Recognition Societies
Honoring NECO’s community of supporters
Thank You
Your generosity has made and will continue to make a lasting impact for our NECO students, patients, and faculty. Giving to NECO means more students will learn about eye care and more patients will receive life-changing eye care. Thank you for helping NECO
Change the Way People See the World.
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$384,000
Donor-Funded Scholarships
In 2023, donations of over $380,000 went directly to student scholarships.
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$1.5 Million
Scholarship Aid
NECO awarded more than $1,000,000 to students receiving financial aid.
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$450,000
Patient Services Covered
NECO covered the cost for patient services across our Center for Eye Care locations.
Make Eye Care for All a Reality
NECO remains committed to ensuring that tuition is accessible to all prospective and current students. With increased competition for new students — and increasing costs — we are reminded of the growing need for more robust student scholarships and financial aid. Nearly 85% of our student body received financial aid in 2023, and NECO was able to award a total of $1.5 million in aid. This would not have been possible without the generous support of our donors.
NECO patients also benefit from donations. With over $400,000 raised for patient services, 127 patients were able to receive care they would not have been able to access if it had not been for NECO donors.
Philanthropists’ Society
Members of the Philanthropist’s Society are recognized for their cumulative giving to the New England College of Optometry and NECO Center for Eye Care. This distinguished group has demonstrated their exceptional commitment to optometric education by making lifetime gifts of $50,000 or more and we are pleased to express our gratitude for their philanthropic leadership.
$1,000,000+
Estate of Joseph Feldberg, OD ’52 *
Lester Marcus, OD ’54 *
$500,000-$999,999
Alcon
Bausch + Lomb
EssilorLuxottica
Warby Parker
$250,000-$499,999
Stella Beider*
Boston Center for Blind Children
CIBA Vision
Kristen Griebel, OD ’97
Drs. G. Burtt, OD ’52 and Ruth W. Holmes
Marco Family Foundation, Inc.
National Vision, Inc. (NVI)
Jean T. and Pasquale L. Palomba, OD ’38 *
Maurice Saval*
The Ludcke Foundation
Vistakon
VSP Vision Care
Clinton Wilson, OD ’43*
$100,000-$249,999
Allergan, An Abbvie Company
American Diabetes Association
Estate of Arthur W. Baker, OD ’67
Bank of America
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
Carl & Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation
CooperVision
Lorraine Fedyna, OD ’84
Genentech
Edith Heymans*
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care
Donald Korb, OD ’57 and Joan Exford, OD
Steven P. Manfredi
Massachusetts Society of Optometry
Meta Platforms
Polymer Technology
Clifford Scott, OD ’68 and Mary Scott, OD ’68
State Street Foundation
The Whitaker Foundation
$50,000-$99,999
Anonymous
B&R Foundation
Boston Foundation
Elizabeth Chen and Richard Edmiston
Citizens Charitable Foundation
Coca Cola Foundation
Ronald Ferrucc, OD ’74
FSD Inc, Friends of the Disabled
Gould Family Charitable Foundation
Edith Hochstadt*
HOYA Vision Care, North America
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Arnold Katz, OD ’50*
Monthe N. Kofos, OD ’43*
Mark Lank
OneSight Research Foundation
Melvin Stack, OD ’53
William R. Tolford, OD ’55*
Topcon
VisionWorks
Zenni Optical, Inc.
*Deceased
The President’s Circle
The President’s Circle recognizes alumni and friends whose gifts in Fiscal Year 2023 totaled $1,000 or more. Members of this group are among the College’s most loyal supporters and are recognized at the following giving levels
Genentech
Meta Platforms
Warby Parker
Alcon Laboratories
Kristen Griebel, OD ’97
Zenni Optical, Inc.
Mark Lank
Topcon Healthcare
Boston Center for Blind Children
EssilorLuxottica
Glaukos Corporation
Drs. G. Burtt, OD ’52 and Ruth W. Holmes
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care
Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers
Roger Wilson, OD ’80
American Academy of Optometry (AAO)
Dominion Energy, Inc.
Ronald Ferrucci, OD ’74
VSP Vision Care
MyEyeDr.
Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI)
Allergan, An Abbvie Company
CooperVision
Jeffrey Sol, OD ’81
Specsavers
Charles River Community Health
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
Lorraine Fedyna, OD ’84
Gant Family Foundation
Alan Glazier, OD ’93
Holyoke Health Center
Barbara D. Kamens
Richard Laudon, OD, ’75
Lynn Community Health Center
Howard B. Purcell, OD, FAAO ’84
Michelle Rahimian, OD ’99
Mary, OD ’68 and Clifford Scott, OD, MPH ’68
Noodle Partners, Inc.
Joseph Zolner, EdD
Anonymous
Linda Bennett, OD ’80
Boston Foundation
Kristen Brown, OD, FAAO ’93
Ronald Cedrone, OD, ’78
John Chang
Terry L.N. Chin, OD ’76
Gary Chu OD, MPH, FAAO ’95
Codman Square Health Center
Deb and Bob Cohen, OD ’93
Paul Cote, OD ’94
Laura Dake Roche, OD ’85
Joseph Donatelle, OD ’61
DotHouse Health
Ralph Eaves, OD ’84
Eschenbach Optik of America, Inc.
Stephen Feltus, OD ’72
Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO ’10
William Gleason, OD ’74
Donovan Green, OD ’92
Richard Heller
Dorothy Hitchmoth, OD ’96
Douglas Hoffman, OD ’80
IrisVision
Arthur Jankolovits, OD ’70
Roberta Klein
Mary Lank
Reverand Colin Leitch M. Div
Alan Lewis, OD ’65
Loretta Li, OD ’82
Traci Logan
Jonathan Marcus
Dennis McCafferty
Brett McCarthy
Andrew D.L. McLeod, OD ’06
Robert Meenan, MD
Sandra Mohr, EdD
Michael Naugle
North End Waterfront Health
Optos Inc.
