Bob Colucci (l) and Jerry Warner.
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NEW YORK—The board of trustees of the Optometric Center of New York (OCNY), the foundation of the SUNY College of Optometry, plan to honor two well-known vision care industry leaders at the organization’s upcoming annual fundraising gala on March 31 at the Plaza Hotel here. The honorees at the 14th annual “Eyes on New York” event will be Bob Colucci, president, IDD, Essilor of America and chairman, Essilor Vision Foundation, along with Jerry Warner, president, Americas, CooperVision.

Honorary chair of the event is Dave Sattler, former director of professional relations, Alcon Laboratories, Inc. Corporate co-chairs include Martin Bassett, CEO, Walman and Guy Guglielmino, vice president, marketing, Bausch + Lomb.

Colucci has been president of Independent Distribution Division of Essilor of America, Inc. since October 2004. Mr. Colucci began his career with Essilor in 1989 as director of sales for Varilux Corporation. He was promoted to vice president of sales in early 1991 and had an active role over the years in the rapid growth of the Varilux product line.

In 1996, Essilor Lenses reorganized into distinct business units focusing on unique customer segments and Colucci served as senior vice president, general manager wholesale group, Essilor Lenses. In 1997, he was elected by the U.S. employees to serve on the board of directors of Valoptec Association, the association that represents the Essilor employee shareholders, a position he held through April 2006.

In 1999, the Essilor International shareholders elected Colucci as a member of the Essilor board of directors, which he served until March of 2004. Also in 1999, he assumed the position of senior vice president, sales and marketing for Essilor Laboratories of America (ELOA).

Colucci became the chairman of the Essilor Vision Foundation in 2012. The Foundation is committed to eliminating poor vision and its lifelong consequences, and to providing underprivileged people the opportunity to live a better life through better sight.

Jerry Warner is president, Americas, of CooperVision, a global designer and manufacturer of contact lenses. Before accepting this position, Jerry served as CooperVision’s president, North America, and senior vice president of global marketing.

Prior to joining CooperVision, Jerry spent 17 years at Bausch + Lomb in a variety of marketing and management roles, his last two years as general manager of the global contact lens business. He has extensive global and domestic experience in the medical device, pharmaceutical and consumer package goods categories.

Before joining Bausch + Lomb, Jerry was associated with Bristol Myers Squibb in a variety of sales, marketing and trade marketing roles, achieving success not only at the territory level, but also in sales management roles. Jerry’s leadership and successes have been recognized at the highest level, including twice receiving the CEO Award.

Since its inception, the OCNY has had an ongoing commitment to supporting vision care for the poor and underserved, awarding scholarships to optometry students who are academically outstanding and financially deserving and supporting research that will advance eye and vision care. Its annual gala is the OCNY’s most important fundraising event and a perennial highlight surrounding the events of Vision Expo East.

Information about the Eyes on New York Gala journal, tickets and table info are posted here and also available from SUNY Optometry’s Ann Warwick at awarwick@sunyopt.edu or (212) 938-5600.