Dr. Vinita Henry and Dr. Ed Bennett (third and fourth from left, first row) celebrate their recent awards with other members of the College of Optometry. Pictured are (back row, left to right) Dr. Allison Juessel-Zagst, Dr. Madison Moss, Dr. Bruce Morgan and Dr. Carl Kramer and (front row, left to right) Dr. Megan Ingalls, Dr. Jessica Tu, Dr. Vinita Henry, Dr. Ed Bennett, Dr. Rob Ensley, Dr. Jonathan Chen and Dr. Stephanie Woo (Photo courtesy of Dr. Vinita Henry).
On the final day of the annual Global Specialty Lens Symposium, held Jan. 15-18 in Las Vegas, the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association and GP Lens Institute recognized two individuals with longstanding ties to the College of Optometry at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.
Dr. Ed Bennett, professor emeritus and the former assistant dean for student services and alumni relations, received the CLMA Medal of Honor, while Dr. Vinita Henry, the current associate dean of clinical operations and a clinical professor, received an award named for Bennett himself: the Dr. Edward S. Bennett GPLI Educator of the Year award.
Bennett and Henry have been good friends and professional partners for 40 years, having collaborated on a large number of publications – most notably five editions of the “Clinical Manual of Contact Lenses,” the text used by most optometry colleges in North America.
The pair helped lay the foundation for UMSL’s nationally renowned contact lens program. Bennett was one of two faculty members who came to UMSL in 1982 to teach contact lenses as the College of Optometry’s first graduating class was beginning its third year. Henry, a member of the second graduating class, became the College of Optometry’s first resident after graduation, working alongside Bennett in a one-year post-graduate cornea and contact lens residency program. She joined the faculty full-time shortly after.
Bennett, who retired in September 2019 after more than 37 years in the College of Optometry, credits the college’s dedicated faculty – including Henry, as well as Associate Dean of Academic Programs Dr. Julie DeKinder, among others – with the college’s national reputation and many outstanding graduates of its residency program.
“I’ve greatly enjoyed teaching contact lenses – notably GP lens correction – over the years to students, residents and eye care professionals,” Bennett said. “It is truly a privilege to teach; it took me years to truly understand and effectively apply that whereas our current faculty at UMSL are young, very student-dedicated and could communicate effectively immediately after being hired.”
Bennett is also passionate about his work with the GP Lens Institute, which allowed him to work with some of the most prominent contact lens specialists in developing educational resources and programs for generic contact lenses. He served as president up until December and had worked with the organization since 1988, when it was known as the RGP Lens Institute. His long history with the organization made it especially meaningful to receive the CLMA Medal of Honor, which recognizes those who “embody the ideals of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association at the highest levels, through service and achievements within the contact lens industry.” He is only the second person to receive the award after Quido Cappelli in 2018 – whom he refers to as a “legendary manufacturing icon” – so he said he was in shock when his name was called.
“Next to being inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame, I would consider this the highest honor I’ve ever received from an organization that I have truly loved for 37 years,” Bennett said.
On the same night, Henry received the Dr. Edward S. Bennett GPLI Educator of the Year award for outstanding achievement as an educator in the area of gas-permeable and custom soft contact lenses from the GPLI. Henry, who in 2023 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators and the Achievement Award from the American Optometric Association Contact Lens and Cornea Section Council and in 2024 received the Michael G. Harris Award for Excellence in Optometric Education from the American Academy of Optometry, said it was particularly meaningful to receive an award named for her mentor and to be honored at the same event.
“That made it really special,” she said. “He was my mentor, my colleague and my close friend, and we worked together for many, many years on research. We wrote five editions of textbooks together. It was really special to get the award from him and be there to see him being recognized for his years of service.”
Bennett, who co-sponsors the award with his wife, Dr. Jean Bennett, was just as excited to see Henry recognized.
“I’m especially proud of what an outstanding job she has done as director (and now associate dean) of clinical operations,” Bennett said. “She is an outstanding clinic director and deserves so much credit for our beautiful state-of-the-art UMSL Patient Care Center. And she has been a trailblazer: first resident at the College, first full-time faculty member to be awarded a campus teaching award (Chancellor’s Award for Excellence for Academic Non-Regular Faculty), first full clinical professor at the College, first non-tenure track faculty to serve as faculty chair and first individual to receive our equivalent of the distinguished alumni award. I love Vinita Henry, and she is beloved by both our students and several chancellors and past chancellors of the university.”
