AOA Trustee Profiles

David A. Cockrell, O.D., F.A.A.O.

David A. Cockrell, O.D., was elected to the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees at the 108th Annual AOA Congress & 35th Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting^® in June 2005 and re-elected in June 2008.

As a member of the AOA Board, Dr. Cockrell is a member of the Finance Committee. His board liaison assignments include the National Commission on Vision and Health, the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry, the National Board of Examiners in Optometry and affiliate associations in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Prior to his election to the Board, Dr. Cockrell served as chair of the AOA State Government Relations Center, as well as AOA Primary Care and Patient Management, Statutory SCOPE, and Nominating and Resolutions committees.  He has also served on the AOA Federal Government Relations Center.

Dr. Cockrell also donates his time to Optometry’s Charity™ - The AOA Foundation. He has served as the secretary-treasurer for the past three years.

Dr. Cockrell is a graduate of the Southern College of Optometry. He is a Past President of the Southwest Council of Optometry.  In Oklahoma he served as Chairman of the Congress committee as well as Chairman of the State and Federal Legislative Committees.  He is a Past President in Oklahoma and a former OD of the year.  He has also served on the Oklahoma State Board of Examiners in Optometry since 1997.

Dr. Cockrell practices in Stillwater, OK, with his wife, Cherry B. Cockrell, O.D., and partner Jeff D. Miller, O.D.

Steven A. Loomis, O.D.

Steven A. Loomis, O.D., was elected to the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees at the 110th Annual AOA Congress & 37th Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting® in June 2007.

As a member of the AOA Board, Dr. Loomis is a member of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. He is board liaison to the AOA Advocacy Group, the AOA Paraoptometric Group, the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry and affiliate associations in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Prior to his election to the Board, Dr. Loomis served as chairman of the AOA State Government Relations Center. He has also chaired the AOA Health Care Legislation Committee, the AOA Legal Defense Fund Oversight Committee, and the Resolutions Committee. Prior to his involvement at AOA, Dr. Loomis was President of the Southwest Council of Optometry and the Colorado Optometric Association.

He and his wife, Kathy, have three grown children and live in Roxborough Park, Colorado.

Mitchell T. Munson, O.D., F.A.A.O.

Mitchell T. Munson, O.D. was elected to the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees at the 109th Annual AOA Congress & Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting® in June 2006 and re-elected in June 2009.

As a member of the AOA Board, he serves on the AOA Finance Committee and the Vision Web Board of Directors and is the AOA Board liaison to the InfantSEE® Committee, the AOA Advocacy Group, the Armed Forces Optometric Society, the Optometric Extension Program, and affiliate associations in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Prior to his election to the Board, Dr. Munson spent 10 years in the AOA volunteer structure serving on the AOA New Technologies Committee, Statutory Scope Committee and the AOA Political Action Committee where he served as chair from 2003-2004.

In 1992, he was elected to the Colorado Optometric Association (COA) Board of Trustees and elected president in 1995. The COA named him Young Optometrist of the Year in 1993 and Optometrist of the Year in 1996. He was presented with COA’s Distinguished Service Award in 2001.

Dr. Munson is a Past President of the Southwest Council of Optometry and a Fellow in the American Academy of Optometry.

A 1986 graduate of the Southern California College of Optometry, Dr. Munson has a group practice in Highlands Ranch, CO, with his wife and classmate, Dr. Susan Brunnett.

Samuel D. Pierce, O.D.

Sam Pierce, O.D., was elected to the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees at the 112th Annual AOA Congress & 39th Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting^® in June 2009.

As a member of the AOA Board, Dr. Pierce serves as liaison to the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education, the AOA Communications and Membership Group, the Neurological Optometric Rehabilitation Association, and affiliate associations in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada and Oregon.

Prior to his election to the Board, Dr. Pierce served the AOA by volunteering his time to the Communications Advisory Group, Professional Relations Committee, Nominating Committee and the Student and New Graduate Committee. He is also past president of the Alabama Optometric Association and served as a member of the SECO Board of Trustees.

Dr. Pierce is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry (UABSO).

Dr. Pierce has been in private practice in Trussville, AL for over 20 years. He and his wife, Kim, have two daughters, Julianna and Emily.

Christopher J. Quinn, O.D., F.A.A.O.

Christopher J. Quinn, O.D., F.A.A.O., was elected to the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees at the 111th Annual AOA Congress & 38th Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting^® in June 2008 and re-elected in June 2009.

As a member of the AOA Board, he is a member of the Building Committee. Dr. Quinn also serves as liaison to the AOA Third Party Center, the AOA Political Action Committee, the AOA Vision Rehabilitation Section, the Optical Laboratories Association and affiliate associations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina.

Dr. Quinn is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and is a graduate of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and participated in a residency in hospital-based optometry.

Prior to his election to the Board, Dr. Quinn served on the AOA Federal Relations Committee and State Government Relations Committee and was an AOA representative to the American Medical Association’s Resource Based Relative Value Update Committee - Healthcare Professions Advisory Committee. Dr. Quinn has lectured extensively throughout the United States and internationally. He is a principal author of the AOA Clinical Practice Guidelines on Care of the Patient with Conjunctivitis and has published over 20 other articles.

Dr. Quinn serves as adjunct faculty at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, State University of New York, New England College of Optometry, University of California at Berkeley, and The Ohio State University.

He is a past president of the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians.

Dr. Quinn is the owner and president of Omni Eye Services, an optometric referral center in New Jersey. He resides in Middletown, NJ, with his wife, Susan, and two children, Kelly and Billy.

Andrea Thau, O.D., F.A.A.O., F.C.O.V.D.

Andrea P. Thau, O.D., was elected to the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees at the 110th Annual AOA Congress & 37th Annual AOSA Conference: Optometry’s Meeting® in June 2007.

As a member of the AOA Board, Dr. Thau is a member of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. She serves as liaison to the AOA Communications and Membership Group, Contact Lens and Cornea Section, American Optometric Student Association and affiliate associations in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Dr. Thau is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development. She is a graduate of the SUNY College of Optometry where she has been on faculty since graduation and is an associate clinical professor and former chair of the Admissions committee.

Prior to her election to the Board, Dr. Thau served as president of the New York State Optometric Association, the first women president in its 106-year history. Dr. Thau is a past president of and the first woman president of the New York Academy of Optometry where she currently serves as membership chair. Dr. Thau is a past president of the Optometric Society of the City of New York where she too was the first woman president. In fact, Dr. Thau served concurrently as president of the New York Academy and president of the Optometric Society of the City of New York as well as an officer of the New York State Optometric Association.

She is a founding member of the AOA's InfantSEE® committee which developed the InfantSEE® program and was a member of multiple AOA committees including the AOA Pediatrics and Binocular Vision Committee, the Infants’ Vision Project Team, and the Faculty Relations Committee.

She is a founding member and former vice president of the New York Children's Vision Coalition, a coalition dedicated to mandating eye examinations to children of the city of New York upon school entry. Dr. Thau is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2005 New York State Optometrist of the Year, SUNY Optometry Alumni of the Year, and Vision Monday’s 20 Most Influential Women in Optical. 

Dr. Thau is the owner of a 4-woman group private practice on Park Avenue in Manhattan, which expanded to include a satellite office. The practice is a full scope primary care practice with special emphasis on children's vision and vision therapy.