ORLANDO, Fla. –The American Academy of Optometry announced its 2015 Award recipients. This year the Academy’s awards will also recognize several international attendees.

The award ceremonies will be held during the American Academy of Optometry’s annual meeting, Academy 2015 New Orleans which takes place from Oct. 7 to 10. The Henry B. Peters Memorial Award will be given on Wednesday, Oct. 7 and the Cornea, Contact Lenses and Refractive Technologies award winners will also be honored on that date. Award winners will be recognized at the Academy 2015 New Orleans Awards Ceremony on Friday, Oct. 9.

“The individuals nominated for awards this year were all exceptional individuals, which made it a difficult but rewarding task to come up with leading candidates,” remarked Chris A. Johnson, PhD, DSc, FAAO, awards committee chair. “I am indebted to those who performed the nominations and those who served on the awards committee. The high quality of candidates is an indication of the success, improvement and influence of the American Academy of Optometry, the American Optometric Foundation and its members.”

The 2015 award recipients include The Charles F. Prentice Medal and Lecture Award, Ralph D. Freeman, OD, PhD; Glenn A. Fry Award and Lecture (American Optometric Foundation Award), Joanne Wood, PhD, MBCOptom, FAAO; Irvin M. and Beatrice Borish Award, Ravi C. Bakaraju, BOptom, PhD, FAAO; AAO-Essilor Award for Outstanding International Contributions to Optometry, Rajesh Wadhwa, MOptom, Rajbir Singh Berwal, MA, MOptom, Lakshmi Shinde, MSCOptom, FAAO, FIACLE, Vinod Daniel, MS, and Vivek Mendonsa; William Feinbloom Award, Wendy Marsh-Tootle, OD, MS; Carel C. Koch Memorial Award, Mae O. Gordon, PhD; Julius F. Neumueller Award in Optics (American Optometric Foundation Award), Rachel Knowlton; Vincent Ellerbrock Clinician Educator Award, Robert Greer, OD, FAAO; Eminent Service Award, Mark Eger, OD, FAAO; Garland W. Clay Award, Pooja Godara, MD, Adam M. Dubis, PhD, Austin Roorda, PhD, Jacque L. Duncan, MD, and Joseph Carroll, PhD; Michael G. Harris Award for Excellence in Optometric Education (American Optometric Foundation Award), Edward S. Bennett, OD, MSEd, FAAO and Steven Schwartz, OD, PhD, FAAO.

The awards of the Section on Cornea, Contact Lenses and Refractive Technologies include The Max Schapero Memorial Lecture Award, Eric B. Papas, PhD, BScOptom, FAAO; Founders’ Award, Phil Keefer, FAAO.

The Henry B. Peters Memorial Award in Public Health and Environmental Vision will be presented to Lester Caplan, OD, MEd, FAAO.

For more information, visit www.aaopt.org/regsite.