The American Academy of Optometry (AAO) has announced the recipients of its 2026 awards, recognizing individuals and organizations for contributions to research, education, clinical care, leadership, humanitarian service, and the advancement of optometry.

Among the recipients, Suzanne M. Fleiszig, OD, PhD, will receive the Charles F. Prentice Medal and Lecture Award. Philip Morgan, PhD, MCOptom, has been selected for the Glenn A. Fry Award and Lecture, an American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) award.

Alexis “Ceecee” Britten-Jones, BOptom, PhD, will receive the Irvin M. and Beatrice Borish Award, while Nkem Okoroafor, BSc, OD, has been named recipient of the American Academy of Optometry–Essilor Award for Outstanding International Contributions to Optometry.

Additional individual honors include:

• Swati Modi, OD — William Feinbloom Award

• VOSH/International — Brien Holden Humanitarian Award

• Louise Sclafani, OD — Carel C. Koch Memorial Medal Award

• Kuniyoshi Kanai, OD — Vincent Ellerbrock Clinician Educator Award

• Neil Pence, OD — Michael G. Harris Family Award for Excellence in Optometric Education (AAOF)

• Maria Walker, OD, PhD — AAOF Outstanding Emerging Leader Award

• Kurt A. Zadnik — Life Fellowship Award

The Julius F. Neumueller Award in Optics, also sponsored by the AAOF, recognizes the paper "Adding personalized wavefront correction to a scleral lens after lens manufacture," published in the Journal of the Optical Society of America A (Vol. 43, pp. 112-122). The award honors authors Evan S. Elam,OD; Nasim Maddah, MSc, PhD; Alexander W. Schill, PhD; and Jason D. Marsack, PhD.

The Garland Clay Award, presented by Optometry and Vision Science, will recognize the 2022 publication "Effect of Combining 0.01% Atropine with Soft Multifocal Contact Lenses on Myopia Progression in Children" by Jenny Huang Jones, PhD, OD, MPH; Donald O. Mutti, OD, PhD; Lisa A. Jones-Jordan, MS, PhD; and Jeffrey J. Walline, OD, PhD.

The Academy also announced recipients of several section awards.

Cornea, Contact Lenses & Refractive Technologies

• Carol Lakkis, BScOptom, PhD – Max Schapero Lecture Award

• The Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) at the University of Waterloo – Founders Award.

Public Health & Environmental Vision Section

• Edwin Marshall, OD, MS, MPH – Henry B. Peters Lecture Award OM