Southern College of Optometry

Southern College of Optometry (SCO) is a private, non-profit institution founded in 1932. J.J. Horton, an ophthalmologist, established SCO in 1932. The class of 1934 was SCO's first graduation class. Since then, SCO has educated more than 6,000 optometrists from all states and several foreign countries. A new clinical facility was opened in 1953 at its current location, which was later expanded to include a campus of new administrative offices, classrooms, and a library.

In 1970, SCO moved into its current structure, which houses multimedia classrooms, laboratories, faculty/administrative offices, the library, a student center, a computer learning resource center and an outpatient clinic known as the Eye Institute. The Eye Center at SCO opened in 2002. The 46,000-square-foot (4,300 m²) free-standing eye and vision center now serves up to 60,000 patients a year and is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the United States. There are 70 fully equipped examination rooms, 14 individual spaces for advanced technology-based testing, a retinal laser center, a digital angiography center, a full service optical, and on-site ophthalmology services.

In 2013, the college finished construction on a multimillion expansion program which included new state-of-the-art classrooms, study spaces, and new labs. Lewis N. Reich was named as SCO's seventh President in January 2016 and formally installed in the office in May 2016.

The Eye Center cares for more than 60,000 patients annually, offering diagnosis, treatment of eye diseases, and management of chronic eye health and visual disorders. The Eye Center provides a full range of services, including comprehensive eye examinations for patients of all ages. It is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the United States. There are 70 fully equipped examination rooms, 14 individual spaces for advanced technology-based testing, a retinal laser centre, a digital angiography centre, a full-service optical, and on-site ophthalmology services.

Similar to a teaching hospital, The Eye Center is a primary healthcare facility providing services for patients, mostly from Memphis/Shelby County, West Tennessee, Arkansas & Mississippi. The Eye Center is under the direction of Dr James E. Venable, vice president for clinical programs, and Dr Christopher Lievens, chief of staff.

In 2005, Jerry Hayes and his wife, Cris, funded the establishment of the Hayes Center for Practice Excellence at SCO. With matching funds committed by SCO's Board of Trustees, an endowment was created to support the Hayes Center in its mission to serve the optometric profession as the premier resource for practice management education.[3]

• Gil Morgan, golfer who played on the PGA Tour and now often competes on the Champions Tour.
• Joshua McAdams, runner who competed in Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics.
• James Morrison, member of the Kansas House of Representatives.
• John Boozman, Senior US Senator from Arkansas.
• James A. Boucher, former US Representative of Albany County, Wyoming

• List of Optometry schools in the world

• Official website