Inauguration Program

Erik Weissberg, OD, FAAO, has served as the Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs of the New England College of Optometry (NECO) since 2019. He received his OD degree from NECO in 1997 and is a clinical expert in pediatrics and binocular vision with a focus on strabismus and amblyopia. Throughout his career, Dr. Weissberg has been an active member of the scientific research community, a grant reviewer for the NIH, an author of multiple manuscripts, a textbook author, a prolific lecturer, and has led his own research on myopia, strabismus and international eyecare delivery. Dr. Weissberg has been recognized with teaching awards and honors by students, faculty and the Massachusetts Association of Optometrists throughout his time at NECO, and has been a career-long mentor to many students and colleagues.

John B. King, Jr., JD, EdD is the 15th Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), the largest comprehensive system of public higher education in the United States. Prior to his appointment as Chancellor, King served as president of The Education Trust, a national civil rights nonprofit which seeks to identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps for students from preschool through college. Chancellor King also served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Education. Before his appointment as Secretary of Education, Chancellor King fulfilled the duties of Deputy Secretary of Education, overseeing all policies and programs related to P-12 education, English learners, special education, and innovation. His service in Washington, DC, followed King’s tenure as New York State’s first African American and first Puerto Rican Education Commissioner. Chancellor King holds a BA in Government from Harvard University, a JD from Yale Law School, as well as both a Master of Arts in the Teaching of Social Studies and a Doctorate in Education from Teachers College at Columbia University.

SUNY COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY INAUGURATION 11