During each CAO Congress, the School of Optometry & Vision Science recognizes our own through the presentation of the Alumni of Honour Awards.
Through leadership, advocacy and community service, recipients have made outstanding contributions to their communities and to optometry. Their dedication to the advancement of vision care has improved the lives of people across Canada and around the world.
On Wednesday, July 10, the School of Optometry & Vision Science was pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019 Alumni of Honour Awards: Dr. Kathy Dumbleton, Dr. Margaret Hansen-des Groseilliers, Dr. Roland des Groseilliers and Dr. Joshua Smith (Young Alumni of Honour Award).
We are grateful for their dedication and are pleased to recognize them with this well-deserved honour.
2019 Alumni of Honour
Dr. Kathy Dumbleton is an Associate Clinical Professor at the School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley and an Independent Clinical Research Scientist and Consultant. She completed her optometry training at the University of Wales in Cardiff and at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London in 1985, and subsequently completed her MSc in Physiological Optics (1988) and PhD in Vision Science (2013) at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She is a Fellow and Diplomate of the Cornea, Contact Lens and Refractive Technologies (CCLRT) Section of the American Academy of Optometry and a Fellow of the British Contact Lens Association.
During her years at the University of Waterloo, Kathy was a Clinical Faculty Member, Adjunct Associate Professor, Research Optometrist, Senior Clinical Scientist and ultimately Head of Clinical Research at The Centre for Ocular Research and Education (CORE, formerly CCLR). Kathy served on the Board of the American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) for 12 years and as the AAOF President from 2012 to 2014. She is currently Chair of the Research Diplomate Award Committee of the CCLRT Section of the AAO and Secretary of the International Society for Contact Lens Research (ISCLR). She has served on sub-committees of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) and chaired the Epidemiology sub-committee of the TFOS Workshop on Contact Lens Discomfort.
Kathy has 35 years of experience in vision research with specific interests in contact lenses, the ocular surface, dry eye, visual performance and compliance (adherence) with health care treatments and recommendations. She has 38 peer-reviewed publications, more than 100 peer-reviewed abstracts, eight book chapters, numerous professional articles, and has given more than 200 invited lectures and continuing education presentations around the world.
Dr. Margaret Hansen-des Groseilliers and Dr. Roland des Groseilliers are icons in Canadian optometry. Between them, they have served in almost every leadership position within the profession.
Margaret and Roland were classmates and graduated from the College of Optometry of Ontario in 1965. They went on to practice from 1967 to 2011 at the Ottawa Optometric Clinic.
They have each served as Past-President of the Ottawa Society of Optometrists, of which Roland is a founding member. Both are Past Presidents of the CAO (Margaret served as the first woman in the role) and both have held leadership roles within COETF. Roland is a Past-President of the Ontario Association of Optometrists (OAO) and the World Council of Optometry.
Margaret and Roland are co-recipients of the OAO’s James Cobean Memorial Award and CAO President’s Award. In addition, Margaret was honoured by COETF through the establishment of the Margaret des Groseilliers Award, which recognizes Waterloo optometry students who have exhibited exceptional leadership.
On their retirement from practice, their partners established the Dr. Roland des Groseilliers and Dr. Margaret des Groseilliers Humanitarian Award at the UW School of Optometry & Vision Science.
In addition to their involvement in various political and community organizations (including Rotary Clubs in the Ottawa and Arizona) they have also supervised eye care clinics in James Bay, Antigua and Jamaica.
2019 Young Alumni of Honour
Dr. Joshua Smith completed his Doctor of Optometry degree at the University of Waterloo in 2013 after completing a Master’s degree at the University of Calgary in 2008 and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Mount Allison University in 2005.
He has been in private practice in eastern Ontario since 2013, primarily in the rural township of Alexandria. He has a special interest in visual neurorehabilitation, particularly in cases of stroke. He is a staff consultant at the Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, working with the hospital’s stroke rehabilitation unit.
Josh is in his second term as President of the Ontario Association of Optometrists, where he has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 2014, and also served for three years as Ontario’s representative on the Council of the Canadian Association from Optometrists.
Josh takes a pause each year from practice to serve on medical mission trips abroad, with his seventh mission planned for northern Ghana in November 2019.
He also enjoys speaking to all audiences about eye and vision care, having spoken at the Ottawa Stroke Summit in 2018 and on several occasions at the Wabano Aboriginal Health Centre in Ottawa, and with an upcoming lecture planned at the Canadian Stroke Congress in October 2019.
