2024 Board of Directors

PRESIDENT
Belinda R. Starkey, O.D., AOA Board of Trustees

Belinda R. Starkey, O.D., was elected to the American Optometric Association (AOA) Board of Trustees at the 124th Annual AOA Congress & 51st Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting® in June 2021.

As a member of the AOA Board of Trustees, Dr. Starkey is a member of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, Eye Deserve More, and the Student Engagement Task Force. She is the President of Optometry Cares–The AOA Foundation and is the liaison trustee to the Education Center Committee, the Vision Rehabilitation Committee, the State Government Relations Committee, the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee, the Faculty and Student Membership Liaisons, the Association for Pediatric Vision Advisory Board, and the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry. She also serves as the liaison trustee to affiliate associations in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin as well as the American Optometric Student Association. Additionally, she is the liaison trustee to optometry schools including Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University and Western University of Health Science College of Optometry.

Dr. Starkey served as a member of the AOA’s Industry Relations Committee and the House of Delegates Credentials Committee. She served on various volunteer committees for the Arkansas Optometric Association (ArOA) where she was a past president and former co-chair of the State Legislative Committee. Dr. Starkey served as treasurer of Arkansans for Healthy Eyes, a coalition group advocating for Arkansas’ scope expansion law during the state’s recent referendum battle. 

A founder and former chair of Networking Optometric Women (NOW), Dr. Starkey received the ArOA’s Optometrist of the Year and Special Service awards in 2020, the Theia Award in 2020 from Women of Optometry and the AOA’s Optometrist of the Year Award in 2021.

A graduate of the Southern College of Optometry, Dr. Starkey is a partner at Parenti-Morris Eyecare in Rogers, Arkansas. She lives in Rogers with her husband, Clay, and dog, Jett. Dr. Starkey enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and is an avid Razorbacks fan.

VICE PRESIDENT
Hilary Hawthorne, O.D.

Hilary Hawthorne, O.D,  graduated from Pacific University College of Optometry in 1992, where she also completed an externship program at Naval Medical Center’s Optometry Clinic in San Diego, Califorinia. She currently practices in Los Angeles, California, and serves on various state and national committees to advocate for pro-optometry state legislation. Dr. Hawthorne has served on the AOA Board of Trustees and is also past-President of the California Optometric Association. She has been recognized as Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry, the 2000 Young O.D. of the Year by the COA, and the recipient of the PowerPac Award from the Los Angeles African American Women Political Action Committee (LAAWPAC). She enjoys maintaining an active lifestyle and has devoted hours to aerobic training, cross training, running, and yoga.

Marrie Read, O.D., MBA
Secretary/Treasurer, AOA Board of Trustees

Marrie S. Read, O.D., MBA, of the Association of Armed Forces and Federal Optometric Services (AFOS), was elected to the American Optometric Association (AOA) Board of Trustees at the 125th Annual AOA Congress & 52nd Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting® in June 2022.

As a member of the AOA Board of Trustees, Dr. Read is a member of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, Eye Deserve More and Student Engagement Task Force. Dr. Read serves on Optometry Cares®–The AOA Foundation Board of Directors and is the liaison trustee to the Telehealth Council, the Strategic Communications Committee, the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee and the Leadership Development Committee. She also serves as the liaison trustee to affiliate associations in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Additionally, she is the liaison trustee to optometry schools including NOVA Southeastern University College of Optometry and Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University.

Dr. Read is a past president of AFOS, also serving on the AFOS Board and chaired the AFOS Awards Committee. Prior to her election to the AOA Board of Trustees, she chaired the Nominating Committee and served on several AOA committees including Quality Improvement, Registry, Federal Relations, Federal Advocacy Representative and Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety. Dr. Read was awarded the AFOS Navy Optometrist of the Year in 2013.

She is a graduate of Saint Louis University, earned her doctorate of optometry from Southern College of Optometry, completed a residency in primary care and ocular disease from the Harry S. Truman Veterans Hospital, earned a master of business administration from Naval Postgraduate School and completed a legislative fellowship on Capitol Hill. For more than 25 years, Dr. Read has served in the U.S. Navy in various leadership and clinical positions.

Dr. Read lives in Virginia with her husband John. They have three children: Joby, Emma and David.

Jason Compton, O.D.

Dr. Jason E. Compton graduated from the SUNY State College of Optometry and completed his residency at the Wilmington Delaware VA Medical Center.   Dr. Compton owns three private practices [Compton Eye Associates] in the New York City area.  Dr. Compton serves as Assistant Adjunct Faculty for the SUNY State College of Optometry and is a Regional Trustee for the New York State Optometric Association.     Dr. Compton is the Immediate Past Chair for the American Optometric Association’s Contact Lens and Cornea Section and is a fellow in the American Academy of Optometry.  Dr. Compton is the President/Founder of TheRightContact.com, a contact lens resource used by eye care professionals worldwide.  

Brad M. Lane, O.D., MBA,MEd

Brad Lane, O.D., MBA, MEd, earned his undergraduate degrees in psychology, sociology, and pre-professional biology from the Honor’s Program at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia. He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry with a Doctorate of Optometry in 2007 and became a partner at Appalachian Eye Care with offices located in southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia.  In 2016, he completed work earning an MBA, and in 2020, he earned a Master of Education in Instructional Design.

