Transitions Optical

David Cole

Transitions Optical has announced that Dave Cole, a long-time top executive with the company, has been appointed president, effective immediately. In his new role, Cole will assume full responsibility for the Transitions Optical business. Cole started with the company when it launched in 1990 and was named chief operating officer in 2010. In his expanded role, he will be accountable for effectively leveraging the regional and global leadership teams, and business strategy development and execution, while continuing to build strategic partnerships to drive the photochromic market.

American Optometric Association

Dori Carlson

Dori Carlson, OD, was elected president of the American Optometric Association during Optometry's Meeting last month, succeeding Joe Ellis, OD. Carlson, who practices in North Dakota, is the AOA's first woman president. Carlson said her primary goal for the year ahead is working to make sure the pediatric vision benefit in the upcoming health care reform means eye exams, not just screenings, for young children.

Ronald Hopping

Ronald Hopping, OD, of Texas is the new AOA president-elect. Mitchell Munson, OD, of Colorado was elected AOA vice president, David Cockrell, OD, of Oklahoma is the organization's new secretary-treasurer. Newly elected AOA trustees are Hilary Hawthorne, OD, of California; Barbara Horn, OD, of Michigan; Steven Loomis, OD, of Colorado; Samuel Pierce, OD, of Alabama; Christopher Quinn, OD, of New Jersey; and Andrea Thau, OD, of New York.

Marchon

Micha Siebenhandl

Marchon Eyewear, Inc. has announced Micha Siebenhandl has been named to the newly created position of vice president, global house brands. In this new position, Siebenhandl will report directly to Mark Ginsberg, senior vice president, global marketing, with a dotted line to Claudio Gottardi, CEO and president of Marchon. Siebenhandl has been with Marchon since 1997, first as a sales agent for Marchon Germany and then as the sales director for Germany, a position he took on in 2002. Since then he has held several senior positions including commercial director of Germany and Austria.

Superior Vision

Jay Rausch

Managed vision firm Superior Vision recently hired Jay Rausch as its vice president, strategic alliances. Rausch, who joined the company in May, has more than 20 years’ experience in insurance sales, most recently as VP of business development for Dominion Dental. In his new role with Superior, he is responsible for developing strategic relationships with a variety of healthcare providers across the country, including medical carriers, dental plans, third-party administrators and other ancillary benefit companies, an announcement said.

Optometry Giving Sight

Mary Anne Murphy

Optometry Giving Sight has appointed Mary Anne Murphy, OD of Front Range Eye Associates, P.C., in Broomfield, Colo. to lead its efforts in the U.S. to raise funds for people who are blind or vision impaired due to uncorrected refractive error. She will replace Vic Connors, OD as the organization’s chair of the U.S. National Committee.Murphy will help Optometry Giving Sight meet its goals over the coming years to procure funding for projects that will provide affordable and accessible eye care services to people in underserved communities.

Allison

Giorgio Antichi

Allison S.p.A. has named Giorgio Antichi as chief executive officer and Michele Osti as vice president of worldwide sales. Antichi was appointed by the board of directors to his new role and succeeds Antonio Bortuzzo. He has spent the past five years as investment director of Paladin Capital Partners. Antichi also has significant experience in finance, mergers and acquisition and investments as well as in consumer goods.

Michele Osti

Michele Osti succeeds Giuseppe La Boria as vice president worldwide sales. Osti comes from Safilo Group where he was responsible for managing sales to distributors and international accounts, as well as managing the sales process and promotions, sales marketing, the development of new markets and structuring the sales force.

American Board of Optometry
The ABO has elected two new optometrists to its board of directors. According to the organization, Robert P. Nyre, OD, and James M. Vaught, OD, were unanimously elected to serve on the ABO board after Thomas L. Lewis, OD, PhD, retired in May. Nyre, a graduate of Illinois College of Optometry, is currently in private practice in Minot, N.D., where he also serves as the president of the North Dakota Optometric Association and is a past president of the North Central States Optometric Council. Vaught graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry and practices in Conway, S.C., and is a former president of the South Carolina Optometric Physicians Association.

