(Press Release) VSP Global has given $500,000 to the Ohio State University College of Optometry, creating the VSP Global Technology and Innovation Endowed Fund.
“For over one hundred years, the Ohio State University College of Optometry has been a leader in optometric education and has moved vision science forward thanks to cutting-edge research,” said Jim McGrann, VSP Global’s President and CEO-elect.
“As new technology continues to shape how eye care is delivered, this endowment will help ensure the University’s students and faculty have the resources needed to experiment and study new innovations that help fulfill our shared mission of helping more people see.”
Through the endowment, Ohio State University will be able to partner on projects with VSP’s innovation lab, The SHOP, which recently opened a Midwest location within the Columbus Idea Foundry. Focusing on developing technologies for the physical and digital aspects of eyewear and eye care, The SHOP’s mission is to support multiple innovation projects by embracing disruption in order to anticipate the changing and future needs of VSP’s 75 million members worldwide.
“We are thrilled at the initiation of this important program and at VSP Global’s generosity, enthusiasm, and foresight in founding it,” said Karla Zadnik, O.D., PhD and Dean of The Ohio State University College of Optometry. “I expect that this endowment will help the College of Optometry drive the development of innovations that will enhance eye care and make important discoveries about ocular disease.”