the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners in several capacities. From 1970-1986, Dr. Hicks served as a clinical instructor at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. He has also served on the Ohio Avenue Elementary School Parent/Community Advisory Board, the Near East Health Advisory Committee, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Task Force and was President of the Livingston Avenue Collaborative for Community Development.

Dr. Clayton Nathaniel Hicks has received numerous honors, awards, and recognitions for his service. Some of his recognitions include National Optometric Association’s “Optometrist of the Year (1982),” Who’s Who Among Black Americans (fourth edition), “Community Building Award” from Ohio Governor Bob Taft (2003), Political Leadership Award 29th District Caucus (1986), OSU Black Alumni Society’s “Outstanding Alumnus Award (1995)”, Alpha Kappa Alpha’s “Human Service Award (2002)”, Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday Commission “2003 Community Building Award”, Alpha Phi Alpha “Theodore Berry Community Service Award (2007)”, Cheryl Boyce Excellence in Healthcare Award (2008), and Esteemed Alumnus in 100 Years of African-American Achievement at The Ohio State University (2011).

Dr. James R. Gregg received two degrees from Ohio State, a BS in Business Administration in 1937, and a BS in Optometry in 1942. He then moved to a warmer climate and earned his OD degree in 1948 from the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO, then known as the Los Angeles College of Optometry). He served on the SCCO faculty for 37 years (1947 to 1984). He was also the interim dean of Academic Affairs at SCCO from 1975 to 1976 and grants administrator there from 1976 to 1984. At his retirement in 1984, he was named Professor Emeritus.

Dr. Gregg was a highly-respected educator and prolific author. He wrote three popular history books for the profession: The Story of Optometry, American Optometric Association: A History, and History of the American Academy of Optometry, 1922–1986. His writings appeared in 200 different magazines or journals, totaling more than 500 articles. In addition to the 15 books he authored, he also wrote more than 900 newspaper columns that appeared in more than 150 newspapers, and about 100 brochures on vision.

He also was successful as an outdoor writer. He published hundreds of articles on fishing, conservation, camping, and travel including cover stories for Field and Stream magazine. He combined his technical writing on optometry and his love of outdoors and became a leading writer on vision for the sportsman; and wrote the book The Sportsman’s Eye.

Dr. Gregg received numerous awards and accolades over his long career, including “Optometrist of the Year” from the California Optometric Association in 1956 and the “Distinguished Service Award,” from the American Optometric Association in 1982.

Dr. Gregg died at the age of 94 in September 2009. He was inducted, posthumously, into the National Optometry Hall of Fame in 2010.

During his fourth year of study at The Ohio State University College of Optometry, Lyle waged a courageous fight against non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He passed away on December 4, 2001, following a bone marrow transplant. A very organized and well-prepared student, Lyle quickly became a leader in his class. His charisma, friendliness, and service to others marked his experience at Ohio State. He was genuinely interested in other people and made friends quickly, probably because people wanted to be around his joyful spirit. Lyle’s determination and his infectious enthusiasm for life will be remembered fondly, and sadly missed by all who knew him.

Dr. Cynthia Heard, Class of 1992, was an Ohio State Optometry clinical faculty member from 1993 to 2007 and remembers Lyle Gassman well. “I think I was the first person that Lyle Gassman spoke to about his diagnosis. He happened to be in primary care that day he received the call from the nurse regarding his diagnosis. He sat in my office and cried. He willed himself to control his emotions and went back to seeing patients. He was a phenomenal guy! I donate every year to the fund named in his honor by his family since it was established. There were many caring people at OSU optometry that helped Lyle and his family get through those tough months before his passing. He is truly missed.”

Dean Emeritus Dr. John P. Schoessler was dean of the college when Lyle passed away in 2001, and he also remembers him fondly. “I remember Lyle as a servant/leader among his classmates. The Optometry Class of 2002 was a tightly knit group. Lyle encouraged and inspired his classmates, and his classmates surrounded him with compassion and reassurance as his disease progressed. He leaves a testimony of bravery, courage and selflessness. The Doctor of Optometry Degree was conferred to Lyle at convocation in June 2002. The diploma was presented to Dr. Gassmann’s family as a memorial and remembrance of his heartfelt desire to become an optometrist and to serve others through the optometric profession.”

