SCO Elects New Board Members

SCO Elects New Board Members

SCO recently elected three new members to the Board of Trustees. Congratulations to Dr. Betty Harville, Vicki Farmer, and Dr. James Kirchner.

• Dr. Betty Harville retired from SCO in the summer of 2020 after teaching at SCO for 36 years. A graduate of Indiana University College of Optometry, she was the first female African-American Optometrist in Tennessee. In addition to her many teaching awards, she was the first woman OD to achieve the title of full Professor at SCO and the first female African-American Professor of Optometry in the U.S.
  
  
• Vicki Farmer is the Executive Director of the Arkansas Optometric Association. A graduate of Arkansas State University, she is a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute of Organization and is a Certified Association Executive. She is a past president of the International Association for Optometric Executives and has chaired Arkansans for Healthy Eyes, a ballot question committee formed to protect Act 579 of 2019.
  
  
• Dr. James Kirchner was the founder of EyeCare Specialties, a multi-doctor, multi-office optometric practice in Nebraska. He retired in 2018 as President and CEO of SynergEyes, Inc., an international manufacturer and distributor of contact lenses. He is a Past President of the Nebraska Optometric Association and the North Central States Optometric Council. He is a founder of Kingdoms Harvest International, now known as Global Assist.

Their terms will begin in the spring of 2021, succeeding Ryan Powell, OD ’01, A.L. Spivey III, OD ’67, and Tish Towns, following the end of their board terms.