(PRESS RELEASE) The California Optometric Association
(COA) announced that Jason Tu, O.D. has been elected the organization’s new president. Dr. Tu is a practicing optometrist in San Diego who has been a compassionate provider and effective advocate for his patients over his decades-long career.
“It is an honor to have been selected by my colleagues to represent California’s optometrists and our patients as president of the California Optometric Association,” said Dr. Tu. Service through the optometric profession is a passion for Dr. Tu, who credits his parents for the bravery and sacrifice that made his career possible; the family barely escaped from Vietnam in the 1970s before being sponsored in the United State as refugees. “My parents told me ‘we didn’t give up everything and risk our lives for you to come here and do anything less than your best,’ and my best is what I aim to give to my patients and the optometric profession each day. I am eager for the opportunity to support optometrists across the state in helping their patients thrive and to ensure our children have the vision care needed to succeed in school and in life.”
“The California Optometric Association is proud to work with Dr. Tu hand-in-hand this year to help strengthen the important role optometrists’ play in Californians’ overall health and wellness,” said Bill Howe, executive director of the California Optometric Association. “Dr. Tu’s decades of leadership in the optometric profession will not only help COA continue to provide California’s optometrists with the tools needed to deliver excellent vision care for their patients, but help showcase the value optometrists are to their patients and to California’s policymakers and the public.”
Previously, Dr. Tu served as the president of the COA San Diego County Optometric Society, secretary-treasurer of the California Optometric Association, and on the Vision of Children Foundation Advisory Board. Dr. Tu received his bachelor of science degree from the University of California at Irvine (UCI) and his doctor of optometry degree from the Southern California College of Optometry. Dr. Tu is married to his best friend Susan, whom he met in college at UCI. They keep busy with their two kids Adam and Audrey.
The California Optometric Association also announced its full board of trustees for 2020 – 2021: Dr. Ida Chung, associate dean of academic affairs at Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry, was elected as president-elect and Dr. Amanda Dexter, clinical director for Nvision Eye Centers in La Jolla, was elected as secretary-treasurer. Dr. Rachelle Lin, assistant professor at Marshall B. Ketchum University Southern California College of Optometry, was elected as trustee, and Dr. Christopher Gee, an optometrist from Dublin, and Dr. Erin Swift, an optometrist from San Diego, were re-elected as trustees.