Centennial CE and Alumni Weekend

On September 23-24, Berkeley Optometry hosted our first in-person Centennial Continuing Education (CE) & Alumni Reunion Weekend since 2019. The two-day program included 13 COPE-accredited CE hours, including the school’s first COPE-accredited course by a Nobel Laureate, Dr. Randy Schekman.

Nobel Laureate Guest Lecture

Dr. Schekman's lecture focused on Parkinson’s disease with an emphasis on how basic science is being deployed to understand the molecular and cellular basis of the disease. He shared current knowledge of the molecules and cellular organelles that form the basis of certain genetic forms of Parkinson’s Disease and explained how a new effort, “Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s Disease,” seeks to mobilize an international collaborative research network to accelerate discovery in order to identify new targets for therapeutic intervention.

Awardees

Congratulations to our awardees, who were announced during Saturday's CE sessions! Dr. Abraham Bromberg was named Alumnus of the Year; Dr. Vicki L. Hughes received the Michael G. Harris Distinguished Service Award; and Dr. Patsy Harvey received the Mert Flom Teaching Award.

CE Program & Success

Saturday’s program, “Alumni Visionaries in Optometry,” hosted six alumni speakers who are deans and leaders at other schools of optometry in North America: Drs. Joseph Bonanno, Kelly Nichols, Lewis Reich, Michael Twa, Stanley Woo, and Karla Zadnik; as well as a 2-hour Alumni Grand Rounds session. Their discussion, which was videotaped, ranged from how their time at Berkeley prepared them for leadership, to what they see are the greatest challenges – and opportunities – for the future of optometry. A video recording of the discussion will be available in the coming months. After Saturday’s CE, 350+ alums gathered at the California Memorial Stadium’s University Club for our centennial reunion dinner celebration. Sunday’s Golden Conference, “Neurodegenerative Diseases & the Eye,” was chaired by Dean Flanagan, and included six experts in the fields of parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer's disease, and glaucoma.

Our centennial CE weekend was spectacularly successful – the Saturday sessions and dinner celebration sold out completely, the Sunday sessions nearly sold out, and the CE Office issued almost 400 CE certificates!

Photos

To see photos from the 2023 CE & Alumni Reunion Weekend, please click the button below.