ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Dr. Kevin Willeford MS ’13, OD ’14, PhD ’18 As an undergraduate neuroscience major at the University of Miami, Kevin Willeford didn’t plan to end up in optometry—or in New York City. “My classmates were looking into applying for medical school; I didn’t feel a desire to do the same,” he says. “I decided to pursue a career in optometry because I had grown up at the eye doctor and had very positive memories associated with him. I chose SUNY Optometry for several reasons: my boyfriend and I both had family in the Northeast, it had the highest average entering GPA of all the optometry schools and it was the cheapest.” Since arriving at the College, he’s earned his OD in optometry and MS in vision science and recently defended his dissertation to complete his PhD. “There is a theory that says two types of attention, with and without eye movements, are programmed in the same area of the brain; however, it is not that simple,” he says. “My dissertation examines some of the complexities regarding how these two types of attention could operate independently and how neurons in the superior colliculus help enact attentional processes.” While Dr. Willeford’s dissertation topic–An Analysis of the Neural Mechanisms Underlying Covert and Overt Spatial Attention–excites him, the most important lesson he has learned so far is that, he says, “there is beauty in pain.” He failed his first practical in the graduate program and experienced anxiety about having blank faces stare back at him when he teaches. “I’ve had to learn how to be fluid and explain things in many different ways. We all get hurt when we don’t feel like we have ‘achieved’ what we set out to, but I’ve started to convey to students that it’s a natural 5 PhDs awarded, part of the process.” 2018 Dr. Kevin Willeford, a three-time alumnus, introduces first-year OD students to the research process. 2018 Schnurmacher Colloquium Series Speakers Dr. Darlene Archer University of California, Davis Dr. Hadas Ben Eli Hadassah Academic College Dr. Vivian Choh University of Waterloo Dr. Christopher Dainty University College London Dr. Winrich Freiwald The Rockefeller University Dr. Mateusz Jaskulski Indiana University Bloomington Dr. Ian Nauhaus University of Texas Dr. Denis Pelli New York University Dr. Ning Qian Columbia University Dr. Tonia Rex Vanderbilt Eye Institute Dr. Bas Rokers University of Wisconsin–Madison Dr. Seang Mei Saw National University of Singapore Dr. Frank Schaeffel University of Tübingen Dr. Falk Schroedl Paracelsus Medical University Dr. Gregory W. Schwartz Northwestern University 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 13
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