Optometry Dean Jennifer Smythe Elected President of National Organization

Pacific University College of Optometry dean Jennifer Smythe '90, OD '93, MS '00, has been elected the first woman president of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry.

Smythe assumed the presidency at the ASCO annual meeting in San Diego on June 26.

In 2010, she became the first woman elected to the ASCO executive committee. Later that year, Smythe received the Optometrist of the Year honor by the Oregon Optometric Physicians Association.

Since her residency at Pacific in 1993, she has held various roles within the College of Optometry, including professor, chief of contact lens services and associate dean for academic programs.

Dr. Smythe was in a private practice in Beaverton, Ore. for 12 years. She is a contributing editor for Primary Care Optometry News, a fellow in the American Academy of Optometry and a diplomat in the Section on Cornea and Contact Lenses.  She was also a charter board member of Women of Vision

In 2006, Smythe was named to Vision Monday's "50 Most Influential Women in Optical." Smythe earned her doctor of optometry from Pacific in 1993 after earning a bachelor's degree. She also earned a Master of Science degree from her alma mater in 2000.

Founded in 1941, ASCO represents the interests of the schools and colleges of optometry in the United States and Puerto Rico, and is committed to helping its member institutions prepare well-qualified graduates for the optometry profession.

With Smythe's installation as the first female president in ASCO history, Pacific's College of Optometry has now produced three female optometrists who have ascended to the presidency of a national association.

Joan Exford, OD '66, an optometry alumna of both Indiana University and Pacific, became the first female president of the American Academy of Optometry in 1993. Dori Carlson OD '89, became the American Optometric Association's first female president in 2011. 

Pacific University's College of Optometry prepares engaged learners to be optometric leaders and vision scientists through a diverse education while advancing professional and ethical eye care, scholarship and service to the community.