Dr. Lane is a staunch advocate for his profession and serves on many boards that seek to advance Optometry, eye health, and patient care. He is a frequent contributor to AOA Focus magazine and is a past Co-Chair of the American Optometric Association’s Education Committee. He has served on the AOA Federal Legislative Action and Keyperson Committee and the Health Promotion Committee.  He is a past president of the West Virginia Association of Optometric Physicians and currently serves as a Trustee to the Southern Education Congress of Optometry (SECO) based in Atlanta. Dr. Lane is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry and was honored as the West Virginia Young Optometric Physician of the Year in 2013 and as the Optometric Physician of the Year in 2017.

Dr. Lane is also committed to his community and is the Vice Chairman of the Concord University Board of Governors, a founding member of Concord University’s White Coat Society, and has created and funded three scholarships. In 2013, he was honored as the Concord University Young Alumnus of the Year and as the Concord University Philanthropist of the Year in 2021.  In 2022, he was honored as the Concord University alumnus of the Year.  He also serves on the board of the Jonathan Powell Hope Foundation, a local charity that raises money for families who have children battling cancer, and the "You are Loved WV" foundation that helps those battling breast cancer.

Karoline L. Munson, O.D.
 AOA Board of Trustees

Karoline L. Munson, O.D., was elected to the American Optometric Association (AOA) Board of Trustees at the 127th Annual AOA Congress & 54th Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting in June 2024.

As a member of the AOA Board of Trustees, Dr. Munson is the liaison trustee to Ethics & Values Committee, the Evidence-based Optometry Committee, the Commission on Ophthalmic Standards, InfantSEE & Children’s Vision Committee, and the American Association of Corporate Optometrists. She also serves as the liaison trustee to affiliate associations in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York and Vermont. Additionally, she is the liaison trustee to optometry schools including University of California Berkeley School of Optometry, Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University and Illinois College of Optometry.

Dr. Munson has dedicated over 15 years of volunteer service to the Kentucky Optometric Association (KOA) and the AOA. On the state level, Dr. Munson served on the KOA board, in addition to serving as legislative co-chair since 2021, treasurer of the KOA Political Action Committee since 2006, as a member of the Kentucky Medicaid Technical Advisory Committee since 2018 and treasurer of the Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners since 2023. On the national level, she has served the AOA as a volunteer to the Third Party Center Executive Committee, New Technology Committee and Federal Relations Committee, as well as serving as a Federal Advocacy Representative since 2019.

Dr. Munson graduated from the Indiana University School of Optometry in 2001 before going into practice in Frankfort, Kentucky, where she practices to this day. She also is adjunct faculty at the University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Optometry.

Dr. Munson has been honored with numerous awards, including KOA Young Optometrist of the Year (2005) and Optometrist of the Year (2020), as well as having received the KOA’s President’s Award twice (2014 and 2016) and has been named to Vision Monday’s “Most Influential Women in Optical” in 2014, in addition to being awarded the honor of Kentucky Colonel in 2006 and 2012.

Tad R. Kosanovich, O.D.
AOA Board of Trustees

Tad R. Kosanovich, O.D., was elected to the AOA Board of Trustees at the 126th Annual AOA Congress & 53rd Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting in June 2023 and was reelected as trustee during the 127th Annual AOA Congress & 54th Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting in June 2024.

As a member of the AOA Board of Trustees, Dr. Kosanovich is a member of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee and the Center for Independent Practice. Dr. Kosanovich is the liaison trustee to the Research and Information Committee, the State Government Relations Committee, the Paraoptometric Resource Center, Commission on Paraoptometric Certification, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and the Optometric Extension Program. He also serves as the liaison trustee to affiliate associations in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Additionally, he is the liaison trustee to optometry schools including the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry and University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Optometry.

Dr. Kosanovich entered private practice in Englewood, Florida, in 1992, having received his doctor of optometry degree from the Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University in 1986 and completing an ocular disease residency at Omni Eye Services in Baltimore, Maryland. He has a history of leadership dating back to his time at Michigan College of Optometry, serving as class president for two years before being elected president of Ferris Optometry College Union of Students and representing Michigan by attending the AOSA national meeting. Dr. Kosanovich became active in his local Manasota Optometric Society in the 1990s, serving as president, and first became involved with the Florida Optometric Association (FOA) when he served on the FOA Charities Board, 1999-2004. Dr. Kosanovich was elected to the FOA Board in 2011, ascending to president for 2017-18.

He served as the AOA Third Party Center State Coordinator from 2014-2023. The state political action committee grew during his chairmanship for FOA ODEYEPAC from 2020-2023. He was appointed to the AOA State Government Relations Committee (SGRC) in 2018 and served through 2023.

During his tenure of service on FOA’s Legislative Committee, Florida achieved success by passing pro-optometry bills and stopping a multitude of anti-optometry pieces of legislation. As a member of the AOA SGRC, Dr. Kosanovich provided assistance to other state affiliates in their own legislative challenges.

In his community, Dr. Kosanovich has served on the board of his local YMCA and the Englewood Youth Foundation, chairing the latter’s Scholarship Committee. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Englewood, serving as president in 2003-2004 and Rotary Area Governor for his district, 2009-2012