Over the summer, several of our faculty members who you may remember from your time as a student, announced their retirement and concluded their teaching and clinical careers. Read each of their stories of impact on teaching and research: Dr. Trefford Simpson, Dr. Murchison Callendar, Dr. Daphne McCulloch, Dr. Jeffrey Hovis and Dr. Elizabeth Irving.
Dr. Trefford Simpson
Dr. Trefford Simpson’s career in optometry didn’t get off to the most promising start. As a teenager in Johannesburg, South Africa, his primary interest was playing soccer. He applied to optometry school, among other programs, just because it seemed interesting. And, initially, he didn’t get in.
Murchison Callender
Dr. Murchison “Murch” Callender’s career journey has been marked with victorious highs and discouraging lows. As one of the first Black faculty members at the University of Waterloo, much less the School of Optometry and Vision Science, he persevered in the face of racial inequity and overcame numerous barriers to become a highly respected expert in contact lenses.
Dr. Daphne McCulloch
As Dr. Daphne McCulloch nears her retirement at the end of August, her career will come full circle. Almost 50 years ago to the day, the now-professor started her undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo in the Faculty of Science.
Dr. Jeff Hovis
People such as police officers, pilots and railway dispatchers are responsible for keeping people safe. Dr. Jeff Hovis has helped ensure their vision is up to the job. Hovis, an associate professor with the University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Science, has helped multiple Canadian agencies appropriately set vision standards since the mid-1980s.
Dr. Elizabeth Irving
For a big chunk of her career, Dr. Elizabeth Irving was best known as a chick scientist. Not because she was one of the very few women awarded a Canada Research Chair in the early days of the program. Nor because she raised three children while making major scientific contributions. Irving, who recently retired as a much-awarded professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, made important discoveries about myopia using baby chicks as models.
Dr. Murchison “Murch” Callender’s career journey has been marked with victorious highs and discouraging lows. As one of the first Black faculty members at the University of Waterloo, much less the School of Optometry and Vision Science, he persevered in the face of racial inequity and overcame numerous barriers to become a highly respected expert in contact lenses. 