Thanasis Panorgias PhD, FAAO
Walter Potaznick, OD ’76
Susan Rodgin, OD ’84
Deborah Rosenstein, OD ’74
Edward Schwartzberg, OD ’69
Walmart/Sam’s Club
Kimberley Chan, OD ’05 and Erik Weissberg, OD, FAAO ’97
Eric White, OD
Supporter's Circle
The following group of donors recognizes alumni and friends whose gifts in Fiscal Year 2023 were up to $999. They are recognized at the following giving levels.”
Adventure in Colors
Myron Allukian
Phyllis Andrejko, OD ’97
Stacy Bean, OD ’93
Emerson Brown, OD ’78
David Caban, OD ’77
A. Robert Child, OD ’78
John Child, OD ’82
Jason Chin, OD ’04
James Comerford, OD ’78 and Ellen Gilman, OD ’78
Vernon Dela Cruz
Mark Durrick
Jon Eriksson, OD ’94
Gustavo Garmizo, OD ’82
Lawrence Ginsberg, OD ’84
Jocelyn Hamilton
Celia Hinrichs, OD ’79
Beth Jorgensen, OD ’82
Andy Kall
Amy Kay, OD ’98
Jeff Kegarise
Catherine Kennedy, OD ’78
Mark A. Leipert, OD ’00
Ernest Loewenstein, OD ’77
Massachusetts Society of Optometry
Richard Morganstein, OD ’93
Rachel Negris, OD ’84
New England Low Vision and Blindness
Northeast Congress of Optometry
Mark O’Donoghue, OD ’82
Robert Parks, OD ’84
John Pietrantonio, OD ’80
Susan Primo, OD ’85
Valarie Ricciardi, OD ’88
Joel Rosen, MBA
Catherine Kelly Simyan, OD ’93
Jason Smith, OD ’93
Jeffrey Sonsino, OD ’01
Cathy Stern, OD
Henry W. Stevens, OD ’74
Kristie Teets, OD ’04
George Tzepos, OD ’93
Yueran Yan, OD ’19
Pano Yeracaris MD, MPH
Douglas Benoit, OD ’83
Andrew Berger, OD ’96
Cayla Bergstrom, OD ’17
Lamont Bunyon, OD ’99
Dena Cassidy, OD ’93
Parise Chamberland, OD ’93
Renee Crichlow, MD
Shivang Dave
Marc Ferrara
Richard Gallerani, OD ’84
Maureen Hanley, OD ’81
David Helfman, OD, FAAO ’69
Paul Heyman, OD ’66
Steve and Cathie Heyman
Emily Kachinsky, OD ’08
Kristen Kerber, OD ’16
Cynthia Macdonald
Peter Maddocks
Maverick Natural Resources
James and Janet McCarthy
Jeffrey Meltzer
Sally Minardi and John C. Minardi, OD
George Montminy, OD ’69
OXY USA WTP LP
Eliezer Peli, OD ’83
Kathleen Prucnal, OD
Nicole Quinn, OD ’01
Camille Ruan
Robert Ryan
Judith Schaffer, OD ’93
Christopher Taylor, PhD
Brian Wadman, OD ’85
Linda Wirth, OD ’89
Yuhui Zhu, OD ’12
With Special Thanks and Acknowledgement
All donors up to $250
In-kind Donors
* Deceased
Foster Namias Legacy Society
The Foster Namias Legacy Society honors individuals who included the New England College of Optometry in their estate plans. We recognize this esteemed group of individuals with deep gratitude for their commitment to the future success of the College.
Arthur W. Baker, OD ’67 *
Stella Beider *
Larry R. Clausen, OD
Paul A. DeCesare, OD ’69
Carl E. Doughty, OD ’69
Joseph Feldberg, OD ’52 *
Marion and Eugene I. Fischer, OD ’61 *
Kristen K. Griebel, OD ’97
David J. Helfman, OD ’69
Edith Heymans *
Dorothy L. Hitchmoth, OD ’96
Edith Hochstadt *
Drs. G. Burtt, OD ’52 and Ruth W. Holmes
Barbara D. Kamens
Arnold Katz, OD ’50 *
Benjamin J. Lambert, III, OD ’62 *
Joan C. and Alton W. Lamont, OD ’55
Peter G. Lapre, OD ’88
Wendy J. Leslie, OD ’74
Lester Marcus, OD ’54 *
Joseph F. Molinari, OD ’74
Jean T. and Pasquale L. Palomba, OD ’38 *
Andrew J. Portoghese, OD ’60 *
Harvey D. Rappoport, OD ’75
Maurice Saval *
Norman C. Spector, Esq.
Melvin Stack, OD ’53
Timothy W. Tolford, OD ’79
William R. Tolford, OD ’55 *
Guang-Ji Wang, OD ’92
Roger J. Wilson, OD ’80
Pano Yeracaris, MD, MPH
Harry I. Zeltzer, OD ’52 *
* Deceased
Alan Glazier on the motivation to create an endowed scholarship
Alan Glazier '93
“If I can give someone else the opportunity to pursue a career in optometry and it makes them half as happy as I am, count me in. An opportunity to pay back the optometry community came about and am honored to be among contributors who’ve helped NECO become the strong institution that it is. I’ve always wanted to make a larger contribution and believe that one should lead by example. I hope that my commitment to NECO will motivate others to contribute to this worthwhile community.”
The Office of Development