Two Recipients Receive the Dr. Jack Bennett Innovation in Optometric Education Award

Two Recipients Receive the Dr. Jack Bennett Innovation in Optometric Education Award

The Dr. Jack Bennett Innovation in Optometric Education Award was established in March 2000 to recognize an ASCO volunteer for an outstanding innovation to optometric education. The award was named in June 2000 in honor of Dr. Bennett, a creative leader in optometric education, who served as Dean at three optometric institutions.

ASCO names two recipients – Dr. Linda Casser and Dr. Gary Chu.

Following graduation in 1978 from the Indiana University School of Optometry, Dr. Linda Casser completed a two-year primary care optometry residency program at the Wilson Health Center in Rochester, New York. From January 2009 through 2013, Dr. Casser served as Dean, Salus University Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO), and subsequently Interim Associate Dean for the Practice of Optometric Medicine until August 2014. In 2015, she served as Interim Director of Education for the Physician Assistant Program, Salus University College of Health Sciences. Dr. Casser currently serves as a tenured professor in PCO and Coordinator of Interprofessional Education for Salus University in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

“It is a great honor for me to receive the 2021 Dr. Jack Bennett Innovation in Optometric Education Award,” Dr. Casser said. “I am very appreciative of the wonderful support from Dr. John Nishimoto, current Chair of the ASCO Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) Committee, who very kindly nominated me, the ASCO Resolutions and Awards Committee, and the ASCO Board of Directors. Dr. Bennett was Dean at the Indiana University School of Optometry during my tenure on the faculty there, so it is very special to me that the Award is in his name given Dr. Bennett’s career-long dedication to optometric education.  

I greatly value the efforts of ASCO on behalf of optometric education and our profession, and it is a sincere pleasure to continue serving in its volunteer structure. I extend heartfelt thanks, once again, to ASCO for honoring me as the recipient of the 2021 Dr. Jack Bennett Innovation in Optometric Education Award.”

Dr. Gary Chu is the Vice President of Professional Affairs at NECO and received his Doctor of Optometry degree from NECO and and his Masters of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

He has been in practice and optometric education for more than 25 years and is involved in the changing landscape of eye care, health care and public health. Dr. Chu has been in the forefront of eye care innovations through the development of collaborative partnerships with health systems, federally qualified health centers, social service agencies, government, school systems, health payors, optometry employer groups, ophthalmic industry and start-ups.

Dr. Chu has been immersed in the issues of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for more than ten years and has served on ASCO’s Diversity and Cultural Competency Committee. He is the founding chair of ASCO’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion special interest group and was the Guest Editor for the Journal of Optometric Education’s theme issue on diversity and cultural competency in 2017.

“Thank you for this honor to be named the recipient of the 2021 Dr. Jack Bennett Innovation in Optometric Education Award. I am speechless and in awe,” Dr. Chu said. “I can honestly say that this journey towards diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging has been a journey of self reflection and learning. I am glad to have had the opportunity to work and collaborate with the numerous colleagues from other schools and the staff of ASCO in wrestling through the issues of DEI. Each person has helped me emerge to become a better person who is comfortable in their own skin, and collectively, we have given others a voice and courage to know they belong in this profession. The work is not done and I look forward to our continued progress.”

All award winners will be acknowledged during ASCO’s virtual Annual Business Meeting June 16, 2021. ASCO’s Annual Meeting is open to all who wish to attend. The registration link for the Annual Business Meeting is not active but keep an eye out for it here.