The GP Lens Institute originated close to 40 years ago. An idea that future National Optometry Hall of Fame member Dr. Frank Fontana was floating by some prominent eye care professionals at a Paragon Vision Sciences investigators meeting in 1984 ultimately resulted in the establishment of the RGP Lens Institute over one year later. I was appointed workshop coordinator and performed a number of modification workshops the next few years while Dean Clements, former Director of Professional Services at both Bausch & Lomb and CooperVision served as the first Executive Director. When Dean bought a GP laboratory in 1988, I was offered the position and resulted in the greatest professional decision I’ve ever made. Our Schools program was initiated in the mid 1990s under the direction of the very dedicated and talented Ursula Lotzkat. When we decided to bring all of the contact lens educators into UC-Berkeley for a meeting in 1998, the idea for a Cornea and Contact Lens Residents Symposium was born with Ursula again as the Program Coordinator. From August 10 -12, we held the 25^th GPLI Cornea and Contact Lens Residents Symposium at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. To celebrate we invited back all of the residents who had attended any one of the 25 programs. They could attend a two COPE-approved continuing education program on Saturday afternoon on the future of contact lenses which was moderated by Craig Norman and included a panel of experts, all who had attended one of our past symposia. That evening, a gala was held which was attended by our current residents, our CLMA ambassadors, and almost 60 former residents with many others joining in the celebration virtually. More information and photos are provided below but it was truly a wonderful celebration and certainly quite emotional for me.

We will also focus on orthokeratology in this issue as our August webinar was on the topic of “Approaching the Toric Cornea with Orthokeratology” and was presented by a foremost expert on this area and all specialty contact lenses, Dr. Melanie Frogozo. Dr. Frogozo is an Advisory Board member of the GPLI, and currently serves as Co-Editor of “The Advisor”, Chair of our Myopia Programs and Resources Committee, and member of our Social Media Committee. It is evident that orthokeratology – and myopia management in general – is rapidly becoming the standard of care for young progressive myopes and her lecture is well worth viewing for the numerous clinical pearls she presented on the nuts and bolts of orthokeratology.

This weekend represented, quite possibly, the greatest such program in GPLI history. To bring together the past and the previous residents was a tremendous experience as we had a literal “Who’s Who in Specialty Contact Lenses” coming from all over the United States and Canada to attend this event and join the 38-member Class of 2023-24. The symposium was again coordinated by Ursula Lotzkat and her team from Wink Productions and hosted by Dr. Nicky Lai at The Ohio State University. The current residents were provided with workshops pertaining to GP spherical, toric, multifocal, orthokeratology, scleral, and irregular cornea lens designs. In addition, presentations on these important specialty lens designs were given and accompanied by a career panel, effective writing, speaking, and being a good clinical preceptor and numerous other presentations. Overall, they received over 30 hours of education including online courses and a three-hour clinical program one week prior to the symposium. The gala event – coordinated by Associate Director Dr. Tom Quinn - included performances from many of our past residents including an interactive GPLI Jeopardy game from that dynamic duo, Drs. Maria Walker and Karen Lee and – as they did during their residency year in 2010, four of the “FAB FIVE” (Drs. Brooke Messer, Brittney Mazza, Amanda Crum and Erin Hitzelburger) performed the choreography to Elvis Presley’s Blue Suede Shoes. I had the opportunity to impersonate one of my idols, Dr. Mark Bullimore, and was subject to a very nice tribute with a version of my favorite song (“Amarillo By Morning” from my favorite artist George Strait) by Tom Quinn and Bruce Morgan (with Nicky Lai). Tom re-enacted his Music Man performance and I again portrayed his nerdy accomplice (not a stretch). A real highlight, however, was the closing number which involved the CLMA ambassadors – who absolutely personified customer service throughout the meeting – led by CharliRae Edmunds performing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin”. And how appreciative we are of our ambassadors beginning with our Global Sponsor, Contamac (and a big thank you to John Hibbs!) for their sponsorship of both the symposium and the gala event. The other ambassadors/sponsors included ABB Optical Group, AccuLens, Acuity Polymers, Advanced Vision Technologies, Art Optical, Boston Sight, Essilor, Euclid, EyePrint Prosthetics, Menicon, Oculus, Tangible Science, Tru-Form Optics, Valley Contax, Visionary (Anaheim), Visionary Optics, and X-Cel Specialty Contacts.

Long-time CLMA laboratory owner, Board of Directors member and supporter of the GP Lens Institute, George Glady, passed away on July 28^th. As we live close to George in Sarasota, he and his wife Joann – one of the great power couples in CLMA history – invited Jean and I to go on a sunset cruise with them a year or so ago – and that kindness has not been forgotten. He held positions in manufacturing and engineering at UCO Optics (currently CooperVision), Bausch and Lomb, and Wesley-Jesse47401 where his contributions pioneered rigid and soft lens production in the US. He took over an RGP manufacturing business in Dallas, Texas that eventually merged with Corneal Design Corporation. Later, as a co-owner of Southern Contact Lens Technologies Inc., he developed the “Euclid System”.

George was an original founder and partner in Euclid Systems Corporation. There, he oversaw the first U.S. FDA clinical study for overnight Orthokeratology, for which a pre-market approval (PMA) was granted in 2004. He was awarded the Industry Enhancement Award from the CLMA. Through the kindness of him and Joann, a site has been set up such that donations in George’s memory can be made to the GPLI at: https://gpli.info/donate/.

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