News from the AOA's Blog

The 2009 Optometry’s Meeting® Opening General Session will highlight the accomplishments of the four recipients of the AOA annual awards. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes Michael D. Jones, O.D., for his unusually significant contributions to the profession of optometry. The Optometrist of the Year Award recognizes Deanna S. Alexander, O.D., for her performance of outstanding services on behalf of the profession and to the visual welfare of the public. The Young Optometrist of the Year Award recognizes Lillian T. Kalaczinski, O.D., who has been in practice less than 10 years and demonstrates remarkable leadership skills when serving the profession, patients and her community. The Paraoptometric of the Year Award honors Dianna Sweet, CPOT, for her significant contributions to the field of paraoptometry.
Distinguished Service Award
The Tennessee Optometric Association’s Michael D. Jones, O.D., is the 2009 recipient of the AOA Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Jones’ career in optometry began with a private practice in Athens, Tenn., in 1971, continued with an impressive degree of service to—and leadership in—his beloved profession, and concluded in 2008 upon his retirement after 10 years as the AOA’s executive director.
Through the years, he held numerous positions within his local, state, and national associations.
He joined the AOA in 1968 as a student at the Southern College of Optometry (SCO). He graduated from SCO in 1971 after having served as class president and student council representative and began practicing at Jones and Keylon in Athens, Tenn. In 1976, he began practice at the Athens (Tennessee) Eyecare Clinic, and, from 1994 on, was on the medical staff at Woods Memorial Hospital in Etowah, Tenn.
Dr. Jones assumed leadership roles in optometry early in his career, becoming president of his local society, the Hiwassee Optometric Society, in 1976.
He went on to rise through the ranks of the Tennessee Optometric Association, serving as president in the 1984-1985 program year.
From 1986 to 1991, he served as the AOA’s chief spokesperson to the Health Care Financing Administration, the U.S. Office of Technology and Assessment, the Inspector General’s Office of the Department of Health & Human Services, and the Agency For Health Care Policy and Research.
He began a long affiliation with the AOA Federal Relations Committee, serving as a volunteer from 1987 to 1992, serving as its chair from 1990 to 1992.
In 1992, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of the AOA. He served as a member of the AOA Eyecare Workforce Study, which undertook an extensive manpower study of U.S. eye care providers.
Dr. Jones was also active in securing optometric privileges for his state. He was chair of the State of Tennessee Therapeutic Certification Panel and presented testimony to the State of Tennessee Health Planning Commission, a body that secured hospital privileges for the state’s optometrists.
Dr. Jones was named Tennessee’s “Optometrist of the Year” in 1992 and Southern Council of Optometrists’ “Outstanding Optometrist of the South” in 1993.
He served as an adjunct professor at SCO and served as vice-president of the Alumni Association.
In addition to his commitment to his profession, Dr. Jones has been active in the American Public Health Association and the Amer-ican Diabetes Association.
Dr. Jones and his wife Linda have two children, Tiffany and Chris, and three grandchildren.
Optometrist of the Year
The Colorado Optometric Association’s (COA) Deanna S. Alexander, O.D., has been named the 2009 AOA Optometrist of the Year.
Dr. Alexander has established herself as the “go-to” person when the COA needs attention to detail, perseverance, concern for people and an intelligent approach to problem-solving.
Since graduating from the University of California at Berkeley School of Optometry in 1987, Dr. Alexander has built a career as an educator, a community volunteer, a mentor and one of the most highly respected leaders in the COA.
Dr. Alexander has achieved a notable level of participation in legislative efforts at both the state and national level.
She has been a Keyperson for at least one elected official at all times since the early 1990s, served as a COA legislative captain and legislative chair, and participated in numerous meetings, such as the 1995 therapeutic authority expansion, the 2000 direct access legislation and the 2002 sunset legislation. She worked closely with the state legislature on bills promoting safe driving for senior citizens. She also has made inroads with third-party providers, holding a meeting with the medical director of UnitedHealthcare that resulted in optometrists gaining the ability to bill for medical services and access to 400,000 Colorado patients.
Dr. Alexander, who specializes in low vision and is a member of the AOA Low Vision Rehabilitation Section, has dedicated her career to educating students and patients about low vision. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Missouri—St. Louis College of Optometry and the University of Houston College of Optometry and has also taught at the community college and undergraduate university levels.
She is a member of the scholarship committee of the See the Future Fund, which awards scholarships to help visually impaired and blind students further their education. Dr. Alexander is senior partner and president of Eyecare Associations, P.C., a private practice in Fort Collins, Colo., she joined in 1989.
