Alumni Focus 2024
Alumni Focus on Araba Otoo (MPH, OD'22)
October 1, 2024
As a young girl in Ghana, Araba Otoo (MPH, OD'22) developed a passion for vision when she saw how eye care positively affected her community, including her parents. After earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she came to Ohio State to pursue optometry. Currently, Dr. Otoo is an optometrist at the Williams Eye Institute in Indiana, where she provides comprehensive post-operative care following cataract surgery, conducts medical eye examinations, and offers contact lens services. Her commitment to public health remains strong, notably through her work with Cherish Eyesight & Vision Inc., creating content to educate the public about vision and eye health.
Alumni Focus on Rebecca Deffler (OD, MS'19, PhD'24)
September 1, 2024
When Rebecca Deffler (OD, MS'19, PhD'24) crossed Ohio Stadium's commencement stage in May to receive her PhD, the university's president remarked on how loudly the graduates from Optometry cheered for her. The cheers from Ohio State Optometry faculty, staff and students continue this semester, as Dr. Deffler has joined the college a new Assistant Professor. In this role, she hopes to expand her research to new questions, projects, and ideas. She adds, "I plan to keep seeing patients in the Low Vision clinic, also, because I enjoy patient care and it’s exciting to work with our students. And, while I’ll never fill Dr. Tom Raasch’s Geometric Optics shoes, I’m hoping to have some success in the classroom arena also."
Read more about Dr. Deffler >>
Alumni Focus on Mark Orso (OD'86)
August 1, 2024
Mark Orso (OD'86) has enjoyed being at the forefront of his patients' overall health for 34 years at his busy Cincinnati optometry clinic. He also has an eye on optometry's future and enjoys recruiting future optometrists. As president-elect of the National Optometric Association (NOA), National Optometric Association (NOA) , Dr. Orso aims to introduce more prospective students of color to the optometric profession.
Alumni Focus on Jeff Hovis (OD/MS'80, PhD)
July 1, 2024
Jeff Hovis (OD/MS'80, PhD) has three optometry degrees - an OD and an MS from Ohio State and a PhD from Indiana - but no undergraduate degree. He explains that in those days, "It was still possible to enter the College of Optometry after two years of undergraduate studies." As a young student in the College of Optometry, he experienced tremendous faculty support, which led him to a rewarding career as an optometric educator and vision researcher. Now nearing retirement, he reflects on what Ohio State and optometry have meant to him.
Alumni Focus on Jay Lytle (OD’14)
June 1, 2024
As Dr. Jay Lytle (OD’14) and his Albright and Schnulo Family Eye Care colleagues celebrate the Worthington, Ohio practice’s 75th anniversary this year, he reflects on the impact that optometry has had on his life. After being diagnosed with retinoblastoma of the right eye at age two, within a week he was scheduled for enucleation at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. He recalls, “Thankfully, my fellow eye has always been perfect, and by first grade I had probably had more eye exams than my entire first grade class combined.” Because of this, optometry was always familiar to him. “Eventually at 15 years old, I realized that I could keep running from the one thing that made me different, or I could embrace it,” he says. “From that day on, I knew I was going to be an optometrist.”
Alumni Focus on Jordan Claboine (OD’19)
May 1, 2024
As an associate doctor at Macali Eye Clinic in Winter Garden, Florida, Dr. Jordan Claboine’s days are filled with comprehensive eye exams, glaucoma management, specialty contact lenses, myopia control, and acute medical office visits. Essentially, he helps his patients live their best lives, and he hopes to continue to build his patient base and be a positive presence in his community. Dr. Claboine remembers his days as an Ohio State Optometry student fondly and is grateful for all of the faculty members who played a role in is optometric education. “My friends and colleagues from the Ohio State Optometry community have become a second family,” he says.
Read more about Dr. Claboine >>
Alumni Focus on Gerald Westheimer (PhD’53)
April 1, 2024
Dr. Gerald Westheimer came to Ohio State by way of Sydney, Australia to study physiological optics with Dr. Glenn Fry. After graduating with his PhD in 1953, Dr. Westheimer held academic positions at Ohio State and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2014, he received Ohio State Optometry’s 14th Fry Medal, awarded to individuals who have truly distinguished themselves with long and exemplary records of vision research.
Read more about Dr. Westheimer >>
Alumni Focus on Lawrence Wang (OD’00)
March 1, 2024
Dr. Lawrence Wang (OD’00) is the CEO of Centennial Family Eyecare, a three-location practice in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lately, he has been spending a good amount of time seeing specialty contact lens patients and working on developing protocols for his dry eye and aesthetic clinic. He appreciates that he is able to dedicate an ample amount of time to each patient and says, “As the clinical care encounter becomes increasingly abbreviated, optometry remains unique in the fact that we still spend time talking to our patients.”
Alumni Focus on Sara Hitchman (OD’17) and AJ Peiffer (OD’16, MS’18)
February 1, 2024
Dr. Sara Hitchman (OD’17) and Dr. AJ Peiffer (OD’16, MS’18) welcomed their adorable Future Buckeye Optometrist, a daughter named Maren, in June 2023. Their #BuckeyeLove story began when they met as optometry students at Ohio State, and continues to thrive in Cleveland, their new home. As busy optometrists at University Hospitals Medical Group (Dr. Hitchman) and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s (Dr. Peiffer), they are making the world a better place for countless patients
Read more about Dr. Hitchman and Dr. Peiffer >>
Alumni Focus on Steven Seward (OD’83)
January 1, 2024
Dr. Steven Seward (OD/MS’72) began his optometric career in a North Manchester, Indiana group practice with his father, George W. Seward, MD, who was an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist. “We had separate practices in the same open building, distinguished by our names and degrees,” remembers Dr. Seward. “This allowed me to witness my father’s complex cases and seek a second opinion when needed. Interesting to note, my father was amazed at the extent of knowledge taught by Ohio State and sought my opinion, as well. After my father’s untimely passing from cancer, I continued to practice at the same location and eventually changed the practice name to Seward Eye Care.”