The optometric community reflects on the late Richard Hopping, OD, and his legacy

Richard Hopping, OD, held a 72-year cumulative membership with the American Optometric Association and was president of the organization in 1971-72. Image credit: American Optometric Association

Long after most faculty and students had gone home, a solitary light would shine in the president’s office of Marshall B. Ketchum University’s Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) late into the night. That light shone for the 24-year presidential tenure of Richard Hopping, OD, who recently passed away, aged 97.¹ The optometric giant also held a 72-year cumulative membership with the American Optometric Association (AOA) and was president of the organization in 1971-72, according to an AOA news release.

Richard Hopping’s son and past AOA President Ronald Hopping, OD, and the AOA underscored Richard as a leading national advocate for the expansion of scope of optometric practice and patient care.

“He firmly believed … proper preparation prevents poor performance,” said Richard. “His goal was to be the most prepared person in the room in any situation.”

Richard graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1952, then opened his practice in Dayton, Ohio and got involved in the Miami Valley Optometric Society soon after. Ronald said his father was already breaking barriers right out of optometry school by opening his practice in a clinical setting rather than a storefront, which was common for that time period.From there, Richard took off running. He was employed by the US Veterans Administration from 1953-57, and is now recognized as the first optometrist in the country to be on staff of the VA. The Ohio Optometric Association recognized Richard, where he eventually served in all chairs, including president in 1964-65. He was also first elected to the AOA Board of Trustees in 1966, where he served until 1973.¹

“His presidency coincided with the beginning of significant changes in the profession, and his influence extended far beyond his term of office,” the release stated. One of the impacts of his presidency remains in his proposal and work concerning the passage of the AOA motion to create the Airlie House Conference on the Role of Optometry in Health Care (1969).¹ “This event laid the groundwork for integrating optometry into the U.S. health care system and helped focus the profession to expand optometric scope of practice. It was a fundamental precursor to the diagnostic and therapeutic legislative scope gains for optometry over the following decades,” the release stated.

Ronald added that his father testified in and consulted with dozens of states about how they could expand their scope of practice legislation. “He did what he could to improve the scope of practice, the care that we delivered to our patients, and the role of optometry in US healthcare,” he said. “At the end of the day, it was always about what was best for the patient. It happened to help optometry too, but he knew that if you’re doing the best for the patient, optometry is going to be okay.”

Additionally, Richard authored The Optometric Oath, which was adopted by the AOA and the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry. The oath is still recited and pledge by every optometrist at graduation ceremonies and optometric meetings to this day.¹

Subsequently, Richard was inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame in 2003.¹

Now, Richard’s light shines on SCCO’s campus in the form of the Hopping Academic Center, named in his honor,¹ and lives on in his family’s legacy. Although Ronald, his wife Desiree Hopping, OD, and his son Reed Hopping, OD, are practicing optometrists and Ronald’s son Grant Hopping, MD, is a practicing ophthalmologist, Ronald said that he doesn’t necessarily chalk up his family’s love for eye care solely in a desire to follow in his father’s footsteps. There’s just something about the profession’s ability to do right by its patients that calls to his family, generation after generation.

“We’ve got strong optometry love throughout the entire family and we’ve all given in our own ways to move the profession forward and ultimately help our patients the best we can,” Ronald said.

Reference:

1. Honoring an optometry trailblazer: Richard Hopping, OD. News release. American Optometric Association. August 12, 2025. Accessed September 2, 2025. https://www.aoa.org/news/inside-optometry/member-spotlight/honoring-an-optometry-trailblazer-richard-hopping-od