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[ TODAY’S LEADERS ]Pioneers in the contact lens field are not hard to identify. Perhaps more challenging is to consider who leads the field today, now that contact lenses are an integral part of nearly every optometric practice. In advance, we offer the caveat that many fine individuals who played major roles in the development of the contact lens specialty have no doubt been left out. Theoversight is our own, and we apologize in advance. Certainly a good place to start is with the two organizations that have clearly led the way in contact lens practice. The Cornea and Contact Lens Section of the American Academy of Optometry (CLSAAO) wasestablished in 1947 and was the source of nearly all formal contact lens education in the early years of the field. Its members are qualified as contact lens specialists or Diplomates, a distinction that is difficult to earn.The American Optometric Association’s (AOA) Contact Lens and Cornea Section (CLCS) was founded in June of 1981 by G. Burtt Holmes, O.D., James A. Boucher, O.D., M.S., Harold E. Davis, O.D., and Frank D. “Uncle Frank” Fontana, O.D. They hired Arthur R. Giroux, O.D., a retired Army colonel, to serve as director. “We had 300 members before it even got off the ground,” Dr. Fontana recalled. Today, there are more than 9,000 members, and the CLCS is a major force in educating practitioners, working closely with government agencies and the CLSAAO to protect consumers, and consulting with industry to bring better contact lens devices to market.The past chairs of CLCS and the CLSAAO are all giants in the field who have helped to shape the contact lens industry over the past 60 years.
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