My nomination for the position of Trustee-at-Large is the highest honor of my professional career. The Academy is critical to the advancement of our profession and the well-being of our patients. If elected to the Board, I will represent all members of the Academy with integrity and passion.
I am a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and flew the F-15 jet fighter in Europe before obtaining my medical degree at the University of Southern California in 1989. I completed residency and fellowship in Glaucoma/Cornea-Refractive Surgery at the University of Oklahoma/Dean A. McGee Eye Institute and spent a year at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. In 1995, I joined Dr. Luther Fry in a group practice in rural Garden City, Kansas where our remote location guarantees that we practice ophthalmology comprehensively. Fortunately, modern technology provides ready access to expert colleagues, and the resources of our Academy enable us to deliver high quality care to our diverse population. I have also been privileged to be a surgical attending at the VA Hospital in Oklahoma City, and to participate in medical missions on every continent except Antarctica. Our practice also participates in multiple FDA Phase III studies in IOL development and MIGS.
My Academy experience is broad in both Clinical Education and Advocacy. For ten years I was a member and subsequently chair of the POACE, the Practicing Ophthalmologists Advisory Committee for Education, as well as the Glaucoma Editor for Focal Points. I also had the opportunity to participate in the development of BCSC Volume 13, Refractive Surgery. I served as the State President for the Kansas Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons and on our State Ophthalmology/Optometry Inter-Professional Advisory Committee. I currently represent Kansas on the AAO Council, and am a member of the OPHTHPAC Committee. In 1999, I graduated with the first AAO Leadership Development class.
As an elected County Commissioner in Kansas, I enjoy unique access to our state and federal legislators. Our profession is held in high esteem by both the public and public servants, and as a Trustee I will work to encourage our members to increase the visibility of our profession and their engagement with policymakers. Whatever your practice setting, it is our time to ensure that patients have access to and receive the high-quality eye care delivered by ophthalmologists. I thank you for allowing me to be your voice and your representative on the Board of Trustees.