Dr. Ticak Receives Armistead Teaching Excellence Award

Dr. Ticak Receives Armistead Teaching Excellence Award

Anita Ticak, OD, MS, FAAO, Associate Clinical Professor, is the recipient of the 2021 Cora and J. Davis Armistead Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Houston, College of Optometry. 

An outstanding clinician, Dr. Ticak’s teaching is engaging, enthusiastic, effective and innovative. Her love for the subject matter, combined with her desire to connect with students on an individual level, is evident in all that she does, both in and out of the classroom.

Dr. Ticak joined the University of Houston College of Optometry in 2009 and was promoted to clinical associate professor in 2017. She has served as course director for two didactic courses, served as a clinical attending in the University Eye Institute’s Cornea and Contact Lens Clinic and the Myopia Control Clinic. Dr. Ticak is a nationally recognized lecturer, providing graduate professional education to her peers on advances in dry eye and other clinical research topics. She is also the co-founder of the University of Houston’s Dry Eye Clinic. Dr. Ticak has received numerous awards from students, including the Beta Sigma Kappa Outstanding Clinician, Class of 2022 Outstanding Faculty, Outstanding Faculty OPT III and Beta Sigma Kappa Outstanding Lecturer. Dr. Ticak also collaborated with a team of other college faculty to develop and implement an innovative workshop aimed at preparing students for their national board examinations.

“I am so delighted that Dr. Ticak is the recipient of this year’s Cora & J. Armistead Teaching Excellence Award,” Dean Michael Twa said. “Her focus on evidence-based clinical practice and clinical reasoning have become foundational elements in our curriculum and strengthened our program. It is wonderful to see her contributions recognized by her peers. Her dedication to building national board examination reviews and workshops for our students have steadily increased their performance over the last several years. Dr. Ticak is an exceptional educator and deserving of this honor.”

Established in 1999 to honor excellence and innovation in the classroom, the Cora and J. Davis Armistead Faculty Teaching Award honors recipients with a plaque of recognition and $5,000. Throughout their lifetimes, Dr. and Mrs. Armistead were committed to higher education and the optometric profession. Dr. Armistead served two terms as a member of the University of Houston Board of Regents, played a pivotal role in the establishment of the college of optometry at the University of Houston and practiced optometry in Lubbock, Texas.

To qualify for this teaching award, recipients must be recognized for teaching excellence both nationally and internationally, must have demonstrated teaching that is influential, original, and significant, must have made an impact on others within the profession, and must have served as a strong citizen for the optometric profession both academically and externally.