ST. LOUIS—The newly elected president of the American Optometric Association (AOA) James P. DeVleming, OD, has resigned, citing personal reasons, the AOA announced late last week. Dr. DeVleming was sworn in as AOA’s 101st president on June 18, 2022, during Optometry's Meeting in Chicago. Prior to that, he had served on the AOA board of trustees since 2014. He is a past president of the Optometric Physicians of Washington (OPW) as well as a past president of the Inland Society of OPW.

After being informed of DeVleming’s resignation, the AOA board of trustees met and designated Robert C. Layman, OD, as AOA president, the AOA said. Dr. Layman had just completed a one-year term as president of the organization.
 
William T. Reynolds, OD, who served as AOA president from 2020-2021, will serve as trustee until scheduled elections are held in June, 2023 during Optometry’s Meeting 2023 in Washington, D.C., according to AOA.
 
An AOA spokesperson told VMAIL that no other information about the organization’s leadership change was available.