Dr. Andrea Thau, a 1984 graduate of SUNY Optometry and a long-serving faculty member of the College, was sworn in as president of the American Optometric Association on July 2 at Optometry’s Meeting in Boston.
“I am honored to be inaugurated as president of the American Optometric Association,” Dr. Thau said during the event. “It’s a trust that I don’t take lightly, and I have a dedication to really want to help advance our profession. I think each one of us has to be able to contribute back to our profession at the highest level that we possibly can.”
Dr. Thau continued: “What I’m going to bring is my passion, my love for the profession, my focus, my ethics, my morals and my goal to try to make optometry as good as it can be and to help care specifically for children, whom I have a very special interest in, and also to be able to communicate to the public the wonderful things that all of us as optometrists do.”
“Thanks to the AOA and our affiliates, optometry is well positioned to serve as America’s primary eye care providers,” Dr. Thau said in an earlier statement announcing her candidacy.
Dr. Thau has been exceptionally active in organized optometry throughout her career, serving as the first female president of the New York State Optometric Association, the New York Academy of Optometry and the Optometric Society of the City of New York. Dr. Thau is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, a Distinguished Practitioner on the National Academies of Practice and a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry. She is the owner of a busy group private practice in Manhattan and regularly makes media appearances as an expert on a variety of issues related to eye health. She is also a founding member of the AOA’s InfantSEE program. Dr. Thau serves as a part-time member of the faculty of SUNY Optometry, providing clinical supervision in the University Eye Center.
“Dr. Thau is an extremely accomplished clinician and a tireless advocate for the profession of optometry,” Dr. David A. Heath, president of SUNY Optometry said. “We’re honored and proud to have her as a member of the SUNY Optometry community.”
The College, the Alumni Association and the New York State Optometric Association sponsored a reception celebrating Dr. Thau’s inauguration in Boston on July 1.