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Two optometrists were awarded IOA’s Distinguished Service Award during the IOA’s 112th Annual Spring Convention held April 17-19 in French Lick, Indiana.
Jim Van Winkle, O.D., of Bluffton, and Stacey O. Embry, O.D., of Evansville, were awarded the Distinguished Service Award for their long-term service rendered to the profession of Optometry for their outstanding ongoing record of achievement.
Dr. Van Winkle, a United States Air Force Vietnam veteran, has been an IOA member for 42 years. He has served as a Wells County Councilman for 21 years, and he also serves on the Wells County Foundation Board, a civic organization that provides money for projects, services and scholarships in his local community.
Dr. Van Winkle is on the Board of Voluntary Optometric Service to Humanity (VOSH,) is actively involved in organizing VOSH missions and raises funds to make those missions possible. He personally has made 15 or more VOSH missions to Honduras, Haiti and Guatemala since 1978. Dr. Van Winkle has also been a strong supporter of the Indiana University School of Optometry. Last year, he spearheaded efforts to raise funds from the IUSO Class of 1967 for the new eye care clinic at IU.
Dr. Embry has been an IOA member for 18 years. He is past president of the Indiana Optometric Association and a past president of the Southwestern Optometric Society. In addition to his service to the IOA, Dr. Embry remains active in his community. He performs glaucoma screenings at his local community health center, he has harvested eyes for the local Lion’s Club Eye Bank, he provides free eye exams for Volunteers of America, and he has served on medical missions to Haiti.
Dr. Embry teaches adult Christian education and is very active in his church. He is also a part-time instructor at Ivy Tech State College and a clinical investigator for Covance Pharmaceutical Research. | 
