HOUSTON—Texas State Optical, the member-owned cooperative based here, announced last week the results of its recent election of directors and board officers. The positons became effective July 1, the announcement noted. The following TSO board members will serve as the organization's reappointed officers: Dr. Phong Pham of Houston, chair of the vendor relations committee; Dr. Leigha Nielsen of New Braunfels, Texas, chair of the membership committee; Dr. Stephen Stanfield of San Marcos, Texas, chair of the nominations committee; Dr. Jonathan Sher of McKinney, Texas, chair of the professional affairs committee; and outside director and non-shareholder C. Edward Buffington of Rancho Cordova, Calif.

Dr. Reid Robertson, past committee chairman of the nomination committee, was elected chairman of the board of directors. Robertson is from Allen, Texas, according to the announcement.

“I am honored and excited to serve as the chair of the board for Texas State Optical,” Robertson said in the announcement. “Our network is like no other in the ophthalmic world. Our former Vision Quest has aptly been renamed the TSO Family Reunion to celebrate our unique organization.

We truly are like a family which works together to support one another. Our strength comes from our doctors and our ability to leverage our power as a group to do more than any single optometrist can do. I am continually grateful for the strength that TSO provides for each of us. I hope to fortify our group for the future,” Robertson said.

TSO's board of directors and officers oversee the long-term strategic plan for the organization, doctors of TSO to advance their mission, vision and strategic objectives to become Texan's first choice in eyecare.

TSO president John Marvin said the network was pleased to formally announce the inauguration of its new directors and officers. “We thank these dedicated and talented professionals for contributing their valuable time and expertise on behalf of the doctors of TSO,” he said.

“Our board members have been in the TSO network for under a decade. We are geared to embrace the future changes of the profession with their leadership. We are especially honored to have Jack Gunion, Dr. Mark Wright and C. Edward Buffington continue as non-shareholders on our board.”

In 2014, the TSO board decided to dedicate three board positions to professionals in the industry from outside of the TSO shareholders group. These board positions provide the organization with an outside and more national perspective of the optometry and optical industries.

Each year at the annual shareholder “Family Reunion Conference” the results of the board elections are announced. Formerly known as the Vision Quest Conference, TSO’s annual meeting was renamed to recognize “the cultural dynamic that makes TSO different than all other eyecare organizations,” according to the announcement.

For the first time in a decade, the conference reconvened in Texas at the Lost Pines Resort in Lost Pines, Texas. The Family Reunion Conference welcomed 81 percent of the TSO network's shareholders to the conference, alongside over 400 staff and vendors, according to the announcement.

Texas State Optical was founded in 1936 and operates today as a member-owned cooperative consisting of more than 120 locations across Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.