Karla Zadnik

Karla Zadnik served as Dean of the College of Optometry and Glenn A. Fry Professor of Optometry and Physiological Optics at The Ohio State University from 2014 to 2026. 

An esteemed patient-oriented researcher in the field of optometry and vision science, Dean Zadnik served as the study chairman for the National Eye Institute-funded Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error (CLEERE) Study for 20 years and chaired the first-ever National Eye Institute-funded multicenter study based in optometry, the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Keratoconus (CLEK) Study.

In addition, she is a past president of the American Academy of Optometry, the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, and the National Board of Examiners in Optometry. She also served a four-year term on the National Advisory Eye Council for the National Eye Institute/National Institutes of Health. She received the Academy's Prentice Award in 2020.