NEW YORK—SUNY College of Optometry Foundation hosted its first annual Value of Vision Breakfast yesterday at its New York City campus. The event served as a tribute to individuals who have transformed and championed health care and vision care through leadership, advocacy, philanthropy and visibility. This year’s honorees included Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, co-founders and co-CEOs of Warby Parker; Dr. Robert W. Amler, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice at New York Medical College; and Daniel A. Biederman, president of Bryant Park Corporation and the 34th Street Partnership.

According to the college, the recipients of this year’s awards were selected for demonstrating a level of personal accomplishment and their dedication to vision and health care while supporting the next generations of visionaries and health care providers.

The morning also included SUNY student testimonials, a talk from SUNY College of Optometry newly-appointed president David Troilo, PhD, a patient success story from Nicole Greevy, a University Eye Center patient, a research and development update, and some words of thanks from this year’s Value of Vision recipients.

 

 David Troilo, PhD, SUNY
College of Optometry.
Neil Blumenthal,
Warby Parker.
 

Dawn Rigney, MPH, executive director, SUNY College of Optometry Foundation, and Richard Soden OD, director of health care development, welcomed attendees and honorees to the inaugural event, which highlighted the importance of eyecare as a public health issue and the need to increase visibility, philanthropic support and awareness around this issue.

“Today is a first for us, so I just wanted to start by saying a heartfelt thank you to everyone that came out this morning. Our ultimate goal today is to share with you a bit more about SUNY College of Optometry and its Foundation so that you can connect with others to impact the future of eye and vision care,” said Rigney.

During the awards presentation, Blumenthal, one of the honorees from Warby Parker, shared his thoughts about the unique relationship between his company and SUNY College of Optometry.

“Thank you everyone at SUNY College of Optometry for this recognition and for your ongoing leadership in the industry. We’re particularly proud of this relationship as 15 percent of our optometrists are graduates of this amazing institution. We’ve literally hired scores of optometrists from here and we hope to hire hundreds more in the years ahead. They really serve as the backbone to our commitment to clinical care and play a role in how we serve patients, not only here in New York but across the country.”

The college also shared its vision to enhance lives through sight saving patient services and progressive research while educating leaders in eye, health and vision care. Program initiatives include seeing patients in need, magnifying the impact of eyecare, and focusing on research and innovation.

“I want to thank everyone for attending today and congratulations to our honorees,” Troilo said. “Your efforts and accomplishments reflect many of our own aspirations at the college. Our mission is to lead through innovation and excellence, education, research and patient care. We are always working to advance excellence in all of our programs, particularly our education programs for our students by developing innovative curricula that train eye and vision scientists and optometrists for an evolving and dynamic profession.”