Posted: October 29, 2009

Dr. Irvin Borish displays the H. Ward Ewalt Medal (center) with Dr. Greg Good (left), Dr. Karla Zadnik, and Dean Melvin Shipp (right).

The H. Ward Ewalt Medal was presented to Dr. Irvin Borish on the occasion of his lecture for the inaugural Jeffrey and Joyce Meyers Lecture Series, October 14, 2009. The medal is presented for outstanding dedication and service to the profession of optometry.

Irvin M. Borish, OD, LLD, is an internationally known scholar in the world of optometry. He is considered to be the architect of optometry and will speak on the development of optometry through the years. His work has influenced almost every aspect of optometry for nearly half a century. The certificate accompanying the Ewalt Medal states that Dr. Borish is receiving the medal , “For recognition of outstanding dedication and service to the profession of optometry, and, specifically, by working tirelessly to advance the practice of optometry by advocating the importance of basic and clinical research; by authoring the definitive clinical reference for several generations of optometrists; for being named the most influential optometrist of the 20th century; and by representing optometry with boundless enthusiasm. Optometric Educators Incorporated and The Ohio State University College of Optometry hereby recognize Dr Boorish as the 7th recipient of the H. Ward Ewalt Medal in Optometry.”

Dr. Ewalt was a graduate of The Ohio State University School of Optometry in 1929 and a contemporary of Dr. Borish. Dr. Ewalt worked with the accreditation council and was the first chairman of the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) Accreditation Council in Optometric Education. He was also the first graduate of Ohio State to be president of the AOA and the first optometric consultant to the surgeon general of the United States Army.

In 1991, under Dean Emeritus Richard Hill’s guidance, the College jointly sponsored the striking of this medal with Optometric Educators. Optometric Educators, Inc. is an organization made up of College of Optometry faculty members at The Ohio State University and was organized in 1978. The organization’s main charge has been to increase the quality of optometric education for students and practicing optometrists.