Since 1990, she has hired Colorado State University students interested in optometry to work in her office. Four of these students entered optometry school; one is a partner in her practice, and one practices in a neighboring town. She also invites high school students to her office to observe and learn about optometry as a career. From 1987 to 1990, Dr. Alexander served as director of Low Vision of the Colorado Optometric Center, a nonprofit United Way clinic whose mission is to provide eye care to the citizens of Colorado regardless of ability to pay. She supervised interns, helped 14 different nursing homes in the Denver area providing exams and low vision services and helped the clinic obtain a state grant to expand low vision services to low-income patients in Denver.
She is an active InfantSEE® provider and has performed hundreds of screenings, consultations and low vision examinations for her local Lions Club, a preschool and health fairs. Dr. Alexander, a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, has served as president of her local society and as president of the COA.
She was nominated as the COA Young Optometrist of the Year. She currently serves as secretary of the Southwest Council of Optometry and is expected to become its first female president.
Young Optometrist of the Year
The Michigan Optometric Association’s (MOA) Lillian T. Kalaczinski, O.D., will receive the 2009 AOA Young Optometrist of the Year Award. Dr. Kalaczinski realized her calling in public health optometry early in her career and is noted for her passion to provide eye care to patients who might otherwise not have access to it.
In 2005, Dr. Kalaczinski helped to create the Vision Clinic at Cherry Street Health Services (CSHS) in Grand Rapids, Mich. CSHS is one of the Midwest’s largest federally qualified community health centers (CHC). Since her arrival at Cherry Street, capacity within the vision clinic has tripled. In 2008, she examined more than 2,600 patients who otherwise would not have had access to eye care. Dr. Kalaczinski is the only full-time optometrist at a community health center in the state of Michigan. Not only does Dr. Kalaczinski staff the clinic, she is also instrumental in obtaining funding for the clinic through community partners and grant writing.
A 1998 graduate of the Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University, Dr. Kalaczinski was the recipient of numerous awards including the Senior Research Paper of the Year and the VanderLaan Student Leadership Award. She remains a clinical instructor for her alma mater. Dr. Kalaczinski also completed a residency at Illinois College of Optometry, during which she had clinical and laboratory teaching responsibilities.
Dr. Kalaczinski lives out her commitment to the visually underserved in other ways. For the past two years, she has helped raise more than $50,000 for the Grand Rapids Lions Club by being a key participant in the Blind Date Dinner, a major source of donations to the CSHS. She also went on a Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) mission to Dominica in 2000. There she helped provide eyeglasses to more than 1,500 local residents.
She has been active on various committees of the MOA, including service as co-chair for the Michigan Eyes on Diabetes, and currently serves as the MOA’s secretary-treasurer. She is also an active member of the AOA Community Health Center Committee and a member of the American Public Health Association. She and her husband Dave have two children, Roman and Dean.
Paraoptometric of the Year
The Michigan Paraoptometric Association’s (MPA) Dianna Sweet, CPOT, is recognized as the 2009 AOA Paraoptometric of the Year. Sweet has been a member of the staff of Douglas Heinze, O.D., of Howell, Mich., for 31 years, after beginning her career in the office of sports vision optometrist Philip R. Irion, O.D., of Lansing, Mich., as his first employee. Sweet is a charter member of the MPA and has served on all of its committees and executive board, some more than once. She completed a third term as president in 2008.
She has been particularly active in sports vision screenings at Michigan Special Olympics events, serving as project director for the Michigan Opening Eyes Vision Screening program. Her hands-on approach to volunteering has ensured that the program has had the 100 volunteers it needs each year to provide vision assistance to special athletes. She also composed and produced a video featuring the Special Olympics athletes competing in the summer games at Central Michigan University.
Sweet is devoted to continuing education for paraoptometrics. She has served on the planning committees for the Michigan Optometric Association (MOA)/MPA fall and winter seminars for many years and served on the AOA Paraoptometric Section Continuing Education Committee for this year’s Optometry’s Meeting®. She frequently writes articles for both the MOA and the MPA newsletters and encourages paraoptometrics to take the next step in their career by becoming certified. She was appointed by the chair of the Commission on Paraoptometric Certification (CPC) to serve on the CPC Item Writing Committee in 2007-2008. Her responsibilities included writing test questions for each level of the certification examinations. She is also on the CPC Regional Leaders Relations Committee.
She continues her service as the current co-chair of the Continuing Education Committee of the MPA. Sweet also devotes her time to participating in career fairs, setting up presentations at elementary schools and adjusting glasses at adult foster care and nursing homes. She is the recipient of the Michigan Paraoptometric of the Year Award and the MPA Appreciation Award.