Centennial
March is Save Your Vision Month, which traces its founding to 1927 by members of the American Optometric Association (AOA). Initially, the celebration was reserved for only a week. But, 36th president, Lyndon B. Johnson, raised its profile in 1963 and made it a national observance. “Thanks, I’m almost certain to the exposure President Johnson had to extraordinary optometric care his family received from Robert A. Kraskin, OD '50, one of our distinguished alumni,” Dr. Michael H. Mittelman, president of Salus, said recently. Then, in 2005, the AOA House of Delegates voted to extend the campaign to a month-long initiative. During March each year, we take the time to remind Americans of the importance of eye health and comprehensive eye examinations, performed by Doctors of Optometry.
Throwback Thursday: Originally Published in the Fall 1966 Alumni Bulletin
At the AOA Congress in Boston, Luci B. Johnson (now Mrs. Patrick Nugent) (left), younger daughter of President and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson personally thanks Dr. Lawrence Fitch (right), President of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, for the Alumni Association Public Service Citation awarded to her in absentia during the alumni reunion in April. At that time, Miss Johnson was unable to be present and the citation was accepted on her behalf by Dr. Robert A. Kraskin.
