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VSP Vision News
Meet the 2022 Dr. Marvin R. Poston Leadership Award Winners
VSP Vision™ is proud to continue supporting the Dr. Marvin R. Poston Leadership Award in partnership with the National Optometric Association (NOA). This prestigious award is named in celebration of Dr. Poston, the first Black American licensed to practice optometry on the west coast. He was also a founding member of VSP and a trailblazer in the optometry field.
A total of five scholarships are awarded each year to a first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year optometry student, and one member of the National Optometric Student Association (NOSA) Executive Board. Students who receive this prestigious award embody Dr. Poston’s commitment to leadership, service, and diversity.
Meet the 2022 Dr. Marvin R. Poston Leadership Award Recipients:
- Babirekere Bakama, Class of 2025, Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Optometry
- Ade Owolewa, Class of 2024, New England College of Optometry
- Brittany Martin, Class of 2023, University of Alabama School of Optometry
- Alexis Abernathy, Class of 2023, Illinois College of Optometry
- Chinelo Onyeador, OD, Class of 2022, Kentucky College of Optometry and NOSA National Executive Board President
Each recipient received a $4,000 scholarship that will support their education to become doctors while also helping alleviate some of the financial costs associated with higher education. The recipients were recently honored at the NOA Convention in Anaheim, CA on July 9.
Over the last ten years, VSP Vision has provided more than $3 million in scholarship support to hundreds of optometry students in North America. For more information on how VSP is supporting the next generation of optometrists, visit our VSP Schools of Optometry Program page.
