Essilor News - The AOSA Optometry Student Bowl™ Powered by Essilor Celebrates its 28th Annual Competition

Nora Kuby, representing the Illinois College of Optometry, took home top honors in front of more than 850 students and practitioners. 

Essilor of America once again pulled out all the stops to host the 28th annual AOSA Optometry Student Bowl™ (OSB) held at Optometry’s Meeting in St. Louis, Mo. 

This year, for the first time in its history, the OSB was held offsite at The Pageant, an iconic concert hall in the heart of Delmar Loop. More than 850 attendees gathered to watch the contestants. Students from 25 schools and colleges of optometry answered optometry-related questions while their classmates energetically cheered them on wearing war paint, school colors and displaying brightly colored banners. 

“Essilor is invested in the future of our industry, and we are continuously looking for ways to create value for optometry students. We’re honored to host the AOSA Optometry Student Bowl again, and we’ve enjoyed how the excitement for this event has grown more and more every year” says Dr. Ryan Parker, director of professional education at Essilor of America. “I’m looking forward to working with this upcoming generation of eyecare professionals. I know these bright minds will take the eyecare industry by storm.” 

In addition to bragging rights, the winning school, the Illinois College of Optometry, represented by Nora Kuby, took home $1,000 and will house the coveted Ventura Cup until next year’s meeting in Washington, D.C. They were also awarded with a host of diagnostic lenses from Volk Optical and a portable slit lamp from Keeler. 

Second place winner, the University of Waterloo College of Optometry, represented by Jen Duimering, received $750. Two schools tied for third place - the University of California Berkeley College of Optometry, represented by Lucas Wilson, and the Ohio State University College of Optometry, represented by Brianna Farley - with both taking home $500. 

As in previous years, all OSB contestants were presented with a Volk® Pan Retinal® 2.2 blue-ringed lens, generously donated by Volk Optical. 

Additional Awards

• The Spirit Award went to the Michigan College of Optometry who will create next year’s “hype video,” which will be played at the beginning of the event.
• The Oklahoma College of Optometry won the social media-based Virtual Spirit Award.
• In addition to taking the trophy, the Illinois College of Optometry won the AOSA t-shirt design competition, and the Southern College of Optometry snagged second place. 

This year’s prestigious panel of judges included:

• Lead Judge - Dr. Linda Casser, professor at Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University, author, educator, clinician and 1997 American Optometric Association (AOA) Optometrist of the Year.
• Dr. Diane Adamczyk, author, lecturer, professor at State University of New York College of Optometry and 2016 PCO Alumna of the Year.
• Dr. Sue Oleszewski, professor emerita for Salus University, clinical educator and administrator.
• Dr. Bill Reynolds, VP of the American Optometric Association, past president of the Kentucky Optometric Association and the 1998 and 2011 Kentucky Optometrist of the Year.
• Dr. Karla Zadnik, past president of American Optometric Association, dean at the Ohio State University College of Optometry, National Optometry Hall of Fame inductee and past president of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry. 

For more information and to see some of the excitement from this year’s AOSA Optometry Student Bowl powered by Essilor, please visit ecpu.com/optometry or twitter.com/EssilorPro.