2014 Practice Excellence Scholarship Recipients with Kathy Dumbleton, PhD, MCOptcom, FAAO, president of the American Optometric Foundation (first row, far left); Randy Lee, OD and chair of the VSP Global Board (center); Greg Fulginiti, development director for the American Optometric Foundation (second from end on the right, in suit; Gary Gimpel, OD, FYidoctors (far right).

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.—VSP Global and the American Optometric Foundation (AOF), an affiliate of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO), recently announced the 44 recipients of this year’s Practice Excellence Scholarships. $166,000 will be distributed among top-performing fourth-year optometry students in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.

The scholarships are funded through the VSP Global Eyes of Hope Global Charitable Fund in collaboration with FYidoctors in Canada and administered through the AOF.

“VSP is excited to team up with the American Optometric Foundation and FYidoctors to help the future leaders of optometry,” said Cheryl Johnson, senior vice president of Eyecare Delivery Solutions at VSP Vision Care. “As a key component to fulfilling our mission to help people see, VSP remains committed to the advancement of optometry, investing more than $1 million dollars in scholarship support to hundreds of optometry students over the last 10 years.”

Kathy Dumbleton, PhD, MCOptom, FAAO, president of the American Optometric Foundation, said, “The collaboration with VSP and the schools and colleges of optometry is critical in advancing optometric education to help the next generation of optometry continue providing access to eyecare and meeting the needs and choices of consumers.

akarp@jobson.com