The Gassmann family honored Lyle’s life through an endowment. The Lyle Aloysius John Gassmann Memorial Award Fund in Optometry was established December 6, 2002, with gifts from family, friends, and classmates. The annual investment income from this endowment is awarded in its entirety to the graduating optometry student who best exemplifies Lyle’s humanitarian characteristics, leadership qualities, and service to others. The individual student is selected by the dean of the College of Optometry, a representative of the college’s student affairs office, and a representative from the College of Optometry faculty.

Dr. Vincent J. Ellerbrock was a professor of physiological optics and optometry at Ohio State for 18 years, beginning in 1947. He was a native of Delphos, Ohio and received three degrees from Ohio State: BS (1940), MS (1941), and PhD (1947).

The late Dr. Ellerbrock began his distinguished academic career as an assistant professor on the optometry faculty in 1947 and was promoted to associate professor in 1950; he became a full professor in 1957. He also had a small private practice located on the first floor of the Canterbury Apartments building on Olentangy River Road. He was the author of numerous articles in optometry and vision science, including a textbook and a clinical manual used by Ohio State optometry students.

He chaired the American Academy of Optometry’s postgraduate educational courses for many years; because of his extraordinary love of and contribution to the Academy, the organization’s Executive Council named the continuing education portion of its annual meeting after him.

Dr. Theodore Grosvenor was born on April 19, 1923, and earned his BS-Optometry degree from Ohio State in 1946. He then practiced for 10 years in Franklin, Ohio, located in the southwestern part of the state. Apparently, private practice was not intellectually stimulating enough for him, because he decided to return to Ohio State for a PhD degree under Dr. Glenn Fry, which he received in 1956.

He served on the Ohio State Optometry faculty for a short time before moving on to faculty appointments at the University of Houston College of Optometry, the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, the University of Montreal, the Illinois College of Optometry, and Indiana University School of Optometry. He was the founding head of the Diploma in Optometry Program at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and was also an adjunct professor at the Pacific University College of Optometry in Forest Grove, Oregon later in his career.

Dr. Grosvenor had an international reputation in optometric education for students in both the United States and abroad. He authored or coauthored seven optometric textbooks, including The Myopia Epidemic-Nearsightedness, Vision Impairment and Other Vision Problems in 2002, which was intended for the public. He also chaired the Scientific Program Committee of the American Academy of Optometry for many years and was honored with the Academy’s Garland Clay Award in 1988 and Life Fellowship in the Academy in 1995.

He passed away on March 3, 2009, in Tucson, Arizona.

Arthur A. Slobod was the son of parents who immigrated from Czarist Russia around 1905. His father and uncle were 1910 graduates of The Ohio State University with degrees in engineering.

He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1931 with an engineering degree, sponsored there by a New York State Regents Scholarship. Finding engineering jobs to be difficult in the depression, he, too, came to The Ohio State University, earning a MS in Physics in 1932. As jobs were still difficult to find, he returned to Ohio State, earning a BS in Optometry in 1937. While there, he tutored many of his classmates in math and optics, including Robert Graham (BS’37). Graham founded a company Armorlite in 1947 that pioneered CR-39 (plastic) spectacle lenses. It was the sole provider of CR-39 resin in the world for 6 years. Slobod invested about $1000 in that venture in 1948.

As World War II began, the need for technical people was greater than the public’s desire for vision care, so Slobod returned to engineering, working for General Electric on the Manhattan Project in Berkeley, California, developing a highly refined uranium product for the eventual atomic bomb. He traveled with the Freedom Train in the late 1940s as it toured the country. Later employment with North American Aviation allowed him to work on the Minuteman Missile guidance systems and the Apollo missions.

