FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Rahul Shrivastav has appointed a new committee to identify candidates for the position of dean for the IU School of Optometry.
Current Dean Joe Bonanno, who has served as a professor at the School of Optometry since 1998, announced Sept. 1, 2022, that he will return to the faculty and launch a year-long sabbatical in June 2023.
“I wish Joe Bonanno the very best on his next chapter and am grateful for the strategic vision he has provided for the School of Optometry,” Shrivastav said. “Our next dean must continue to further the school’s legacy of intellectual contributions and ongoing impact on the state and ensure that IU Optometry remains at the leading edge of research and patient care.”
The new dean will also serve on the provost’s key leadership team and will develop new streams of support for a diversity of scholarship, student excellence, and service to Indiana communities.
The IU School of Optometry is home to 40 faculty members, 56 full-time staff, and 371 students, with a network of more than 4,400 living alumni. The school also houses the Borish Center for Ophthalmic Research, a clinical and basic science vision research center that, when it opened in 1995, was the first patient-based research center at a U.S. school or college of optometry. IU Optometry research is well funded by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health, private foundations, and the ophthalmic industry. While the school is the smallest unit on the Bloomington campus, it has the highest ratio of extramural research dollars to tenure-track faculty on campus.
Advanced clinical training and full-scope patient eye care takes place at the school’s two clinics. The Atwater Eye Care Center on the IU Bloomington campus also provides emergency care 24/7 and serves as the ocular emergency consultant for IU Health Bloomington Hospital. As part of IU’s trailblazing Interprofessional Education program, the Indianapolis Eye Care Center located within the IU School of Medicine Glick Eye Institute, provides eye care to the Indianapolis community, creates opportunities for interprofessional education with ophthalmology residents and medical students, and facilitates referral and managed care relationships between IUSO and the Department of Ophthalmology.
The IU School of Optometry was created in 1951 as a division of the College of Arts and Sciences and encompassed a three-year Master of Optometry program, a Master of Science, and a Ph.D. in psychological optics. In 1968, the Master of Optometry transitioned to the four-year Doctor of Optometry degree. In 1975, the IU Division of Optometry became the IU School of Optometry, a place to prepare individuals for careers in optometry, the ophthalmic industry, and vision science, while advancing knowledge through teaching, research, and service.
Kathy Hiller, associate dean of the IU School of Medicine Bloomington, will chair the committee. The search committee includes representatives of faculty, staff, and students at IU Bloomington. In addition to Hiller as chair, members are:
- Steve Burns, Professor, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, IU School of Optometry
- Jeremy Caylor, Doctor of Optometry candidate, IU School of Optometry
- Jane Ann Grogg, Doctor of Optometry, Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, Clinical Professor, IU School of Optometry
- Patricia A. Henderson, Doctor of Optometry, Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, Clinical Professor, IU School of Optometry
- Kyle W. King, Doctor of Optometry, Partner, Evansville Eyecare Associates
- Irene Newton, Professor of Biology, IU College of Arts and Sciences
- Neil A. Pence, Associate Dean, Clinical & Patient Care Services, IU School of Optometry
- Amanda Peterson, Associate Director of Financial Aid and Records, IU School of Optometry
- Richard Trevino, Doctor of Optometry, Clinical Professor, IU School of Optometry
Carrie Docherty, Interim Vice Provost for Strategy and Innovation will serve as an ex officio, non-voting member of the committee. Further search support will be provided by Abby Van Alstine Brown of the Office of the Provost.