Hymes has served as AOA’s interim executive director since February. For the preceding nine years, he managed the organization's Washington, DC, office, the base of operations for its widely recognized federal, state and third-party advocacy teams. He will continue to be based there.
Hymes succeeds Barry Barresi, OD, PhD, executive director from 2007 through 2013, who resigned to join Ocuhub, a subsidiary of TearLab Corporation.
Hymes appointed Renee Brauns, AOA’s chief operating officer, to the newly-created position of associate executive director, effective July 29, 2014. Brauns, who acted as interim deputy executive director this year, joined the AOA in 1999 and has overseen St. Louis operations as chief operating officer since 2010.
Hymes joined the AOA in 2005 as Washington Office Director and has been the organization's lead advocacy strategist He spent a decade on Capitol Hill as a Congressional chief of staff and legislative and communications aide. For five years, he advised Rep. Norman Lent (R-NY) He is a graduate of Syracuse University.