The sale of Armorlite to 3M in 1978 gained him 18 000 shares of 3M stock, valued in excess of $1 million, allowing him to completely retire. He passed away on April 16, 2011, at the age of 100 years, 9 months. He is survived by his daughter, Beverly Slobod King, and his son, Clifford Slobod, two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Depending on the source, the atomic bomb and manned flight to the moon are two of the top American innovations/inventions. This notable alumnus spent a portion of his life working on each of them.

Dr. Warren G. Morris lived in the Ohio State Buckeye scholarship dormitory while he was a student in mechanical engineering. During his senior year, he met Ruth Penrod, who was one of very few women in optometry at that time and whom he married six months later, just prior to entering the armed forces as an Army sergeant. He saw battle in Germany during World War II as a machine gunner. While he was fighting in the European theater of WWII, his wife opened her optometry practice in Toledo. She wrote to him daily, and in those letters, she shared with him her thrill of providing vision care to patients in northwest Ohio. Upon his return to the states, Dr. Morris told his wife that he also wanted to become an optometrist so they could practice together. After he graduated from Ohio State Optometry in 1949, he joined his wife in her Toledo practice, where he specialized in pediatric optometry. He told his colleagues that his wife examined adult patients so he could play with children. He not only helped his little patients see better, he also stressed the importance of a good education to them and to their parents. Dr. Morris was so dedicated to children and education that he also worked with special education teachers in the Toledo area to help them understand the role of vision in reading performance.

Dr. Morris served as President of both the Ohio Optometric Association and the Ohio State Board of Optometry. In his honor, a memorial fund for children’s vision research was established at The Ohio State University College of Optometry in 1990.

Dr. Nick Fogt has been a Buckeye since 1985, when he began his college education at The Ohio State University. Nick graduated from The Ohio State University College of Optometry in 1992. Upon graduation, he completed a residency in hospital-based optometry at the Cleveland Veterans Administration Medical Center. Following his residency, Nick returned to Ohio State and completed his PhD in 1996. In July of 1996, Nick became Assistant Professor of Optometry and Physiological Optics at The Ohio State University College of Optometry.

Nick is well known for his teaching and has received numerous awards as a result. Nick was named The Ohio State University Inter-Professional Council Professor of the Year in 1999 and was awarded the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching at Ohio State in 2003. He was awarded the Graduate Teaching Award for Vision Science at the college in 2008 and has won the Herbert Mote Award at the College of Optometry five times. Nick is now a full professor at the college.

Nick’s current research involves eye and head movement in baseball. He is named as the inventor on a patent for a device that monitors these movements, and he is currently conducting research with baseball players of all levels.

Nick is married to Jenny Swingle Fogt, who is also a Buckeye and optometrist. They have two children, Mallory and Zachary, who make every day fun! Nick enjoys playing the drums, riding bikes with his family, and cheering for the Buckeyes.

Jason J. Nichols was the Kevin McDaid Vision Source Professor at the University of Houston College of Optometry from 2011-14. He received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Hope College (1995), and Doctor of Optometry (1999), Master’s in Public Health (2003, epidemiology), and PhD (2004) from The Ohio State University. He was on the faculty at Ohio State between 2004-2011 where he was an associate professor.

Dr. Nichols has trained numerous graduate students and fellows and has received research funding from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health to study dry eye diseases including meibomian gland disease, dry eye, and contact lens-related dry eye. He has also received funding from the American Optometric Foundation, in addition to a variety of industrial partners. He has authored 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 150 abstracts on these topics. He is currently Editor of Contact Lens Spectrumand Contact Lenses Today®, which reach 50,000 eyecare practitioners worldwide. Dr. Nichols also serves as an associate editor for Eye and Contact Lens and is a diplomate in the American Academy of Optometry’s sections of Public Health and Environmental Optometry and Cornea, Contact Lenses and Refractive Technology. He is also Chair of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Board and Contact Lens Discomfort Workshop.