Industry Opticianry Organizations Announce Merger at Vision Expo East

The Opticians Association of America [OAA], and the National Federation of Opticianry Schools [NFOS], have completed a merger to create the "United Opticians Association [UOA]," a model Opticianry Association representing over 80,000 opticians and contact lens professionals throughout North America. The American Board of Opticianry & National Contact Lens Examiners [ABO & NCLE] will continue to provide funding.

OAA has been promoting professional stature of opticianry through education and communication since 1925, and NFOS has been dedicated to facilitating the development of formal educational programs, upgrading the standards of opticianry education, and working for uniformity of Opticianry education since 1999. ABO & NCLE has been providing minimum competency examinations and continuing education certification of opticians and contact lens professionals since 1959. By unifying, the new organization will be able to effectively provide membership services focused on state societies, individuals and firm (guild) owners, formal education and apprenticeship training, continuing education, and governmental relations focused on both national and state initiatives, according to a news release on bahalf of all participating organizations. 

The officers for the combined organization are Ronnie Harbert, OAA President, as the new Board President; Dr. Aarlan Aceto, NFOS President, as the new Vice President; Dr. William Underwood, ABO & NCLE Vice-President, and ABO Chair, as the new Treasurer; and Sandy Brown, ABO & NCLE President and NCLE Chair, as Secretary. The combined organization Board includes equal representation from each of the pre-merger boards of both OAA and NFOS, as well as from ABO & NCLE.

The new organization will be named "United Opticians Association [UOA]." The new restructured organization will begin operations on July 1, 2024.

"With this merger, we have created a model for the future of opticianry that focuses on promoting the profession of spectacle and contact lens opticians, while also adopting the use of structured educational standards keeping vision care patients healthy and safe, through high-quality, properly trained opticians,” UOA President Ronnie Harbert said in the news release.

In addition to the newly integrated Board of Directors, an enterprise leadership team is being selected from each organization as the integration process is now moving forward.