Professor Joanne Wood, from the School of Optometry and Vision Science at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), has become the first woman to be recognised by Spain’s Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) as the ‘International Optometrist of the Year’.
Optometry and vision science needs to be seen as a broad field with wide implications for everyday living. This award highlights the important contribution our research makes
The award is bestowed annually to an optometrist “who has excelled in his or her academic, research and social trajectory during recent years”. The recipient is determined by a scientific committee composed of university, professional (Catalan Council of Optometrists and Catalan Association of Visual Therapy) and Institutional (Terrassa City Council) members.
Additionally, Professor Wood has received the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) 2019 Hal W. Hendrick Distinguished International Colleague Award. This award recognises “a non-U.S. citizen who has made outstanding contributions to the human factors and ergonomics field”. It was presented at the opening Plenary Session of the HFES International Annual Meeting in Seattle.
Professor Wood said the award was bestowed on her in recognition of collaborations with international psychologists with human factors expertise.
“For someone from the optometry and vision science field to be honoured with this award was really exciting for me, for optometry as a profession, and for QUT,” said Prof Woods.
“Optometry and vision science needs to be seen as a broad field with wide implications for everyday living. This award highlights the important contribution our research makes.”