VSP Global

Donald J.  Ball Jr.

VSP Global has named Donald J. Ball Jr. as its chief financial officer. Ball will replace former vice president and CFO Patricia Cochran who recently retired after 31 years, and report to chief executive officer, Rob Lynch. Most recently, Ball was senior vice president and CFO of Raley’s, a major grocery chain, and previously spent 19 years at global home furnishings giant, IKEA.

Jim McGrann

VSP Global has also named Jim McGrann - most recently Eyefinity/OfficeMate president - as chief technology officer. Steve Baker, Eyefinity/OfficeMate’s current chief technology officer, has been named president of Eyefinity/OfficeMate, succeeding McGrann. Baker will report to McGrann in his new role.

Steve Baker

McGrann has served as Eyefinity/OfficeMate’s president since Eyefinity and OfficeMate merged following VSP’s acquisition of Marchon Eyewear in August of 2008. Prior to that, McGrann served as both senior vice president and chief information officer at Marchon Eyewear, and CEO of OfficeMate Software Solutions since 1999. Prior to the merger of Eyefinity and OfficeMate, Baker served as Eyefinity’s president from 2007 to 2008 and was then named chief technology officer.

SECO International

Ron Bannister

Ron Bannister, OD, of Thomasville, Ga., was elected president of the SECO International organization at last month’s annual meeting in Atlanta. Bannister succeeded Jonathan Shrewsbury, OD, of Beaver Dam, Ky., who became SECO's immediate past president.

Also elected to offices within SECO International were Neil Draisin, OD, of Charleston, S.C., president-elect; Ronald Foreman, OD, of Lake City, Fla., vice president; Darby Chiasson, OD, of Cut Off, La., treasurer; and James Herman, OD, of Hurricane, W. Va., secretary.

CIBA Vision

Jan Wagner

CIBA Vision has named Jan Wagner its vice president, North American marketing. Wagner succeeded George Pastrana, who is now CIBA’s VP of customer satisfaction. Wagner was previously category marketing director for pain products at Novartis.

PPG Industries

Brett Craig

PPG Industries has appointed Brett Craig vice president, PPG. He remains president of Transitions Optical and will report directly to Richard C. Elias, PPG senior vice president, optical and specialty materials. Craig joined Transitions Optical in July 1999 as general manager/managing director, Asia/Pacific. In 2002, he was named general manager/managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. In mid-2006, Craig assumed the role of chief operating officer and provided day-to-day leadership for the global business.

The Vision Council

Mike Daley

Election of officers and new directors by the membership of the Vision Council took place during the organization's annual Executive Summit in January. Re-elected for the second of two possible one-year terms were: chairman, Mike Daley, Essilor; vice-chairman, Jamie Shyer, Zyloware; secretary-treasurer, Doug Hepper, Vision-Ease, and immediate-past chairman, Larry Clarke, Satisloh.

Larry Clarke

Elected for a three-year term as directors joining the board are: Gerard Santinelli, Santinelli International, Inc. and Marty Bassett, Walman Optical. Also re-elected were directors: Pierre Fay, Luxottica; Don Howard, Kenmark; Dick Russo, Safilo; Dave Cole Transitions; Fred Howard, Carl Zeiss Vision; Steve Rappoport, L'Amy America; and Mike Hundert, REM Eyewear.

SoloHealth

Tony I. Sommer, Jr.

SoloHealth has announced that Tony I. Sommer, Jr., will be joining the management team as vice president, sales and marketing. Sommer comes to SoloHealth with almost six years of eyecare industry experience in marketing and sales as an executive with CIBA Vision, where he and his teams won awards for innovation, marketing breakthroughs, and distinguished performance, including the company’s Country of the Year award for his team’s performance in North America.

Hoya Vision Care Europe
Hoya has appointed Hans Werquin as CEO of Hoya Vision Care Europe, effective April 1. He will report to Gerald W. Bottero, who has been leading the European branch in the past five years. Bottero will remain CEO of Hoya Vision Care globally. Werquin has 20 years experience in the optical industry and is currently president of Hoya Lens Belgium and Hoya Lens France.

Optelec US

Andre Hardy

Optelec US has announced that Andre Hardy has been appointed president. Hardy is responsible for spearheading and expanding corporate and product strategy, business development, and overseeing all finance, operations, sales and marketing initiatives. Since joining Optelec US in 2007 as vice president of sales and marketing, Hardy has expanded the company’s product sales, distribution channels, and industry relationships.

Vistakon
VISTAKON® has named Arthur Shedden, MD, MBA, Medical Safety Officer, Professional Development, responsible for pre- and post-marketing product assessment from a medical safety perspective. He will continue overseeing Medical Affairs for Pharmaceutical Products reporting to Colleen Riley, OD, MS, FAAO, Dipl CL, Vice President of Professional Development.

Will be Missed…

Clarence L. “Chauncey” Wheaton

Clarence L. “Chauncey” Wheaton of Palm Harbor Florida, formerly Geneva NY, passed away peacefully on February 12th. Clarence served in the Army and the Korean War, achieving rank of Corporal. He was employed with Shuron Textron in New York from 1963-1970 and Precision Optical from 1970-1977 before relocating to Florida. Clarence then briefly worked for Shuron Textron again at the Tampa location in 1977 and 1978 before starting his own business Wheaton Optical Service in 1978.

Wheaton Optical Services operated until 1995 when Jeff Wheaton took over and formed Star Optical Service. Clarence continued with Star Optical Service until 2001 when Vision Systems Inc was founded. He worked with VSI up to only about a year ago when his health started to decline. He is survived by his son Jeff Wheaton, President of Vision Systems Inc. His daughter in law Tracy Wheaton Accounts Manager of Vision Systems Inc. His son Stephen Wheaton Northeast Sales Manager of Santinelli International, his son Gregory Wheaton Senior Ophthalmic Technician of Vision Systems Inc. And his Grandsons Christopher and Dylan Wheaton Ophthalmic Technicians at Vision Systems