Vision West

Daniel Frutiger

Vision West Inc., the ophthalmic practice management and buying group resource, has added Daniel Frutiger to its sales force as the representative for the company’s Southern California territory. He has a BS in Business Management along with 15 years of experience in office management and executive directorship in the non-profit sector. Additionally he has 13 years of previous sales experience in the ophthalmic industry serving as an Account Executive with Empire Optical, Express Lens Lab, Viva and CSC Group.

Will Be Missed…

Jonathan Balester, 56, a former president of Balester Optical Co., was found dead in his home in Shavertown, PA on May 26. His death was ruled a homicide and the Pennsylvania state police are investigating the murder. Jonathan was born in Wyoming, Pa., to Alison Garland McLeod-Sharpe and the late Fred J. Balester, Jr. A 1972 graduate of Wyoming Seminary, he was president of ABBA Advertising Products, which he operated from his home. He worked in the optical industry for the past thirty-eight years, in Rochester, N.Y. for Main Optical and briefly for Bausch and Lomb. In addition to serving as president of his family’s business, he also served on Balester Optical’s board of directors. Donations may be sent to the Salvation Army, 729 Sans Souci Parkway, Hanover Township 18706; St. Vincent de Paul Kitchen, 39 E. Jackson St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701; Back Mountain Harvest Assembly of God Church, or to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Jacques Morel, 83, one of the driving forces behind the Morel frame company, passed away on May 21st. He was laid to rest at the church of Notre Dame in Morez, France on May 25th. Although very active with the company, which marked its 130th anniversary in 2010, Jacques Morel was retired. As a statement noted, Morel, like his ancestors before him and his children today, was “deeply passionate about his profession and totally devoted to his company, industry, family and region,” the latter including the forest of France’s Jura region. A well-known figure in the world of eyewear, Morel was an officer of the French Order of Merit and was involved in representative bodies such as the Syndicat des Lunetiers du Jura and Silmo.

Hal Rothstein, 74, co-owner and president/CEO of Hirsch Optical, passed away in Melville, NY on June 6 following a lengthy illness. Rothstein was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and received law degrees from Columbia University and New York University. He became a partner in the firm Rothstein & Weinstein in Melville, N.Y. from 1977 through 2000. He then served as counsel to Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C. in Uniondale, N.Y. where he was a member of the firm’s corporate & securities department. In 1978, Rothstein became a silent partner in Hirsch Optical, a small wholesale laboratory in Farmingdale, N.Y. Hirsch Optical is currently managed by his son, Michael Rothstein and Ken Mittel, the lab’s longtime manager.

Don Williamson, OD, a past president of SECO, died May 23 after a long illness at the age of 69. Williamson had practiced in Cape Coral, FL since 1973, after serving in Bangkok, Thailand, as the chief of eye services for the Diplomatic Medical Mission during the Vietnam War. He graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1967.

Williamson was president of the Southern Council of Optometrists in 1998, and was also a past president of the Florida Optometric Association. He was recognized by the American Optometric Association as Optometrist of the Year in 1996, and received the AOA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, in 2005. Donations in his memory may be made to the Moffit Cancer Center’s Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, UTC-Found, 12902 Magnolia Dr., Tampa, Fla., 33612.

Margaret Furman, co-founder and vice president of marketing for Magic Design/Visual Dynamics Inc., passed away in San Francisco on June 11 following a lengthy illness. She was 61 years old. Magic Design, one of the industry's long-time retail dispensary display/design companies, was started by Furman and her husband Cy in the early ‘80s. Originally known as Magic Glass, the company specialized in glass showcases for retailers. But it was in 1983 that the Furmans turned their attention to the optical industry and began to specialize in the design and merchandising business for retail dispensaries. Margaret Furman was a driving force behind the company’s growth which today offers retailers a “total package” design with client services ranging from lighting to flooring and furniture selections.