Volunteer Directory

Board of Directors

The Academy's Board of Directors sets the strategic direction of the organization and is responsible for the fiduciary and legal responsibilities of the organization overall.

AAOF Board of Directors

The American Academy of Optometry Foundation's Board of Directors sets the strategic direction of the organization and is responsible for the fiduciary and legal responsibilities of the organization overall.

Admittance Committee

The Admittance Committee works directly with Candidates for Fellowship, and develops and implements the procedures that must be followed for Candidates to be admitted as Fellows of the American Academy of Optometry.

Awards Committee

This committee encourages nominations for various Academy awards starting at the annual meeting and then in early June reviews applications and selects awardees. The Chair of this committee works with staff on the organization and timing of the events at the Awards Program. For the rest of the committee the workload is centered around reviewing the nominees’ qualifications and selecting the winners.

Chapters Committee

The Chapters committee is comprised of Presidents from each Academy local chapter. Chapters provide continuing education and other resources for Academy Fellows throughout the year on a state level.

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee establishes priorities for communication of the Academy's various activities, responds to requests from the press, and plans and carries out the Academy's annual Press Conference at the annual meeting.

Corporate Support Committee

The Exhibits Committee works with staff to solicit exhibiting companies, organize and manage the annual meeting exhibit hall.

Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee reviews ethical issues that arise related to Academy members.

Faculty-Student Liaison Committee

The Faculty-Student Liaison Committee is comprised of a faculty liaison representative from each school and college of optometry in the United States and Canada. The liaison assists in distributing information about the Academy and its programs to students and other faculty members at their institutions.

Leadership Committee

The Leadership Committee develops and implements the Academy's "Merton C. Flom Leadership InSight™" program at the annual meeting. The program is designed to improve and/or develop leadership skills in those who attend the program.

Lectures and Workshops Committee

This committee solicits, selects and organizes the COPE-approved CE portion of the meeting. At the annual meeting, the committee ensures that the program runs smoothly, including room logistics, CE tracking and speaker management.

Maintenance of Fellowship Committee

The Maintenance of Fellowship (MOF) Committee develops and implements the procedures that must be followed to evaluate if a Fellow has met the MOF requirements for renewal.

Membership Committee

The Membership Committee develops and implements a plan to increase membership in all active professional categories of the Academy (practitioners, scientists, educators, and administrators).

Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee nominates individuals to serve on the Board of Directors and evaluates the performance of current board members.

OVS Editorial Board

The Optometry and Vision Science journal's Editorial Board reviews issues related to the journal with the goal to publish the best scientific and clinical journal information in the profession.

Research Committee

The Research Committee focuses on the scientific aspects of the Academy’s mission. They design and organize the Hirsch Research Symposium and the Ezell Fellows Present Symposium, held at the annual meeting. They run the biannual “Summer Research Symposium” to generate ideas for multi-center trials in optometry. They review the Career Development and Clinical Research Award submissions. They also oversee selection of student travel awardees for ARVO and oversee selection of the various grants from industry, administered by the AAOF. They also oversee selection of Ezell Fellows for the AAOF.

Resident's Day Program Committee

The Residents Day Committee reviews abstracts, selects and rejects abstracts for the Residents Day program which includes both papers and posters. The committee also reviews the Resident Travel Fellowship applications. The Residents Day Program gives current residents the opportunity to participate in the Annual Meeting, since they start their residencies after the Scientific Program submission window is already closed.

Scientific Program Committee

This committee reviews abstracts, selects and rejects abstracts for papers and posters, organizing them into a program and integrating this into the plan of the annual meeting overall. They manage the paper and poster sessions during the annual meeting. They review the Student Travel Fellowships to the Academy meeting.