​UIWRSO faculty member named Texas Optometry Educator of the Year

UIWRSO faculty member named Texas Optometry Educator of the Year

The Texas Optometric Association, at their 115th annual meeting on Feb. 21, awarded Dr. Jeff C. Rabin the honor of Educator of the Year.

Rabin is a tenured professor of Optometry, director of Research Programs, director of Assessment and chief, Visual Neurophysiology Service at the University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry (UIWRSO).  He has been with UIWRSO since its inception in 2008.

Since 2009, Rabin has taught multiple courses in the Professional Optometry Program as well as in the undergraduate vision science program. He developed and manages the UIWRSO Assessment Program, which conducts numerous on-line assessments of faculty, teaching and administration. Rabin made substantive contributions to the accreditation of UIWRSO, participating in every accreditation visit beginning in 2009 culminating with full accreditation in 2013.

As sirector of Research Programs, Rabin developed and implemented the inaugural Summer Fellowship Training Program in 2011 allowing interns to participate in summer research under faculty supervision. Rabin developed a new clinical service — the UIWRSO Visual Neurophysiology Service in which he conducts and supervises fourth year interns on visual electrophysiological and related testing of challenging referral patients.

Rabin is active on multiple UIW and RSO Committees, including the UIW Institutional Review Board and Rank and Tenure Committee. He has published more than 70 papers and case reports spanning his military and academic careers and continues to develop new vision tests including the USAF Cone Contrast Color Test, recipient of the 2012 Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer.

A Fellow and Diplomate in Vision Science/Electrodiagnosis in the American Academy of Optometry, Rabin serves as Co-Book Review Editor for Optometry and Vision Science, has served as primary consultant for visual perception for the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, holds active licensure in several states and is a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, American and Texas Optometric Associations, and Aerospace Medical Association.

Rabin received his bachelor’s degree in Physiological Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and Doctor of Optometry, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Rabin is a co-author on an upcoming optometry review text for licensing exams and is planning a book, “Vision Science and Visual Optics for Eye Care Professionals.”