Last month, we officially welcomed 40 new residents to NECO. Starting their journeys on July 1, this talented group represents 14 different optometry schools across the nation as they begin their NECO-affiliated residency programs.

As they step into this pivotal year of advanced clinical training, they follow in the footsteps of our incredible alumni network. We are proud to support them as they develop their specialties and shape the future of eye care.

A foundational piece of any residency experience is the opportunity to engage with the broader optometric community. Attending major national conferences, such as the American Academy of Optometry meeting, provides our residents with invaluable exposure to emerging research, specialty-focused learning, mentorship, and vital professional connections that shape their careers long after training ends. To help ensure all residents have access to these career-defining opportunities, NECO is establishing the Residency Travel Fund.

We're excited to bring you continuing education opportunities this fall! Keep an eye out for our upcoming live CE sessions covering glaucoma, opioid prescribing, and more. Additional details and registration information will be shared soon.

In the meantime, you can continue earning CE credits through our growing online catalog, which offers on-demand learning designed to fit your schedule. Explore our current selection of courses anytime and stay up to date on the latest developments in optometric care.

We are thrilled to invite you to NECO's annual Alumni Reunion on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Whether it’s been five years or fifty since you last walked our halls, this day is designed to celebrate our shared history and look toward NECO’s exciting future.

Honoring Our Milestone Classes
This year, we are celebrating classes ending in 1 or 6  (plus 2025 for their first reunion): 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021, 2025

Heading to Anaheim this fall? Don’t miss your chance to catch up with the NECO community at our annual Academy Alumni Reception. Grab a drink, enjoy some appetizers, and get the latest updates straight from Beacon Street. Whether you’re reconnecting with lifelong friends or welcoming our newest graduates to the profession, we can’t wait to celebrate with you.

THE DETAILS

Through the generous support of the H. Eric Cushing Foundation, in partnership with Eschenbach Optik, Mattingly Low Vision, Precision Vision, and New England College of Optometry (NECO), eight distinguished 2026 Doctor of Optometry graduates who have contributed significantly to NECO’s low vision clinical research program, have received state-of-the-art low vision assessment and rehabilitation equipment to launch or expand low vision services within their practices.

Since 1894, NECO has grown through the foresight and generosity of our community. Members of the Foster Namias Legacy Society carry this legacy forward by including NECO in their estate plans. Named for beloved former faculty member Dr. Foster Namias, the society honors alumni and friends whose planned gifts fund scholarships, endow chairs, and power vital academic and clinical programs.

"I feel that NECO has been the vehicle for my professional identity. I’ve known I wanted to be an optometrist since high school, and the college gave me the ability to fulfill those goals in one of the best cities I could have hoped to live in. When my financial planner and estate attorney saw where my family’s charitable contributions were going, she suggested that we plan for a donation at the end of life both for tax purposes and to make me feel like I was completing the circle of giving back wealth that the institution has brought me my whole life."

— Kristen Griebel, OD ’97

Why Join the Legacy Society?
Including NECO in your estate plans is simple, flexible, and can even provide tax benefits for your family. A planned gift allows you to:

Already named NECO in your plans? Let us know so we can welcome you to the society and recognize your generosity! Learn more by contacting Elizabeth Crowley, Director of Development & Alumni Relations, at crowleye@neco.edu.

Crossword Puzzle Experts Revealed!

What a response to our NECO Summer Crossword Puzzle challenge! We had over 500 participants tackle the puzzle with hopes to win a NECO hoodie. All participants were entered into the random drawing and Jessie Young, OD '26, was the lucky winner—your NECO hoodie is on its way!

However, one person stood out for solving it faster than anyone else: Roslyn Scalise, OD '14! Congratulations, Roslyn, for being the fastest NECO puzzler.

Stay tuned for other fun challenges in the months ahead, and thanks to everyone who played. 

Alumni in the News

VSP Vision has named five optometry students as recipients of the 2026 Dr. Marvin R. Poston Leadership Award, presented in partnership with the NOA. The award honors the legacy of Dr. Poston, the first Black optometrist on the West Coast and a co-founder of VSP Vision. Recent NECO grad Olivia Wynn, OD '26, was one of the five recipients this year, Congratulations, Olivia!

Carissa Fleming, OD '25, is taking the next step in her leadership journey by joining the MSO Executive Board as the Boston District Chair. We are incredibly proud of this exciting achievement and look forward to seeing the positive impact Carissa continues to make on her patients, colleagues, and the entire optometry profession.

Alumni Spotlight: Milly M. Mui, OD ‘09

NECO laid the foundation for my success as an optometrist by preparing me from as early as the third week of school. We started screening children from the Head Start program at various public schools. Imagine being thrown into a room full of energetic 3-4 year olds and trying to keep their attention while assessing their vision and entrance tests! The NECO preceptors were all so supportive, as well as the staff.

I have fond memories of my time at NECO. Then VP and Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. David Heath, would come in to the preclinic and let us practice cover test to see what strabismus looks like. Tec Neguse, the superintendent, would stay late in the building to make sure the students were safe while we studied. The staff, Rosanne LaBollita, Tracy Kelly, and Barbara McGinley, were like godparents for the students. NECO was my family. Even after graduation, NECO alumni helped me find jobs and build my current practice. 

In 2013, I opened my own primary eye care practice, Mui Eye Care Optometry, to serve the community in NYC Manhattan’s Chinatown. I am also a member of the American Optometric Association. I was on the Optometric Society for the City of New York board as Director at Large for 7 years. I currently serve as NYSOA’s Trustee for the Metropolitan Area, as well as volunteer on the NYSOA’s Third Party Committee and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. After seven years of actively lobbying in Albany, we finally gained oral prescribing rights in New York State. I continue to actively advocate for optometry and hope to expand our scope of practice in New York. 

Looking back, I am grateful for the opportunities, guidance, and lifelong connections NECO provided. It is more than a school—it is a community that prepares students for success and continues to support them long after graduation. I am proud to be a part of the NECO family.

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