Southern College of Optometry (SCO) in Memphis will bestow an honorary degree on U.S. Senator John Boozman and two other notable individuals at its commencement ceremony on Friday, May 9, 2014.
Senator Boozman, was elected to the U.S. Senate following five terms of service in the U.S. House of Representatives. Raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas, he played football for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks before attending SCO in Memphis. Following his graduation, he entered private practice and co-founded a successful practice in northwest Arkansas.
Senator Boozman serves on four committees in the Senate: Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Appropriations; Environment and Public Works (EPW); and Veterans’ Affairs. Prior to his election to Congress, he served two terms on the Rogers School Board, one of the largest school districts in the state. He established the low vision program at the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock and worked as a volunteer optometrist at an area clinic that provides medical services to low-income families.
In addition to receiving SCO’s honorary Doctor of Ocular Science degree, Senator Boozman will also deliver SCO’s commencement addresss. He received the college’s Lifetime Achievement Award in October 2013.
Also receiving the honorary Doctor of Ocular Science degree is former American Optometric Association President Dori Carlson. The first female president of the AOA, Dr. Carlson is a 1989 graduate of Pacific University College of Optometry.
A resident of Park River, North Dakota, Dr. Carlson has served on the AOA’s board over the last decade and developed a “School Readiness Summit,” a joint statement signed by 30 different organizations calling for comprehensive eye exams to be the foundation of children’s vision care. The statement was used in AOA’s lobbying efforts to define the essential pediatric vision benefit in health care reform.
Prior to her election as AOA board president, Dr. Carlson served as the first female president of the North Dakota Optometric Association. She also serves on the Pacific University Board of Trustees.
Receiving the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree will be Ralph Stone, PhD, a globally recognized expert in optometry research and development through more than 20 years of service at Alcon Laboratories. One of his notable achievements was the development of the I-IV hydrogel contact lens classification system and the ReNu contact lens solution during his career at Bausch & Lomb.
Now retired as Vice President for Research and Development for Consumer Alcon Laboratories, he was responsible for the development of the OPTI-Free Express and OPTI-Free Replenish contact lens disinfecting solutions. Stone was also involved with the development of Alcon’s Liquid Enzyme solution and developing the noted Systane dry eye treatments.
SCO’s commencement ceremony will be held Friday, May 9 at 1 pm at the Cannon Center for Performing Arts, with a reception immediately to follow.