Mark Bullimore,
President

Mark A. Bullimore, MCOptom, PhD is an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University College of Optometry where he teaches geometric optics. He received his Optometry degree and PhD in Vision Science from Aston University in Birmingham, England. Prior to joining the faculty at OSU, he spent 8 years at the University of California at Berkeley.

His research interests include myopia, low vision, and refractive surgery, and he holds a grant from the National Eye Institute to study adult myopia progression. He also holds a Training Grant (T35) from the Institute that supports optometry students in a summer internship program.

He is Editor of Optometry and Vision Science, the Journal of the American Academy of Optometry. He is a former member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Refractive Surgery and has served on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Ophthalmic Devices Panel.

Peter Bergenske,
Past-President

Dr. Peter Bergenske is the Director of Clinical Research and Development for CIBA Vision Corporation. Prior to joining CIBA he was an Associate Professor at Pacific University College of Optometry. Prior to his work at Pacific University, he practice optometry in Wisconsin for over 20 years.

Dr. Bergenske obtained his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He graduated with honors in 1978 from the School of Optometry at the University of California, Berkeley and returned to Wisconsin to practice. In addition to providing patient care, Dr. Bergenske was actively involved in clinical research and served as a clinical investigator for numerous contact lens products.

A diplomate of the American Academy of Optometry's Section on Cornea and Contact Lenses, Dr. Bergenske is a Past Chair of the Section. He has served the Academy on many committees, including chairing the Communications Committee and serving on the Select Committee on Ethics and Professionalism. He has been actively involved in the Academy's Leadership task force and has participated in each of the Leadership workshops presented by that group. From 1982 to 1988 he served as the Director of the Optometric Technician Program at Madison Area Technical College where he developed and taught several courses for paraoptometrics. He has lectured throughout the United States and Canada and has published numerous articles on contact lens related issues.

Dr. Bergenske has twin teenage sons and enjoys cycling, plays the guitar, speaks German, and is a Level 2 certified USA Hockey referee.

Anthony Adams,
Vice-President

He serves on the University of California Health Sciences Committee for the UC Vice President for Health Affairs. He is Past President of the American Academy of Optometry and has been the NIH/National Eye Institute Training PhD Grant Director in Vision Science at UCB for more than 25 years. He has studied the vision changes of patients with diabetes since 1978.

Professor Adams is a recent member of the National Advisory Eye Council (1996-2000), a major consultative body for the Director of the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the US Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Timothy McMahon,
Secretary-Treasurer

Timothy T. McMahon, OD, FAAO, graduated from Illinois College of Optometry in 1980, and completed a residency at the Kansas City Veterans Administration Medical Center in 1981. For the past 20 years, Dr. McMahon has been a faculty member of the University of Illinois in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and currently holds the rank of Professor of Ophthalmology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and is a Diplomate in Cornea and Contact Lenses. He is Chair of the Academy's Research Committee and is a member of the AOA Council on Research. Recently, the National Academies of Practice named him Distinguished Clinical Fellow. Dr. McMahon is an investigator in several NIH and VA funded research projects, including the CLEK Study, where he serves on the Executive Committee. Since 2001, he has served on the FDA Ophthalmic Devices Panel. He has lectured nationally and internationally. His interests include contact lenses, corneal topography and anterior segment diseases.

Catherine Amos,
Board Member

Dr. Catherine Amos has a private practice in Birmingham and received her Doctor of Optometry degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Since 1995, Dr. Amos has been the Assistant Congress Chairperson with the Southern Council of Optometrists and a member of the Board of Directors with Vision Service Plan since 1992.

Since 1977 Dr. Amos has been an Optometrist on the Program Project Grant, "Perinatal Infections Immunity and Maldevelopment" in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research interests include refractive errors in the mentally retarded, pediatric infectious diseases, and developmental disorders.

Philip Keefer,
Board Member

Phil currently serves as Chairman of the Contact Lens Institute Board of Governors. He also serves on the Boards of VisionWeb.com, Prevent Blindness Florida, and has recently joined the Board of the American Optometric Foundation. Phil previously served on the National Boards of VCA and Prevent Blindness America.

Brian Levy,
Board Member

Dr. Levy received his O.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1976, and continued with post graduate work in comparative anatomy and physiology of the eye at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, where he received his Master of Science degree in 1979. He subsequently studied epidemiology and biostatistics in vision Research with the NEI, prior to leaving for California in 1989.

From 1989 until 1994, Dr. Levy was Associate Professor and Director of the Contact Lens Service in the Department of Ophthalmology at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Dr. Levy has published widely in the scientific literature, and lectured nationally and internationally at scientific and educational symposia. He is currently corporate Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Bausch & Lomb, and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester, NY.

David Kirschen
Board Member

Dr. David G. Kirschen received his OD and PhD degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. He is currently the Chief of Binocular Vision and Orthoptic Services at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. He has been in private practice in California for 35 years while continuing his teaching and research efforts. He also serves as Full Professor of Basic and Visual Science and Optometry at the Southern California College of Optometry. Dr. Kirschen has also been the team optometrist for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox for the last 15 seasons. He has served as president of the California Chapter of the AAO, president of Occupational Vision Services, Inc and has served on the board of directors of Vision West, Inc. Dr. Kirschen has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad. In his private practice he specializes in pediatric optometry, the treatment of binocular vision anomalies, computer related vision problems, strabismus and amblyopia, contact lenses and sports vision.

Lois Schoenbrun,
Ex-Officio member

Lois is Executive Director of the Academy and the American Optometric Foundation, with responsibility for leading staff in carrying out the policies set by the governing bodies of each. Lois also works closely with the volunteer leadership in planning for the future of the organizations. Lois has been with the Academy since June of 1996. She has more than twenty years of medical association experience, and has earned the Certified Association Executive designation. In her spare time, Lois practices, coaches, and referees the Korean martial art of Taekwondo. She has a teenage son.