Dr. Lewis Announces He Is Stepping Down

Longtime president Thomas L. Lewis, OD, PhD, has announced that after a 45 year association with PCO and Salus, he will step down effective June 30, 2012.

   Jo Surpin, chair of the University's Board of Trustees noted, "Tom Lewis' vision has had an extraordinary impact on this institution. Always with a focus on students, the results of his leadership are seen in the university's programs and clinical facilities and its ability to implement new initiatives at a time when some institutions have postponed their plans."

   The institution's second longest serving president, Dr. Lewis led the transition of PCO from a single to multi-purposed institution with the addition of a variety of degree programs that built on PCO's legacy of educating health care professionals. As a result of this unprecedented growth, Salus University was established in 2008. Today the university consists of four distinct colleges that offer 10 accredited degree programs in optometry, audiology, physician assistant studies, blindness and low vision rehabilitation and education, and public health.

     During Dr. Lewis' 23 year tenure as president, PCO moved from the Oak Lane section of Philadelphia to its present campus; the Hafter Student Community Center was built; an innovative curriculum featuring early introduction of clinical skills that became a model for other colleges of optometry was launched, and the university's largest clinical teaching facility, The Eye Institute, was successfully renovated.

     Additional initiatives accomplished during Dr. Lewis' tenure as president include: an international Master of Science (MSc) degree program in clinical optometry; Curriculum 2000, where students learn in the classroom, practice in the labs and move to supervised work with patients in the clinic; Master's degree and certificate programs in Orientation and Mobility, and Vision Rehabilitation Teaching; National Center for Leadership in Vision Impairment (NCLVI); Doctor of Audiology (AuD) professional degree, both residential and distance programs; Master of Medical Science (MMS) degree program in Physician Assistant Studies; a wholly online MPH program; a joint PhD program with Cardiff University in Wales, United Kingdom; and a Master of Science / PhD dual program in Biomedicine (to begin 2012).

   Dr. Lewis began his association with Salus as a student in 1966. He earned a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree at PCO, followed by a PhD at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Ophthalmology at Washington University in Missouri before returning to PCO as a faculty member. In 1979 Dr. Lewis was appointed vice president and dean of Pennsylvania College of Optometry before becoming PCO president in 1989. 

  In a letter to university faculty, students, alumni and staff, Dr. Lewis said, " . . .I could never have found a position so rewarding or one that I could have loved more."  Thanking all, he told the Salus University community, "We can't stop growing and changing because the challenges to higher education today are significant."  

Braille Workshop

A Braille Non-Visual Access Technology workshop helped College of Education and Rehabilitation students Krista Bulger and Katie Russell learn how to use the Duxberry Braille Translation software program to emboss the braille they created.

According to Sheila Amato, Ed.D., adjunct, the "highlight of the workshop was learning how to create tactile graphic representations of pictures, charts and diagrams by using a Tiger embosser."

SOSH El Salvador Trip

    SOSH's annual mission trip to El Salvador, from August 11 - 17, made a significant impact on the communities they served. The students raised almost $24,000 offsetting the out of pocket cost for the seven day trip, which consisted of four days dedicated to work, with two for travel and one day off. 
    The group consisted of 17 students, three translators and two doctors, Dr. Audrey Chen and Dr. Michael Wong. The team worked with the organization Commandos de Salvemente El Salvador.

     SOSH members who took part in the trip were Asja Asceric, Jillian Bolton, Mallory Cranmer, Bryan Crosby, Kristen Epting, Dhimiter Llambiri, Kyung Eun Min, Louis Moriano, Sita Patel, Sarah Yumi Park, Lindsey Sabol, Katie Tempaugh, Julie Vashi, Marshall Walker, Kevin Wheat, and Evone Wong, all Class of 2013, and Nicole Maierhoffer '14.

     Over the course of four days, the group saw approximately 700 patients, with the majority receiving sunglasses while supplies permitted. Anyone over the age of 50 was supplied with reading glasses if necessary, and at least a dozen were referred for further treatment. Distance prescriptions were needed for about 40% of the population and glasses were provided to those in need.

     Each day, about 20 to 30 referrals were made. Everyone who was in need of topical medications were given what they needed until the daily portion of supplies ran out. The team also will be making six pairs of glasses with difficult prescriptions and sending them back down to the Comandos de Salvamento to be delivered to the individuals.
      A possible return to El Salvador is being discussed for next year. At the end of the trip, the students were greeted and thanked by the president and vice president of Comandos de Salvamento, which was a very rewarding moment for each of the members who attended.

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