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When Keith Ignotz, MBA, first joined the Board of Trustees at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) in 1992, he mentioned the College was facing some economic uncertainty. Most board members at the time were optometrists, and there were some concerns amongst the leadership about the durability and sustainability of PCO.
That was 32 years ago, and since then, Ignotz has been a member of a board that has seen PCO develop new programs and establish Salus University, an institution with multiple colleges and programs, continued growth and financial stability.
“My long-term involvement with the board has been motivated by my desire to give back to society in an area focused on life science and healthcare,” he said. “I’ve been in life science in my career. It was sort of synergistic for me. It was my honor to be involved and give back.”
When he first joined the board, Ignotz was an executive at Allergan Humphrey, an eyecare business. It had developed a new field analyzer for glaucoma, a novel technology for its time, and the company wanted to establish some training within a curriculum.
Ignotz approached Thomas Lewis, OD ‘70, PhD, FAAO, then president of PCO who was involved in some of the company’s educational programs, because of his experience in that space. The company provided equipment to the school and funded clinical education and a number of clinical trials with different instrumentation.
“There was a lot of transition going on with the board at that time,” said Ignotz. “In those days, the school received funds from the state of Pennsylvania. And, with those funds also came representatives who were elected by political means to our board. That brought more individuals who were involved in business as opposed to having just optometrists on the board.”
During his tenure, Ignotz has been chairman of both the Institutional Advancement Committee and Committee on Trustees and on the Audit Committee and the Executive Committee. He has also been a member of the PCO Foundation Board.
In addition, Ignotz was involved in many capital campaigns and fundraising efforts as well as providing personal financial support.
The culmination of his board career included the pending merger of PCO/Salus to Drexel University, which he believes has a big upside for many reasons, including the opportunity to do more research in areas that will eventually make leading changes in terms of eye care.
“PCO and the University has always been a leader in its space and it was my honor to participate all the way through to this transition to Drexel,” said Ignotz.
At the January board meeting in which the retirees were honored, resolutions of thanks and appreciation were presented to each by current board chair Rebecca Delia, MIM. Ignotz, along with longtime board member and former chair Jo Surpin and Derrick Artis, OD ‘89, MBA, all retired from the board. Look for a future story on Surpin and Artis.
“I don’t know many people who have devoted this many years of volunteering to a single institution. And, it’s not just the amount of time he’s put in, it’s his level of engagement,” said Delia. “His institutional knowledge of this organization has been invaluable.”
