Board of Trustees

Dr. Robert Allen is a founding partner and chief executive officer of Associates in Eyecare (AIE). Dr. Allen is a past president of the Virginia Optometric Association as well as the Northern Virginia Optometric Society and he has served as a SECO interim trustee. He is a Fellow of the Virginia Academy of Optometry and serves as its education chair.

Dr. Biffi is an Associate Professor of Optometry at NECO. She is the founder and author of OCTaVIA, a smartphone app for retinal Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Visual Atlas. She has been an invited lecturer at national and international conferences (AOA, AAO, WCO) and is a recipient of multiple prestigious educational and professional awards.

Initially a successful optometrist with an OD from NECO (Class of 1996), Dr. Eng surprised everyone with her bold decision to switch careers and industries, taking over the family business, CSMI Engineering, which specializes in process and packaging engineering and management for the USDA and FDA-regulated industries.

Dr. Glazier is the founder and visionary behind FluoreSCENE Media, the eye care industry’s most highly engaged media organization. He is also founder of Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care, a large medical model practice in Rockville, MD. 

Dwain Hahs graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a BS Degree in Marketing. He worked most of his career for Bausch & Lomb, an Eye Health Company. He has served as President of both the International Business and RayBan Sunglasses. Dwain was Lead Director of A.T. Cross from 2010 to 2015. Dwain serves as President of Stonehenge Management LLC.

Dr. Heath served as president of the State University of New York College of Optometry from 2007 until August 2024. He held the rank of professor (with tenure). Following his decision to step down from the presidency, he received a one-year appointment from State University Chancellor John King to serve as Special Advisor: Upstate Doctor of Optometry Extension Program. Dr. Heath retired from SUNY June 30, 2025.

Anne Kavanagh is a managing member at Kavanaugh Consulting, LLC, an independent consulting and advisory company based in New York City. She specializes in M&A advice, business development, and strategic planning for healthcare and optical companies. Anne spent 20 years on Wall Street and served as the Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at Paine Webber and President and CEO of NatWest Securities.

Dr. Khan brings over 20 years of practice experience and a sophisticated background in high-level governance to the Board of Trustees. Prior to his appointment to the Board of Trustees, Dr. Khan served as a NECO Corporator and was a key member of the Development & Alumni Relations Committee. Dr. Khan is an alumnus of the College (OD ’02).

Jon Marcus serves as a Senior Wealth Advisor at Lexington Wealth Management. He holds a general securities license and graduated with honors from Brown University, with degrees in medieval culture and biology. Jon also earned a Master’s with distinction in Medieval English Literature from the University of York's Centre for Medieval Studies in the United Kingdom. 

Dr. Meenan, a rheumatologist with a Master’s degrees in public health and business administration, is the former dean of Boston University's School of Public Health, from which he retired in 2016 after more than two decades in that role. At BUSPH, he expanded student enrollment, increased research support, and raised the school's national rankings.

Mel Ming is a Bermudian-American broadcast executive who was President and CEO of Sesame Workshop from 2011 until his retirement in 2014. He was previously Chief Operating Officer of Sesame Workshop, and has held executive positions at the Museum of Television and Radio, WQED, and National Public Radio (NPR).

Dr. Morgenstern is the Contract Optometric Subject Matter Expert for the United States Defense Health Agency, J-9, Vision Center of Excellence at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He is also the Interim Director and Methodologist of the Clinical Resources Group, which develops evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the American Optometric Association (AOA). 

Dr. Rachel Negris, OD, is an optometrist with over 40 years of experience. She graduated from NECO in 1984 and practices at Harvard Vanguard-Atrius Health in Concord, MA. With expertise in primary eye care, medical contact lenses, and vision therapy, she offers personalized treatment plans to address various vision and eye health concerns.

Dr. Primo currently serves as the Optometry and Vision Rehabilitation Services Director at Emory University's School of Medicine. She is a respected expert in low vision/vision rehabilitation research and visual health disparities. She sits on several national boards to address strategies to reduce visual impairment in at-risk populations.

Dr. Valarie Ricciardi, a 1988 NECO graduate, has been practicing optometry for over 33 years. She is a member of the American Optometric Association and the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists, of which she was the Secretary for several years and President in 2021. She practices in two locations – Spencer and Worcester, with her husband, Dr. Brian Thamel.

John Stefanini served for 12 years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, first as a representative and, for his final three years, as the Speaker of the House's chief legal counsel. As State Representative, John advocated for single-payer healthcare reform, women’s health, and domestic violence victims. He is now an attorney based in Framingham, MA.