OWL honors award recipients

San Francisco-Ophthalmic Women Leaders (OWL) honored the recipients of three awards at its annual Monday night reception during the 2013 meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Among the awards and honorees:

• Visionary Woman Award: Adrienne L. Graves, PhD, is a visual scientist by training and a global industry leader in ophthalmology. From 2002 to 2010, Dr. Graves was president and chief executive officer of Santen Inc., the U.S. arm of Japan's largest ophthalmic pharmaceutical company. She joined Santen in 1995, was responsible for 3 NDA approvals, and was named the first woman and first non-Japanese global corporate officer. Dr. Graves currently serves on the board of directors for Aerpio Therapeutics, Akorn Inc., Encore Vision, and TearLab Corp. The Visionary Woman Award honors a trailblazing ophthalmic woman leader.
• Rising Star Award: Sheryl Stevenson is senior managing editor/content channel manager of Ophthalmology Times. She joined the editorial staff in 1996 and was instrumental in the launch of sister publication Ophthalmology Times América Latina. Stevenson is also a charter member of Ophthalmic Women Leaders, where she serves on the board of directors and is chair of the publications committee in support of the group's core values of advancement, leadership, and community. The Rising Star Award honors an exceptional woman making waves as she advances in her career.
• Catalyst Award: Heather Ready has been vice president of marketing at AcuFocus since July 2011. Prior to that she spent 2 years as the director of field marketing at USGI and a further year there as the company's sales director. Ready sees her role as helping to remove roadblocks out of others' pathway to success. To that end, she has served as a mentor, team manager, role model, and leader to women of several different generations for the past 25 years in the eye-care industry. The Catalyst Award honors an individual who has gone the extra mile to make sure women have opportunities to advance in their careers.

Sponsors for the OWL awards reception included Ceatus Media Group, Lindstrom Family Foundation, Link Consulting, and Pascale Communications LLC.

OWL is an organization furthering the professional development and advancement of women in the eye-care industry.

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