After serving as council vice chair for the past two years, I now have the honor and privilege to be nominated by my fellow council members and the Board of Trustees for the position of chair of the Academy Council. I look forward to my continued work with the constituent ophthalmic societies of the council and bringing forth the concerns and issues raised for board consideration and action.
My career in ophthalmology began with residency in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed Army Medical Center followed by a neuro-ophthalmology fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute, after which I continued to serve on active duty. After leaving the military, I entered into academic practice first at Wilmer and then at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where I hold the Clifford R. and Janice N. Merrill Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and am professor with tenure of ophthalmology, neurology and neurosurgery, in addition to being vice chair for academic affairs in ophthalmology.
My involvement with the Academy started during my Army service as a member of the Digital Media Committee, after which I served in several roles including on the BCSC® 5 (neuro-ophthalmology) Committee, the Self-Assessment Committee and as co-director of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Subspecialty Day program. In parallel, I was elected to the leadership of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS) and currently serve as president. I was previously the alternate and then regular councilor for NANOS and until recently served as the chair of the NANOS Academy Committee.
In these roles and now as council vice chair, I learned the critical role played by the council in identifying and advocating for professional concerns raised by both state and subspecialty groups. I admire how councilors keep the interests of their patients foremost as the council debates Council Advisory Recommendations (CARs) and other proposals. I have realized that fostering greater interaction between state and subspecialty societies, with the recognition that we share many concerns and challenges, will improve the ability of the council to shape Academy policies and actions.
The chair must work to identify the top priorities of the council and represent them to the Board of Trustees. Additionally, the chair, along with the vice chair, must plan the council agenda and activities, particularly at the Mid-Year Forum, and run the council meetings in a way that allows maximal time for ideas and concerns to be shared. The chair must be able to enlist support from societies that have varied interests and concerns, and with my experience in both military and academic practice, my clinical work as both a neuro-ophthalmologist and strabismus and orbital surgeon and my broad leadership experiences within NANOS and the Academy, I am confident that I will able to move the business of the council and to advance the concerns of our ophthalmic societies.
I thank my fellow councilors for recommending me to the Board of Trustees to serve in this role and look forward to having this opportunity to serve.