College of Optometry - The Visionary Fall 2015

COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY • 23 According to Wagner, the most fulfilling aspect of her NSUCO tenure was “working with students in all phases of the program, including residency education, working with faculty colleagues to develop the optometric program at NSU, and participating in collaborative contact lens-related clinical research.” She is especially proud of the collaborative clinical research projects she worked on, which included the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Keratoconus (CLEK) Study from 1996 through 2004 and the Contact Lens Assessment in Youth (CLAY) Study from 2008 through 2015. In addition to their numerous professional accomplishments, Wagner and Woodruff are the proud parents of Alexandra, who is a soph- omore at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Alyssa, who graduated from NSU’s University School on May 22 and entered Wellesley College in Massachusetts this fall. Before launching their new careers at The Ohio State University College of Optometry, Wagner and Woodruff hope to visit their eldest daughter, who is completing a study-abroad program in France, and enjoy a well-deserved family vacation. Also on their agenda was the “not-insignificant detail of selling our home in South Florida and moving to Columbus, Ohio.” When asked to provide any final words of wis- dom before they left NSUCO to embark on their new professional pursuits, Wagner and Wood- ruff offered the following response. “This time of year, with the end of the academic year and graduation, is a natural time for reflection. As new—and younger—faculty members, we often socialized after work, frequenting local establish- ments in North Miami Beach and Aventura. “When the college moved to Davie in 1996, we also moved to suburbia with our young family, and faculty-member socializing moved to our homes,” they added. “All new ventures are accom- panied with hard work with fewer resources, and the development of the College of Optom- etry in the early 1990s was no exception.” Wagner recalled “participating in bare-bones projects and spray-gluing a scientific poster on my back patio with a colleague rather than relying on university resources as we do today,” she explained. “Like my first poster, humble beginnings are accom- panied by a special sense of pride and accomplish- ment when the goal is met. I was further reminded of both the hard work and the camaraderie as my colleagues hosted a going-away party for us. So when we were presented with a hand trowel as a symbol of hard work and the application of mortar that holds structures together, I was reminded that, while the actual bricks and mortar shape the institu- tion, the people are its actual glue,” Wagner said. “We will miss the Florida weather,” Wagner con- cluded. “But, we will miss the relationships with the students and colleagues even more.” u From left: Alyssa Woodruff, Christopher Woodruff, Heidi Wagner, Alexandra Woodruff