PEOPLE

◄ De Rigo Rem is expanding its North American sales team. In addition to Leo Ranieri’s appointment as regional sales manager of the Central Midwest, the following have been onboarded as business consultants: Eileen Barry, Demie Benjamin, Tyler Fleming, Chelsea Hardy, Jim Lorentz, Stacey Mays, Taylor Oliphant, Gita Sekhri, Amber Vetter, and Nina Wakelee. 

Kylie Matya has been appointed as Western U.S. sales and business development director of L’Amy America. Matya joins L’Amy with 19 years of experience in key sales management roles at Safilo.

LKC Technologies appointed Gary VanMatre as vice president of U.S. sales and Gail Schwartz as vice president of marketing. VanMatre successfully opened and operated small businesses before joining the medical industry, and Schwartz joins the company with 28 years of experience in health care marketing.

◄ Jacqueline Herd, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, has been named to the Prevent Blindness Board of Directors. Dr. Herd is currently the chief clinical officer of Odyssey Clinical Leadership Consulting. Previously, she was executive vice president and chief nursing officer at Grady Health System.

◄ Smith appointed Scott Randall, who has two decades of experience in the sporting goods market, to global vice president of product.

Kris Stevens has joined The Vision Council as data and analytics manager, and Dianella Maalem has joined as research manager. Most recently, Stevens worked as a data scientist at the Kentucky Center for Statistics informing workforce and education policy. Maalem brings more than six years of research experience from leading academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies.

BUSINESS UPDATES

U.K.-based optical technology specialist Eyoto Group announced that it will be opening its U.S. corporate headquarters in Dallas, TX, in October. Eyoto CEO Paul Clapton will relocate to establish and lead U.S. operations.

IDOC has launched two new resources for eyecare professionals: the “Eye Own a Business” podcast, available on most podcast platforms, and the IDOC Optometric Specialty Community on Facebook, open to all ECPs.

The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation has renewed its partnership with Walman Optical to continue the Kids With a Vision program, which has raised $300,000 to support the foundation since its launch in 2019.

Total Vision is donating $50,000 to the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation to support the launch of Changing Life Through Lenses, which aims to help O.D.s expand charitable services by removing the cost of glasses.

AWARDS

The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) has announced the recipients of the 2022 Special Recognition Awards: David S. Loshin, Ph.D., received the ASCO Lifetime Achievement Award; Vernon Dela Cruz received the ASCO Ophthalmic Industry Leadership Award; Lucy Kehinde, O.D., received the ASCO Rising Star Award; Andrea Meagher, O.D., received the ASCO Student Award in Clinical Ethics; and for the first time, the Dr. Jack Bennett Innovation in Optometric Education Award was granted to all teaching faculty at ASCO’s member institutions in the U.S. and Canada.

National Vision Holdings Inc. announced the winners of its 2022 National Optometric Student Association scholarships. Totaling $7,000, the scholarships were awarded to Joanna Lopez ($4,000) of UC Berkeley School of Optometry, Renata Simeon ($2,000) of Illinois College of Optometry, and Elisabeth Schaffer ($1,000) of New England College of Optometry for their perspectives on the benefits of remote care for reaching underserved communities.

VSP Vision named optometry student Makayla Warden of the Kentucky College of Optometry as the inaugural VSP Premier Program Student Business Challenge winner. The scholarship opportunity, which supports students interested in a path to private practice ownership, was created by the VSP Vision Premier Program in collaboration with the Association of Practice Management Educators and the Student Optometric Leadership Network.