Centennial
In accordance with our Centennial celebration for the University’s founding college, the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO), we like to focus on some of our institution’s most notable alumni. Lester Janoff, OD ’53, Med, FAAO was more than just an exceptional optometric educator, administrator, contact lens clinician, and researcher – he was a beloved friend and mentor to many.
The following tribute was written by PCO professor Dr. Joel Silbert, OD ’73, FAAO, shortly after Dr. Janoff’s death in 2007.
“Les Janoff graduated from PCO in 1953 and had a private practice in Philadelphia near the College campus, and later in the suburbs. He joined PCO faculty in 1965. He was my professor who taught basic optometric procedures, including refractive and accommodative disorders. In the early 70s, Les was a contact lens instructor and taught in the contact lens didactic course. His knowledge of contact lenses was extraordinary! His modern approach to contact lens fitting was a breath of fresh air compared to how contact lenses had been taught at PCO in earlier years.
Les taught in the contact lens clinic, and became the chief of Module 1 at The Eye Institute, which was newly formed. There, he pioneered the concepts of primary care optometry as it was being developed at PCO under the leadership of President Norman Wallis, OD and executive director Charles Mullen, OD.
With an entirely new and young faculty (yours truly included), Les was a role model of how primary care best served patients, students, and the profession. He engaged students with critical thinking, problem-oriented solutions, efficient clinical testing, and allowed student participation in understanding the financial workings of a primary care model from a business perspective.
Les was also very interested in contact lens research, and was an early investigator of the newly developed gas-permeable lens materials, hydrogel (soft) contact lenses, and contact lens care systems. While at PCO, Les became more and more involved in helping develop an advanced curriculum, and achieved his Masters in Education during that time.
In 1978, Dr. Janoff (by then a full professor) left PCO to head the contact lens clinical research group at American Optical Co. in Southbridge, Mass. During that time, he conducted numerous Food Drug Admission (FDA) clinicals for the development of the Softcon™ lens – the forerunner to Ciba Focus, now Alcon Clear Care’s lens materials. He also developed and led clinicals in extended wear of hydrogel lenses, and became an expert in hydrogen peroxide disinfection systems, with the development of AO’s AOSEPT system (which still exists today, and is the forerunner to Ciba’s current Clear Care disinfection system). I was fortunate to be a clinical investigator for AO during this period, due to close working relationships developed with Les during his years here at PCO and The Eye Institute.
In 1983, Dr. Janoff left AO to head up the clinical programs at New England College of Optometry (NEWENCO), in Boston, Mass. While there, he brought his expertise in primary care, contact lens education, and curricular development to the educational programs at NEWENCO, and conducted numerous research projects involving contact lenses and contrast sensitivity devices.
In 1990, He left NEWENCO to become associate dean for Academic Affairs at a new institution, now NOVA Southeastern University College of Optometry (NSUCO). In 1995, he returned to teaching as a professor of optometry, and his love for contact lens education. In 2002, he was awarded Professor Emeritus recognition, and continued lecturing and participating in the contact lens clinics until his death in 2006.
Dr. Janoff was a member of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO), and was a Diplomate in the Cornea and Contact Lens Section. He was the author of numerous articles in the optometric literature on contact lenses, contact lens care systems, and optometric education.
I wanted you to know more about this remarkable man who was a gentleman, a researcher and scholar in the truest sense, a superb clinician, and a remarkable teacher. More importantly, he was a great friend, a beloved mentor, and a nurturing person to students and young clinicians.
I think about him every day. He is sorely missed.”
Dr. Janoff’s memory lives on through the Dr. Lester Janoff Award for Writing Excellence from the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO). The biannual award recognizes an outstanding research article published in ASCO’s journal Optometric Education of which Dr. Janoff was an editor and longtime member of its Editorial Review Board.
In 2007, Dr. Silbert, along with fellow PCO alum, Michael Spinell, OD ’70, and Dr. Janoff’s daughter, Andrea Janoff, OD created The Lester E. Janoff Memorial Award through the Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators (AOCLE).
Photo of the first award recipient, Luigina Sorbara, OD, with Drs. Janoff, Spinell and Silbert
When asked about his mentor, Dr. Spinell said, “As a teacher, the most important thing to get across is that you care about your students and care that they are actually learning and absorbing what you’re teaching. Dr. Janoff was one of those teachers. He was on your side. He really cared because he knew how important it was and how it would affect the students and their future patients. The award was created with the intention to have Dr. Janoff’s name live on into eternity as a representation of the great role model, preceptor, and man that we was.”
Dr. Silbert was honored with the award in 2011 for Excellence in Contact Lens Education, Publication and Research.
Andrea Janoff giving Dr. Joel Silbert his award.
