The money will fund scholarships, research and community service.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Nova Southeastern University’s College of Optometry is changing its name.
It will be known as the NSU National Vision College of Optometry.
The change follows a “significant” philanthropic gift from National Vision Inc., according to a press release. The amount was not specified.
The gift will be used toward student scholarships, faculty research and increased community service, the release stated.
“We are very pleased to welcome National Vision into our growing ‘family’ of donors,” said Dr. George Hanbury, NSU’s president and CEO. “This gift demonstrates their commitment to advancing the profession of optometry, helping to ensure that our students are even better prepared to serve their future patients.”
National Vision has been a longtime supporter of NSU, including having donated a major piece of equipment – a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope simulator – to the College of Optometry’s training lab in 2015. The company has also sponsored numerous student events.
“At National Vision, everything we do is driven by our mission to provide affordable eye care and eyewear to budget-conscious people,” said Reade Fahs, CEO of National Vision. “National Vision is and will always be an ‘optometrist-centric’ organization. We strive to be a place where optometrists have an opportunity to provide quality care to patients that need it most while also finding it a fulfilling place to work and advance their careers. In fact, of the more than 40,000 practicing optometrists in the United States, more than 2,000 – or roughly 5 five percent – of them are practicing in the National Vision network. We believe that the best way to invest in the future of the profession is to invest in the future of optometric education, which is expensive. We are trying to do our part.”
Founded in 1989, the NSU College of Optometry is the only optometry program in Florida and one of 23 colleges in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.